The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are

by Libby Copeland

Overview

A deeply reported look at the rise of home genetic testing and the seismic shock it has had on individual lives

You swab your cheek or spit into a vial, then send it away to a lab somewhere. Weeks later you get a report that might tell you where your ancestors came from or if you carry certain genetic risks. Or the report could reveal a long-buried family secret and upend your entire sense of identity. Soon a lark becomes an obsession, an incessant desire to find answers to questions at the core of your being, like “Who am I?” and “Where did I come from?” Welcome to the age of home genetic testing.

In The Lost Family, journalist Libby Copeland investigates what happens when we embark on a vast social experiment with little understanding of the ramifications. Copeland explores the culture of genealogy buffs, the science of DNA, and the business of companies like Ancestry and 23andMe, all while tracing the story of one woman, her unusual results, and a relentless methodical drive for answers that becomes a thoroughly modern genetic detective story.

The Lost Family delves into the many lives that have been irrevocably changed by home DNA tests—a technology that represents the end of family secrets. There are the adoptees who’ve used the tests to find their birth parents; donor-conceived adults who suddenly discover they have more than fifty siblings; hundreds of thousands of Americans who discover their fathers aren’t biologically related to them, a phenomenon so common it is known as a “non-paternity event”; and individuals who are left to grapple with their conceptions of race and ethnicity when their true ancestral histories are discovered. Throughout these accounts, Copeland explores the impulse toward genetic essentialism and raises the question of how much our genes should get to tell us about who we are. With more than thirty million people having undergone home DNA testing, the answer to that question is more important than ever.

Gripping and masterfully told, The Lost Family is a spectacular book on a big, timely subject.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419743009
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	121,879
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Libby Copeland is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Washington Post, New York magazine, the New York Times, the Atlantic, and many other publications. Copeland was a reporter and editor at the Post for eleven years, has been a media fellow and guest lecturer, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

Editorial Reviews

…well-researched…Copeland reiterates a few central questions throughout the book: "How much of your sense of yourself should scientists and algorithms be allowed to dictate?"; "What makes us who we are?"; and "Is it always better to know the truth?" Of course, the answers are up to the individual reader and will vary based on things like family dynamics and how earthshaking the consequences of knowing might be. Copeland's balanced treatment of the subject allows readers to reach their own conclusions and shows them many of the factors they might consider as they do.

The New York Times Book Review - Pam Belluck

The Lost Family is a fascinating exploration of the mysteries ignited by DNA genealogy testing—from the intensely personal and concrete to the existential and unsolvable. In the world Copeland's 'seekers' are exploring, 'Who am I?' becomes a mystery more intricate and more crucial than any novel's 'Whodunit?' Copeland deftly weaves together individual stories, technical explanations and sociological discussion to make a book that's both gripping and deeply thought-provoking.

New York Times bestselling author of the Dublin Murder Squad series and The Witch Elm - Tana French

"A compellingly readable narrative that takes us down the rabbit hole of modern personal genomics. Libby Copeland brings a gripping story from the front lines of genealogy and genomics."

The Insitome Institute - Razib Khan

"Not long ago, the idea of sequencing your DNA was as plausible as booking a trip to Jupiter. Now we give each other DNA tests as holiday gifts. As tens of millions of people look at their genes and link them to their ancestry, this science is having a profound impact on our society as a whole. It is reuniting relatives, breaking up families, and sending criminals to jail. The Lost Family is a deeply reported, deeply humane exploration of our ongoing redefinition of our identity and our kinships."

author of She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity - Carl Zimmer

Before You Spit in That Vial, Read This Book.

New York Times

Journalist Libby Copeland’s deep dive into the family secrets uncovered and privacy questions untested will blow your mind.

OZY.com

…well-researched, thorough and fascinating"

The Columbus Dispatch

A riveting mystery combined with a beautiful meditation on family and identity. I read it in one sitting and immediately preordered copies for everyone I'm related to, both by blood and by love.

author of American Fire and Girl in the Blue Coat - Monica Hesse

So many families have been touched—and will continue to be touched—by the secrets unearthed by home genetic testing. We are in an epidemic with few signposts, little to guide us as we contend with the unintended consequences brought upon us by scientific advancement. The Lost Family is an urgently necessary, powerful book that addresses one of the most complex social and bioethical issues of our time.

New York Times bestselling author of Inheritance - Dani Shapiro

Page-Turner.

WNYC’s All Of It - Alison Stewart

Copeland takes readers inside America’s first DNA testing lab dedicated to genealogy, to Salt Lake City’s Family History Library—the largest genealogical research facility in the world—and into the living rooms of dozens of people whose lives have been turned upside down due to the results of a recreational DNA test. It is at once a hard look at the forces behind a historical mass reckoning that is happening all across America, and an intimate portrait of the people living it.“

Wired.com

A fascinating account of lives dramatically affected by genetic sleuthing.

The Wall Street Journal

A fascinating deep dive into the massively popular world of direct-to-consumer DNA testing.

Associated Press

[The Lost Family] wrestles with some of the biggest questions in life: Who are we? What is family? Are we defined by nature, nurture or both?

The Washington Post

03/01/2020

Journalist Copeland explores the rapid advances in home genetic testing kits in the last decade. The kits have become popular gifts, but Copeland shares numerous cautionary tales of "seekers" who found more than they bargained for. The heart of the book is the story of Alice Collins Plebuch, who tested in the early days of commercial kits and discovered that her genetic heritage was not solidly Irish, as she had supposed, but was Ashkenazi Jewish on her father's side. This led to a years-long quest to unravel the mystery of her heritage, resulting in the discovery that her father was switched at birth with another baby in a (no longer existing) hospital in New York in 1913. Copeland uses fascinating stories of family discoveries to illustrate the science behind genetic connections and to discuss the ways bioethical considerations have not kept pace with the improvement of the kits, including privacy concerns with how genetic databases are used by law enforcement. She emphasizes that if you choose to send in your saliva sample, the results can reverberate through the whole family tree. VERDICT Highly recommended for popular science and memoir fans, as well as readers with an interest in genealogy.—Caren Nichter, Univ. of Tennessee at Martin

Library Journal

★ 2019-12-22
A fascinating account of consumer genetic testing's "fundamental reshaping of the American family" over the past two decades.

Swabbing your cheek and sending off for personal DNA results is increasingly common, for the curious as well as for family historians and those in the dark about their parentage. In her impeccably researched debut, journalist Copeland traces the development of "genetic genealogy," a field created by citizen scientists. Whereas 1970s genealogists relied on microfilm archives and in-person interviews with relatives, their yearslong searches only shortened by lucky discoveries, today's genetic "seekers" can get answers within days. In 2000, FamilyTreeDNA became the first company to offer at-home DNA testing, followed by Ancestry.com and 23andMe. The author chronicles her meeting with the founder of FamilyTreeDNA, her visit to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and her correspondence with 400 DNA testers. Many received shocking results but agree it's better to know the truth, even about abandonment, rape, or incest. Copeland highlights a few representative cases—e.g., a father who had a second family and a woman who didn't learn she was adopted until age 51. Foundlings and children of sperm donors often meet (half-)siblings they never knew existed. But the anchoring storyline is that of Alice Collins Plebuch, who was surprised when her saliva sample indicated that she was half Eastern European Jewish instead of 100% British/Irish. Copeland presents her quest for her late father's true heritage as a riveting mystery with as many false leads as any crime novel. Along the way, the author thoughtfully probes the ethical dangers of genetic testing, including conflicting privacy rights, an essentialist view of race, unexpected medical results, and DNA databases being used in crime-solving. As she notes, it's a fast-moving field in need of regulation, and she engrossingly examines the many questions that arise, both practical and rhetorical: "What makes us who we are? Blood? Family? Culture?"

Up-to-the-minute science meets the philosophy of identity in a poignant, engaging debut book.

Kirkus Reviews

Read More