How Quickly Does Albendazole Work?

[Chucky Mama]

OK, this is a long shot. I have been amazed at the wealth of knowledge on this forum so I thought I would give this one a try

 

I am of mixed parentage, I have been told that my mother was Jamaican but that is pretty much it. I was adopted and bought up in a white family. I decided to do some investigation into my 'real family' and got so far and decided that I could be opening a can of worms that may well be unwise just for the sake of curiosity. (I am not naive enough to think that there was going to be some movie style reunion with my mother etc).

 

So..I have just heard abouth Ethnic DNA testing. Does anyone know anything about this sort of thing. It does not look cheap. I have 3 children and would like to give them more of a sense of where they came from without running the risk of ruining where they are. We are a very happy family but know when I was growing up that I would have like to have had a 'history' like everyone else.

[Willow]

Afraid I don't know anything about it but I think it would be a really interesting thing to do. I know the 2 major nationalities in my background but would love to know what else went in to make up me

 

My boys are English but I do make sure they remember they have other bits mixed in as well as I think it helps make people more tolerant to know they are a mix.

[jackiepoppies]

I was adopted and although not of an ethnic background I needed to know my roots for my own personal peace of mind.

I found my parents and they were lovely people. They married each other 3 years after I was born and it was their one regret that they never had any more children. My mother said it was judgement on her for being made to give me away at her fathers insistance.

It also helps to know a little about the medical background. My daughter has inherited some deafness and it is always difficult when medics ask for family history.

Go for it and good luck.

 

Jx

[Valkyrie]

I know they're into that big time in the US as part of their family history. I don't know if it is done here, but I think it costs around $300+ over the pond. It might be worth looking into something like Genes Reunited or the BBC site for tracing the family roots.

[Olly]

I don't know much about it, but what I have heard is that the results can be surprising - e.g. people who are white and who know their parents and grandparents were white, can discover that actually they have some Chinese/American Indian/African genes.

 

So from your point of view, how much would it tell you? It might well identify that you have genes indicating that one of your parents was from the Caribbean, but the chances are that that parent had some mixed genes too. It could be interesting, but how much information are you really going to get out of it?

 

If you can afford it then it could be a fascinating experiment, but as you say it's quite a lot of money, I think I would want to consider some possible results and think about whether that would actually give you much more information about your family background, because it won't give faces or names or even exact locations. That's easy for me to say, because I'm not adopted, and maybe you feel that it would be worth it - only you can decide. If you do go ahead, keep us posted with the information!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm adopted too and found my birth mother a few years ago, along with 3 half-siblings. It was all really successful but sadly my mother and one of my half sisters died after I met them. I also know my father is still alive but unfortunately he has decided not to have contact (which I'm fine with). I already knew I had an Australian mother and a Swiss father but was interested to find that there is Polish blood in my history too.

 

I don't know anything about Ethnic DNA testing but I too wonder how much useful information you will find out as you already know you are of Jamaican descent. I know it's easy for me to say as my search turned out well, but you could search for the information so you have some sense of your family history but not go as far as actually meeting any family members. Having said that, I know it is said that once you have that information, not taking it further can be very difficult.

 

Good luck with whatever course of action you take. I can really sympathise with that feeling of wanting to know where you came from and wanting to give you children their family story (and health history) .

[Chucky Mama]

How interesting to hear your story. Whilst it is sad to hear that your mother and half sister died; how fortunate that you had to opportunity to meet them.

 

I think what I am looking for is a 'back history' of some sort. I don't pour over these things but I feel that as I have decided not to continue in my search for blood relatives that this may give both myself and the children a little 'taste' of their heritage.

 

My mother had approx 10 children and knows where I went so if she really wanted to find me she would have been able to fairly easily. Having dug deep enough to find the circumstances of my adoption I think that she is not really worth finding. Harsh I know but realistic.

[Chucky Mama]

I was adopted and although not of an ethnic background I needed to know my roots for my own personal peace of mind.

I found my parents and they were lovely people. They married each other 3 years after I was born and it was their one regret that they never had any more children. My mother said it was judgement on her for being made to give me away at her fathers insistance.

It also helps to know a little about the medical background. My daughter has inherited some deafness and it is always difficult when medics ask for family history.

Go for it and good luck.

 

Jx

 

That must have been hard for them but also hard for you to hear that they stayed together and perhaps kept you if it were not for her father. Did you have a happy upbringing with your adoptive parents? Do you have ongoing contact with your birth parents?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Having dug deep enough to find the circumstances of my adoption I think that she is not really worth finding. Harsh I know but realistic.

 

I think that is critical. I knew enough from my adoptive parents and from the paperwork I managed to get hold of that there was a very good chance of a happy outcome for me. I think you're quite right not to pursue it as it sounds unlikely that you'd get a postive outcome .

 

I too didn't agonise over the whole thing, I just decided once I had kids of my own that I would have a go. I had no idea it would all (mostly) work out so well.

[Willow]

I think what I am looking for is a 'back history' of some sort. I don't pour over these things but I feel that as I have decided not to continue in my search for blood relatives that this may give both myself and the children a little 'taste' of their heritage.

 

My mother had approx 10 children and knows where I went so if she really wanted to find me she would have been able to fairly easily. Having dug deep enough to find the circumstances of my adoption I think that she is not really worth finding. Harsh I know but realistic.

 

If you know who your birth mother is either you could (or you could hire someone to) generate her family tree to give yourself some family history. You don't have to actually meet any relatives. (My brother traced my fathers family tree as a present for him and hired someone in country to do the investigation as it can be hard to trace information from a distance).

 

Do you know anything about your birth father ?

 

Worth considering that tracing family trees is not without it's emotional side. Did you watch any of 'Who do you think you are ?' series ? Obviously revelations were staged for maximum reaction as it makes better television but it was interesting seeing the shock as people discovered unexpected things about their background. Patsy Kensit's emotion on discovering not all her ancestors were villians was surprisingly touching and Ainsley Harriot was shocked to discover partial white slaver ancestery.

[Cinnamon]

I read about a woman who was a foundling,& who had this done to try & find out where her parents originated from.

It was very precise & told her her make up in percentages,down to 1% - amazing.

She found it very useful to have some sort of idea what she was made up of,especially in her case as she was abandoned by her mother so could never trace her parents.

[Tessa the Duchess]

I am also adopted and like Jackie I absolutely had to find out where I came from. I found my birth mother, not my father, and it wasn't the greatest of successes to be honest. I found her when I was 18 and I think I was just not mature enough to handle it, and she was just overwhelmed and riddled with guilt Both my children are adopted and they have both found their siblings through facebook Kate Adie the journalist, who is also adopted has written a fascinating book about foundlings and people who don't know who their parents are, sorry I can't remember what it's called

 

Tessa

[Chucky Mama]

What I would like to do is to find my family and be a fly on the wall watching them. Having being brought up in an 'odd' family that comes with a whole heap of baggage - you really don't want to go there I really don't need anymore family 'relationships', I have had a belly full of the one that I have! I think that I am therefore really just looking to 'belong' somewhere in terms of heritage. Whilst I think that any family is better than no family being a mixed race child bought up in a very British white family does have its problems. Silly things like haircare, makeup, racism etc etc are were competely overlooked. It is the lack of belonging to any history that is the issue I think for me. I say issue, but it really isn't something that I pour over as I am making my own history now for my children but I do sometimes think that I would like some roots.

[Looney]

I think we all probably take our heritage for granted - unless of course we realise that we don't know what it is!

 

We have recently discovered who my mother's biological father is. He wanted contact with my mum but hadn't told his family the truth about her so she refused as she didn't want to be responsible for hurting his family. I do know his name though and through the wonder of Google I have found out a bit about him as he had posted information on a school newsletter.

[fluffyknickers]

I looked into this and anything I found was very expensive. The reason I looked in to it is on my mothers side we dont know a lot as my grandfather never knew who his real dad was and the truth was shrouded (sp) in secrecy and not discussed.

 

If it ever gets cheaper I woud love to have it done.

 

Michelle

[Lewis]

I know its easy for me to say, but I think the family tree sounds like a better idea, and maybe cheaper.

You'd find out about the actual people and things about them, rather than where your ancestors came from.

Good luck with whatever you decide