Genetic testing is a thing, right now. It has been since 23&me launched in 2014. Take a test and find out your families history! Sounds great, yeah?

In most cases it is just that. Build a pretty tree, look at documents and pictures. Each pushing a little more amazement into our minds.

Then there are the other cases. The ones that start innocently enough, but end up resulting in family secrets spilled all over the fucking floor.

Lest not forget the other occasions where it sits on the shelf for a month or more because the ‘testee’ just isn’t sure that they are ready for that kind of mid life crisis.

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WELCOME TO MY MID LIFE CRISIS. LOL.

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I was one of the latter situations. Specifically the last one. I had always known I was a sibling. I just never could nail down a number. The State of Washington reported 5, but no gender was assigned. The rest of the non identifying information was total garbage, which I didn’t understand until 20 years later.

Being that I am a person that craves answers to the questions I pose. My life’s beginning is the biggest one of all. However, it would cost four years salary and a decent holiday bonus on E-2 pay to unseal my adoption records. It seemed impossible, when I started this back in 2001.

The State of Washington will not release non identifying information to anyone under the age of 18. The summer before my Senior year, I had just returned from Israel. I drove that 1978 Volvo s70 wagon down to the Juvenile Detention Center and received a piece of paper. There were two columns. The simple type told lies of my parents and siblings. The most memorable being my parents employment lines. My mother was a homemaker and my father was a landscaper.

As a young lady who’s’ formative years were spent mostly in the Grunge Adjacent scene, I immediately assumed I was the product of some Days of Our Lives shit. I imagined this housewife who can’t help herself when she sees the lawn boy… like some soft cover smut from the 99cent store. I spent years creating stories with these two characters I had imaged as my parents when people would ask after they found out I was adopted. Other kids especially, they looked at me like I was some weird foster kid.

Then, the self discovery revolution launched. You can look at your great grandfathers draft card from WWI and create your life’s story. It was to be this miraculous new fad.

It assisted many adopted kids to find their parents. Like the Gary Stewart, who found out his father was the Zodiac. With the little Shakespearean collection of stories I had… of course my anxiety was through the roof.

I took it. Now I’m up to 6 siblings….

To Be Continued…