DNA Quest Update

Applications are now closed to DNA Quest, our pro bono project to provide 15,000 free MyHeritage DNA kits to adoptees and their family members to help them reunite.

The international community of adoptees has welcomed this project with open arms and helped spread the word to increase its reach. Emotional stories of adoptions and of families who placed children in adoptive care have poured in. We hope that the power of genetic genealogy, together with professional and emotional support, will facilitate family reunions between family members that yearn to find one another.

17,000 applications have been submitted by people from 77 countries around the world. The majority of the applications are from the United States (13,716 applications) followed by Canada (616), Australia (473), UK (329), the Netherlands (210) and Sweden (210). There have also been applications from Brazil (95), France (64) and smaller numbers from China, Greece, Japan, Morocco, Nepal, Peru and many more countries.

68 percent of the applications we received were from adoptees searching for their biological families; 13 percent were from close family members searching for adoptees, and the rest were people describing their situation as “Other”. Interestingly, 70 percent of the applicants were women, and 30 percent were men.

We want to send out a huge thank you to our dedicated advisory board of top experts in the fields of genetic genealogy and adoption, who have volunteered their valuable time to guide and support this initiative. The advisory board includes: CeCe Moore, founder of The DNA Detectives; Blaine Bettinger, The Genetic Genealogist; Richard Weiss of DNA Adoption; Richard Hill, DNA testing adviser; Katharine Tanya, founder of Adopted.com; Brianne Kirkpatrick, founder of Watershed DNA; Pamela Slaton, investigative genealogist; Leah Larkin, The DNA Geek; and Susan Friel-Williams, Vice President of American Adoption Congress. They were instrumental in helping us spread the word to their communities and providing advice in their areas of expertise.

What happens next?

Now that applications are closed, we are beginning the selection process. Participants will be selected, and all applicants will be notified of their status, by May 16, 2018. Free DNA kits will be shipped to participants by May 31, 2018, and results can be expected as early as July 2018. DNA Quest participants will be matched against the entire database of MyHeritage DNA which currently consists of 1.4 million people, and continues to grow rapidly every day.

If you are an adoptee or family member still searching for biological relatives and you’ve missed the deadline, you can still sign up at www.dnaquest.org, and you will be added to the DNA Quest waiting list. Anyone who has already tested with another DNA company can upload their DNA data to MyHeritage for free, to receive a list of DNA Matches that might lead to finding the family you’ve been searching for.

Stay tuned for more news about DNA Quest in the coming weeks.