DNA Day Has a New Meaning For Me This Year: I’m an NPE

"Not parent expected" – NPE – is a surprise that thousands of us have gotten as a result of consumer ancestry DNA testing. We discover that we are the offspring of a sperm donor, or sexual violence, or a long-ago fuzzy night at a party, a brief interval between partners, an affair, or a single experimental partner-swap long forgotten.

 

We find out that we aren't who we thought we were, at least in our genes. I know I'm the same person, of course, but something has changed.

 

DNA Day to me this year means that I share approximately 25% of the DNA signposts used to assess ancestry – some 700,000 or so data points that mark genetic diversity – with six half-siblings, and possibly more.

 

To continue reading, go to DNA Science DNA Science, where this post originally appeared.