Summary: 23andMe's genetic database may uncover shitty behavior of people close to you that they would rather you not know about. They hide this behind a checkbox asking you if you want to see info about possible close relatives, but the author thinks there should be big flashing warnings that it might show information you aren't ready for.
Of course, the other way to interpret this is that his parents weren't really okay with the status quo, at least one of them either hadn't put enough thought into what happened, didn't know the whole story, or was entirely in the dark. The author may feel that it would be better to not know that information, but that information is truth, and represents who the people involved really are or were. I have little patience for being asked to help support others delusion.
Note that in this case, no shitty behavior was uncovered. I initially thought this story was going to be about adultery, but it turns out it wasn't:
> When George figured out his dad had conceived this child before getting married — that the child was not the result of adultery — he was excited. [...] His mother and sister could not handle the information, and his father went against their wishes, dedicating himself to reconnecting with his estranged son.
I missed that. If that's an accurate description of events and the cause of the rift between his father and the rest of the family, I'm appalled by their behavior. I'm also at more of a loss to understand why the author blames 23andMe. It's just as conceivable the estranged son could have finally found his father through some means that didn't include 23andMe, and the father decided to reconnect and it tore the family apart. Who would the author attempt to blame in that case? The son, for locating his father?
Exactly. This divorce isn't because of the DNA test, we can say that much. Pinning blame to it seems to me like it glosses over far too much missing detail.
No shitty behavior was uncovered? Hasn't anyone considered that Thomas was the product of rape? Or any other thousands of possibilities which we have no idea about.
After reading the second article, which gives more detail, I think that's unlikely. Obviously we're missing information, but it's not stated anywhere that there was foul play of any kind. You cannot just assume something horrible happened unless at least some kind of hint is given in the article.
The author suggests adding a warning about discovering relatives, but then he also admits that it wouldn't have made a difference in his case because he didn't think it would happen to him and he also couldn't have known his family would have reacted the way they did. In the end I don't think there is a technical solution that the genetics testing company can apply to make this any easier for humans to deal with. When you send your DNA to such a company you should be ready to deal with something like this.
They hide this behind a checkbox asking you if you want to see info about possible close relatives
They did. According to the editor, they don't anymore: "[Note: 23 and Me has since switched to an opt out system, where users will automatically be enrolled in the close relatives finder program.]"
Of course, the other way to interpret this is that his parents weren't really okay with the status quo, at least one of them either hadn't put enough thought into what happened, didn't know the whole story, or was entirely in the dark. The author may feel that it would be better to not know that information, but that information is truth, and represents who the people involved really are or were. I have little patience for being asked to help support others delusion.
Edit: s/rather now know/rather not know/