
New Siblings, Old Secrets - libbyc
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/New-siblings-old-secrets-DNA-links-4-strangers-13724844.php
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jedberg
At home genetic testing is changing what we think of as family. We keep seeing
stories of people who are excited to learn they have a bunch of half-siblings,
stories of people who are devastated to find out their parent was a serial
cheater, stories of old people who are now living in fear that their
indiscretion from fifty years ago might suddenly be found out.

It'll be interesting to see if this leads to a rise of therapists as people
try to cope with these new realities.

Another interesting note, as an engineer, these stories are the perfect
example of the need for forward secrecy. People shouldn't be able to discover
your fifty year old secrets. :)

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malvosenior
It will be even more interesting to see if this changes the root behavior.
Will people still cheat if they know there’s a high likelihood that it will
come to light? Will people still agree to get married if these outcomes become
more common?

A lot of people have pushed for mandatory paternity testing and it’s usually
rejected at the state level. This looks a lot like de facto mandatory
paternity testing.

Seems like it will lead to positive outcomes tbh.

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jedberg
> Will people still cheat if they know there’s a high likelihood that it will
> come to light?

Probably, but they're probably more likely to use contraception and/or get
abortions.

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GuiA
I have been casually following a few general advice kind of subreddits for a
long time (/r/relationships, /r/relationship_advice, /r/parenting,
/r/TwoXChromosomes, etc), and there's definitely been a noticeable uptick in
posts seeking advice regarding a situation where a father found out that his
children were not biologically his, or children found out that their
biological parents/grandparents are not who they though they were, and other
similar kinds of scenarios, because of cheap, easily available genetic testing
kids.

It's a fascinating and entirely predictable turn of events, and it's not going
away any time soon given how useful and profitable genetic testing is.

I suspect that a few decades from now, the notion of a time where no one could
know for sure if their "genetic" family was really who they thought they were
(unless you're a Baratheon) will seem quaint and romantic.

~~~
FakeComments
I sometimes wonder if we’ll see a genuine men’s rights movement around the
question of false paternity, now that it’s trivial to document.

There are many issues that disproportionately impact men — but that’s one that
basically uniquely impacts men, and where women’s rights movements (such as
feminism) have shown a distinct anti-male tendency.

Food for thought:

[https://youtu.be/3WMuzhQXJoY](https://youtu.be/3WMuzhQXJoY)

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heyyyouu
Side note only because I'm curious: As I'm looking at this the story has 2
points. How does a story with two points make the home page -- I thought they
had to have 3. Has it changed/or was I always wrong/or was this manually
selected for home page inclusion? Thanks for any insight and sorry this
comment is, by it's nature, off topic.

