DNA Discoveries Peer Support Group

This group is open to all genders. Meetings will be held in English.

"Am I a good fit for this group?"
If you have either found family using commercial DNA testing or been found by family who used commercial DNA testing (examples of commercial DNA testing are Ancestry.com, Family Tree DNA, 23&Me, My Heritage...) then this is the group for you. You do not need to have an adoption connection, but you do need to have a DNA discovery for this group to be relevant to you. Examples include individuals with a known connection to adoption, such as birth/first parents, adoptees, donor-conceived individuals; unexpected parentage results among those not adopted, such as unknown child discovery, unexpected niece, nephew, or cousin discovery, individuals discovering they are donor-conceived or adopted (late discovery adoptees); anyone who has found unknown siblings. international adoptees connecting to family, including cousins, grandparent discoveries, and the many other scenarios that are surprising folks today.

"Why is this group needed?"
Finding family, or being found - whether you are looking or not - is a major life event. It can upend long-held beliefs about ourselves and challenge the very things that make us feel like, well..., us. Things like parentage, ethnicity, religion, and birth order, just to name a few. There are also a myriad of reactions from those who have either unexpectedly found us or whom we have found. Sometimes those reactions are not what we had hoped for, or what we expected. It can all be very overwhelming. This group will focus on supporting each other during and after such DNA discoveries.

*This group is not intended to replace therapeutic treatment or one-on-one counseling. If you are in crisis, contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-8255.