When I sent in a cheek swab for a DNA ancestry test, I didn’t expect all that much. I thought I’d confirm the things I already knew about myself, without adding too much new information. After all, my family tree is pretty straightforward. I’m your typical Irish boy as well, with facial features that seem to reflect my culture precisely.
But like many before me, I was surprised to find that my ancestry is far more varied than I thought. I have roots in North Africa, as well as some significant ancestry in Eastern Europe. There is even at least one Asian ancestor somewhere along the line.
However, many of my friends have asked me if it matters at all. Has it changed the way I look at myself? Should it change the way I look at myself? Should they get an ancestry DNA test kit?
I get their cynicism. I have seen politicians try to claim that they are diverse because of a few percentage points in their DNA. As if cultural appropriation is okay if one of your ancestors happened to be a different ethnicity.
But what I’ve learnt from my own experience is that there’s certainly more to it. I found out some interesting things about myself. Not all were comfortable, but they were important nonetheless.
Check your privilege
I’ve always been told that one of the realities of being white is that I’ve never had to grapple with racial issues. It’s easy for me to say I’m not racist or prejudiced in any way, because my feelings have never been tested. Well, DNA testing tested more than just genetics.
When I found out that there was more than a little diversity in my genetics, I found myself looking in the mirror for certain features. I found myself wondering about things I’d rather not have wondered about. Thoughts which implied I wasn’t as okay with the potential of being slightly more diverse as I wanted to believe.
It forced me to finally ask myself what ethnicity means in my life, and what it might mean for others. It forced me to see the reality that, without introspection, there’s no way I could have been as egalitarian as I claimed to be.
I was finally in a position to really question my implicit assumptions. I didn’t always like what I saw, but grappling with these thoughts was crucially important.
What does health mean to you?
DNA testing also has some very practical uses. You can find out about genetic conditions which you might be susceptible to or a carrier of. You can look out for these conditions, avoiding serious problems through early diagnosis.
And you can also learn more about how you see your own health. We all like to believe that we’ve come to terms with mortality, and that we see illness as a normal part of life, but learning that you are susceptible to certain conditions – like certain cancers in my case – makes you really confront these things.
Learning that my very genetics put me in mortal danger was a kick in the right direction. It forced me to think about my death anxiety and question why the potential for cancer made me feel so weak.
DNA ancestry testing can tell you a lot of facts, but what is important is how you react to these facts. That will tell you much more about yourself, and you may well end up introspecting to a greater degree than ever before.
