NEHGS and the Boston Public Library Look at “How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are”

On Wednesday, May 20, at 6:00 p.m. EDST, journalist Libby Copeland will discuss the impact of DNA testing on the American family in a presentation of her new book, The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are. The evening event will include a conversation with Amy Dockser Marcus, a health and science reporter for the Wall Street Journal, who has reported in depth on the topic.

The evening discussion will take place online and free of charge as part of the new series titled "American Stories, Inspiration Today" presented by American Ancestorsa"?New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in partnership with the Boston Public Library.

"Home DNA testing is changing the lives of millions of Americans right now, and profoundly reshaping the American family," Copeland says. "It's doing that on such a scale -- with more than 30 million Americans tested -- that we've reached a tipping point with implications for every-one, whether tested or not. That's something that we should all be talking about, because it is altering how people think about themselves, the truth and the past," adds the author.

In The Lost Family, Copeland explores the culture of genealogy buffs, the science of DNA, and the business of companies like Ancestry and 23andMe, all while tracing the story of one woman, her unusual results, and a relentless methodical drive for answers that becomes a thoroughly modern genetic detective story. She delves into the many lives that have been irrevocably changed by home DNA tests, sharing the stories of adoptees who've used the tests to find their birth parents; donor-conceived adults who suddenly discover they have more than fifty siblings; some of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who discover their fathers aren't biologically related to them; and individuals who are left to grapple with their conceptions of race and ethnicity when their true ancestral histories are discovered.

"The Lost Family tackles a big, timely topic that must be explored. It is also a cautionary tale which I encourage anyone - everyone - engaged in genetic family research to read," said series co-producer Margaret Talcott of American Ancestorsa"?NEHGS. "As the book's review in the New York Times was so aptly headlined, 'Before You Spit in That Vial, Read This Book.'"

Libby Copeland is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Washington Post, New York Magazine, the New York Times, the Atlantic, and many other publications. Copeland was a reporter and editor at the Post for eleven years, has been a media fellow and guest lecturer, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

Amy Dockser Marcus is a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering health and science. She was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting for her coverage of the physical, monetary and emotional costs of cancer. Last year, she wrote a series on how the ubiquity of DNA testing is changing families. Ms. Dockser Marcus has a BA from Harvard University and a master's degree in bioethics from Harvard Medical School.

Register for this free event at: https://wgbh.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TUJ37hOESyKWPs0wcrseBA

More information about the series and authors is available on the websites of the presenting organizations including American Ancestorsa"?NEHGS, WGBH Forum Network, co-presenters and producers, and the Boston Public Library.

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