The Results are In!

I have the results from my DNA test...you know, from way back last year.  Actually, they have been in for some time...it took 2-3 months from the time I picked up my kit to the time the results hit my email...but life got in the way and I am just now sitting down to write my blog post about it.

Drum roll, please....

I am:

So, 100% East Asian.  That's great news.  Not that there is anything wrong with being "mixed race" (as my students so bluntly put it), but I have built my entire identity around being Asian and it would have really messed with that.  Generally, adoptees...and particularly interracial/inter-country/inter-cultural adoptees...struggle with identity issues and I'm glad that mine is not being challenged any more than it already has been.

Now, the nitty-grittier things.

Apparently, I'm mostly Chinese.  That actually doesn't bother me...for a couple of reasons.  One, all the East Asian races have mixed over the centuries.  So, a "born and bred" Korean may have issues with finding out that they are "not as Korean" as they thought they were...especially since they have been "Korean" descendants for centuries.  Which runs right into reason two.

All of the percentages are a little arbitrary.  It's a matter of sampling.  In fact, if I were to run my results through different DNA breakdowns, I'd get slightly different results each time.  It's because each company uses the samples thy have to create their own algorithms to determine DNA composition.  In laymen terms, they do the best they can with what they have.  Actually, the more people who get tested and add their breakdowns to the database, the better and more refined the results will be.