WEBVTT - Stuff Your Mom Never Told You: DNA, Health, and Women 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.560 Have you ever thought about how incredibly complex I spit is. 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:11.280 It may only be water, but just aliva isn't simple. 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:16.400 That remaining one percent holds incredibly meaningful information that could 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:19.400 change everything. And I'm not just talking about your family 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:24.000 treat Hi. I'm barrittun Day Thurston and on this season 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.520 of Spit and I Heart Radio Podcast with twenty three 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:30.440 and Me, we explore how DNA isn't just about ancestry, 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:37.680 it can also be key to understanding your health. Yo, 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:42.560 it's baratun Day, Welcome back. Samantha McVeigh and Annie Reese 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:46.280 are no strangers to tackling the tough questions. Their show 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.720 stuff Mom Never Told You is a wildly successful go 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.680 to for conversations on what it is to identify as 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.639 female and with research based discussions around feminism and how 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:59.440 it impacts everyday life. It's no wonder they have an 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.560 audience the size of a small country. So for this episode, 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:05.720 I was especially interested in how they would tackle the 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:08.880 question of health and DNA and how our genetic makeup 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.200 not only holds the keys to our past, but can 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:15.640 reveal certain health insights that may impact our future as 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:20.320 an adoptee, especially a transracial adoptee. Samantha shares how it's 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:23.880 not unusual to seek out more information about one's biological family, 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.800 but to date, information about her health history has remained 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.240 a mystery. She's taken the twenty three and ME health test, 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:35.880 and she's both excited and anxious, all while recognizing the 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:39.000 need for a strong support system, as this can be 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:44.119 an emotionally triggering experience for many. Samantha's approach to preparing 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.720 herself for the test, it's extremely important, especially given her 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:52.920 personal history. As she herself acknowledges, it's also very empowering 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:56.400 to have control over your own information, with the choice 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:58.440 to learn as much or as little as you like. 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:03.360 That's the benefit of this experience. It's about you. It's 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:07.920 up to you. Your DNA may be unbelievably small, but 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:12.239 it's incredibly powerful. Samantha shares how mildly surprised she is 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.919 by what she learns, but more importantly, how the experience 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.800 has been giving her a lot to think about. Let's 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.840 listen as Samantha shares her journey of discovery and how 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:35.440 by learning more she feels like she's winning. Check it out, Hey, 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:37.680 this is Annie and Samantha, I'm not going to Stephane 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:48.880 never told your protection of I Heart Radio, and this 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:51.960 episode is gonna be a little different. Just so you know, 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.600 this episode is sponsored by three and Me and as 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:58.360 always when it comes to companies and programs like these, 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.480 make sure you're reading the fine rent, know your options 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:06.079 and your rights, and keep informed. Yes, definitely, I think 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:07.960 that's a good take on all the things, as I'm 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:10.760 signing many of papers right now for many other things. 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.840 But yes, I know your rights and things do change, 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.600 so understand your rights, keep informed and updating it on 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.680 all of it. Yes, that's the first morning. We also 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:23.960 have a content morning, mentions of childhood trauma and overall 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.040 discussions of health and wellness. It's uh, we're not gonna 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:29.280 go too deep into them. But yes, I'm getting really 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:34.360 personal y'all. So thank you Andie for giving me the space. 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:37.200 Oh no, thanks for being open with us. All right, 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.760 here we go. Yeah, so it is a fairly special 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:45.400 and uh, fairly personal episode. Again, this is what we do, right. 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:49.480 I feel comfortable, you feel comfortable and sharing these things 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:55.880 with our people's Yes, perhaps too comfortable. Something. We just 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.880 let it all out and you'll are still so patient 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.040 with us, so thank you. But we are taking a 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:04.360 moment to look into our own health traits and DNA 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.280 specifically mine. But again, before we talk about some of 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:10.400 the information, let's talk about how we got ready for 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.760 this episode. And I say we because Annie was absolutely 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.240 pivotal to me going should I do this? Do you 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:19.560 think I'm mentally healthy enough to do this? And will 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.640 you support me? Yes? Yes, I hope you know listeners, 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.400 Smith and I are legit friends, um, and we do 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:30.240 look out for each other, and we do take that 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.320 seriously because we know that, you know, you can really 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:37.400 do yourself some harm in this kind of medium when 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.720 you're you're being so open and you're digging up these things. Um. 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.280 And our very first thing that we started out doing 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.599 was this mini series on trauma, right, and we hadn't 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.640 like our check ins and making sure like both of 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:54.240 us are okay and that we're not doing ourselves harm 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.640 um by being open with this. So this it was 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.119 very important to me, and because I knew you were 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:01.840 interested in it, and I know you'll talk about why 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.080 uh in a minute, but it was very important to 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:06.640 me to be like, Okay, if you're gonna do this, 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:08.840 what is our game plan, whatever we're gonna do to 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:11.119 make sure that this is going to be a healthy, 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.640 non traumatizing experience for you. And yeah, as in fact, 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:16.720 when I would take the test and send it off, 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:18.760 we would do a check in with each other. When 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.320 I got the results, we did a check in, and 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:23.800 then you checked in again with me about a day later, 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:25.400 like how are you. I don't even know if it 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:27.919 was day later, like a few hours later, and how 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:29.840 are you? And I think that's really important for us 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.520 to talk about because many of you already know when 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.720 it comes to my identity, I have a lot of 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.000 trauma surrounding it. As in fact, that was part of 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.320 my therapy session I had when we did our Trauma 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.560 mini series when I started on this podcast. And it's 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:49.480 not unusual for adoptees, especially transracial adoptees, to seek out 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.000 more information of their biological family um and there's a 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:56.040 lot of abandonment and attachment issues that come along with it. 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:59.480 And with the advancements of these types of results and companies, 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.480 people are able to dig a little bit for information 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:06.680 when it comes to their ancestry, their family and possible 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:10.240 health traits. We've talked about personal experiences previously when we 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.920 talked with author Nicole Chung about her memoir all we 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:17.000 can ever know and even for myself, a part of 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:22.080 that journey has to include protecting my mental and emotional health. 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:27.320 And uh, we all know therapy is something we talk 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:30.800 about a lot on here and also to go ahead 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:33.919 and put this caveat therapy is a privilege, but it 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.640 is important to stee get out if you can, UM. 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:40.120 And also finding a good therapist and finding a therapist 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:45.360 that you specializes in what you need very very important, 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:47.640 very important, UM. And I will tell you I did 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.920 choose a therapist. If you all remember when we did 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:52.800 our Trauma Many series, that was one of the big 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:54.880 things that we started out with as well, that both 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:59.279 Annie and I would have therapeutic sessions so that we 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:02.000 could discuss the really heavy topics that we were talking 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:05.560 about at that point in time. And any I think 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:09.840 you're still talking to that therapist, correct, M. Yes, we 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.960 loved her, and uh, I stepped back a little bit 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.520 because I got too busy, I didn't have enough money 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:18.679 all those things. So I came back UM and researched 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:23.360 a new therapist whom I found through the world of interwebs. Um, 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.680 who is actually a transnational adoptee herself, so I'm very 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:29.440 glad to hear this, and she specializes in childhood trauma, 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:32.880 is a woman of color. I believe she's Korean as well, 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:35.120 so all of these check marks that I found. We 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:39.760 had a beginning session and we had a phone conversation UM, 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.320 and everything is fit and aligned, and it was really 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:44.520 nice and different to have a moment to be able 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.880 to talk about my identity issues and her to fully 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.720 understand and to kind of call it out because a 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:52.880 lot of the times I've had many therapists who would 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.720 be like, oh man, that's hard, how did you react 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:59.320 to that? Try to figure out how to respond to me? 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.840 And because she kind of understood, she knew how to 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.800 So it was really interesting or refreshing. And it's a 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.559 whole new turn for me because I've not had uh 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:11.920 an Asian woman being my therapists. I've had a black woman, 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.240 and then I've had a lot of white women who 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:17.239 are my therapist, and so this is this is definitely 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:21.760 a different experience and UM, I'm interested to see how 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:23.480 far we can go. But yeah, we're gonna be doing 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.560 a lot of unpacking and trauma work. But I did 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.560 also let her know the very beginning, Hey, I'm doing 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:34.880 a thing with DNA reports, and I know this could 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.360 be triggering for me because there's a lot of what 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:40.719 ifs in my head that I've been able to kind 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.640 of ignore, but with these I it gives me a 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:47.400 way to research deeper. So we talked about that and 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:51.160 why we're doing this. Yeah, I'm very curious, and I 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:55.080 was very curious. But also with that, I knew that 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.640 I had trauma and triggers and I needed to recognize 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:01.080 those as well. And I the reason we wanted to 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.600 talk about this, And you're the one who came to 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.280 and that thinkes sent me an article talking about how 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:10.480 it can be traumatizing to discover new information. Yes, so 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.760 that can come from this types of reports, and I 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:18.160 was very grateful, like, oh dang, yeah that's true. And 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:20.560 so we wanted to talk about and highlight that it 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:24.400 is important to put yourself in a good place m hm, 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.959 so that it doesn't break you down right right and 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:30.920 where you know, as we've been saying, we're very big 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:32.840 proponents of that because I think for a lot of 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:38.679 people they might not consider that aspects of of getting 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.920 a DNA report. And it's not like more information is good, 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:46.000 but just being prepared that there could be things that 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:50.640 you find out or that possibly possibilities that you're made 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.120 aware of that maybe you weren't prepared for and maybe 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:56.360 it can be maybe it would be something that's sharing 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:58.600 for you. So just like making sure, yes, you're in 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.319 that good place, so you've got a plan in place, 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:04.240 you got a friend to support you or have your back, 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:08.720 because you know, we're all about supporting women, supporting women 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:12.040 and being there for each other um and we also 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:16.720 are just very aware of like potential triggers and traumas. 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:18.040 On the show, I feel like we talked about it 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:21.440 quite often, right, and it's important because we've experienced it, 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:23.920 and sometimes having a name for what you're going through 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.040 without realizing it is nice to be like, oh again, 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.760 because I do recognize my triggers, I'm able to prepare 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:35.920 so big events and discoveries can undo some things for me. 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:39.160 And therefore being able to recognize like the physical tills, 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:44.240 it's really important to prepare. And I say prepare in 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:47.760 the big ways, but yeah, information like this can give 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.600 you a chance to take control of a few things, 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:54.760 whether you're made aware of things, um, how you proceed 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:59.320 with things, just overall life things. I guess for me specifically, um, 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.160 and we're gonna talk a little more about it in 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:05.480 a second. But I made some headway and discovering a 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:09.000 little history about my past, including getting in contact with 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:13.440 possible family members, distant relatives possibly, so a lot of 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:18.679 things and that could be traumatizing, especially for me. Yes, yes, yes, 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.920 that's what we know. But yeah, so that's a way 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.679 that I did want to prepare and would tell people 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.920 who are doing these types of reports, uh, to to 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:32.760 be aware uh of your triggers and and be having 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:34.800 a plan in place, whether it's to go to a 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:39.280 supportive friend, taking breaks, taking naps because I love naps. 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:56.080 Stuff like that is really important, y'all. It's uh. I 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:59.160 did get my report and going through it it kind 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:00.640 of made me laugh, and go through it kind of 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:02.920 made me laugh again. Like I said, I've been interested 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:06.640 to learn about my background, about digging into what can 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.520 be emotionally taxing, but you know, I wanted to find 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:12.880 out a little more, get some healthy information, um, and 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:17.320 get a kind of a start of some of the 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:19.040 things that I had no clue, so I have no 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:22.440 access to you all know. I am a Korean adoptee. 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:24.880 Came into the U S when I was seven, lived 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.000 in an orphanage for two to three years. I don't 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:29.920 have a lot of information other than the information that 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:31.960 was brought with me and given to my parents. I 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.560 can't even remember the orphanage I was in. I'm sure 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:39.040 my parents have that information. I was adopted through Whold International, 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:43.800 and Whole International is the biggest adoption agency within Korea, 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:47.559 as in fact, a majority of people probably were adopted 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:50.400 through Holt International. And just for a little history on 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.440 who Hold International Services were, it was created by Bertha 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:58.360 and Harry Holt, who actually adopted eight what they call 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:01.800 war orphans themselves. So during this time, there are a 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.800 lot of children out in the streets, as historically said, 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:10.080 because they were by racial usually white soldiers with Korean women, 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:12.280 and that brought a lot of shame. There's a lot 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:14.720 of factors to this um and so you saw a 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:18.760 lot of orphaned young kids, young children, and they adopted 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:20.920 eight and from that it kind of just grew into 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:26.760 a large service that grew internationally. A huge amount of 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.640 adoptees went to Norway, did Mark, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:33.560 and Germany, and eventually into the US. We know, a 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:37.040 lot of Western Christianity and religion kind of popped into 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.440 play as well. And it was during this time up 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:44.200 until I would say the nineteen nineties, that international adoption 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:48.080 like that, transracial adoption like that, was huge, and from 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.800 what I gathered, was a pretty big money market for 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.440 South Korea. Of course, there's a lot of backlash now 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.559 there's a bigger conversation about that and and the trauma 0:13:56.840 --> 0:14:00.160 that it has caused. There's also this idea that a 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.599 majority of the adoptees were young girls or girls or 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:08.960 baby girls because the lineage and um the patriarch essentially 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:14.360 kind of trumps matriarchal lines and apparently can't be as 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:19.920 traced when it comes to legacies and inheritances and such, 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:22.360 so hold all these things. Apparently there was this whole 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.560 print in what was called the Pound Pup Legacy that 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.000 was written in The Progressive, which was an article I 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:31.480 think based in South Korea, talking about a lot of 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.720 the effects and everything that happened, even talking about there 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:38.640 was a city supply of healthy children being shipped to 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:42.720 these different these different countries. There's also the same conversation 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:45.680 and we've talked about it before when we talked about surrogacy, 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.120 where women were told that they were just going to 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:51.880 be cared for at these orphanages and then kind of 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:55.640 tricked into sighting over rights. So there's a lot of conversation. 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.280 I know we've heard that with Nicole Chung. She had 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:02.320 a little conversation about how not everyone was informed on 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.160 what happened, and that happened a lot in in these 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:08.400 kind of agencies. They're trying to do a lot more 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.680 transparency when it comes to adoptions, but still a lot 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.880 of questions, uh, and a lot of things that had 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.600 happened in the past where people can't reconnect. I will 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:20.120 say I believe Wholt International had a service for adopted 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:22.680 because who grow up and want to find out about 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:25.200 their families and having them travel back to South Korea. 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:27.200 I don't have a distinct memory when I was in 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.400 the orphanage of an older woman, a young woman coming 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:33.680 back with her adopted parents to visit the orphanage and 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:36.440 kind of looking back on her history. So that was interesting. 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:38.400 I have very little memories. I remember her showing up 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:43.080 and everybody being very excited about that. Within that culture 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:47.080 also was a really kind of sad uh which that 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.120 I kind of believed is that whole like these girls, 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.560 if they weren't adopted, they would go into prostitution. That 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.440 was the immediate reaction. And so we were being saved 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.160 from a world of prostitution, and not that that couldn't happen, 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.280 but it was such a cautionary tale that was told 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:07.600 to white Americans to save children that it became a 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:11.040 whole persona And for me, I grew up hearing that, like, 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:15.520 be grateful, be grateful because you could have lasted this way. 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:17.640 And don't get me wrong, in that orphanage, I remember 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.160 a lot of young girls who are aging out, kind 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.360 of a lot like the foster system here in the US. 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:25.720 They were just aging out and no one was helping them. 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.320 The government wasn't helping them, the people were not connecting 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:31.760 people with them. Of course, it could be also that 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:34.080 you know, these young kids have been traumatized in the 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:36.560 system and just want to be out, and so they 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.200 try to rush out. So it was very interesting to 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:42.480 look at that history. But with that type of history 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.520 that also means things get lost in translation, so we 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:47.240 would lose a lot of records. I was told that 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.640 I did have chickenpox vaccine, that I actually did have 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:54.600 measles at one point in time, um, and that that 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.440 was about it, and like, and I was told that 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:02.000 my parents were divorced, um and I was not allowed 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:06.560 to live with my stepfather, so they gave me to 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:11.119 my grandmother because my stepfather, my real biological father, was 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:13.400 not able to care for me. And then after that 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:15.840 she took me to the orphanage because she couldn't care 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:18.199 for me either. So those are the things that I 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:22.199 remember distinctly as being told my history. But outside of that, 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:25.320 I don't have anything. I don't know. I have a 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:28.000 picture of what I thought was my brother, but again 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.720 I have in and out dreams that are not necessarily true. 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:34.480 All these things um that came with me. So having 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.840 this kind of breakdown was interesting. So let me talk 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:39.119 about that, because now that I'm giving you the sad 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:43.840 history of adoption in my life, and everybody want to 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.600 thinking about that. So according to my twenty three and 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:54.000 me ancestry composition report, I am one that Korean or 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:58.080 at least very highly likely, and according to the rundown 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:02.160 of the report. It really says Korean. So I don't 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:03.760 know if you've been able to look at these reports 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.440 or view these reports. It has kind of a color 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.399 wheel and it tells you kind of the breakdown of 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:13.720 ancestry or DNA right down. Of course, it changes apparently 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:16.760 with more and more people get reports or take on 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:19.280 the twenty three and me and actually sit in their 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.200 kit um. So the overall breakdown was interesting and made 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:25.480 me take a deeper look at my own history. So 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.119 the way it breaks down, it shows me the different 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:33.400 administrative regions. So it says, quote, South Korea has sixteen 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:36.719 administrative regions, and we found the strongest evidence of your 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:40.080 ancestry in the following nine regions. So the top five 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:45.040 is one is Soul, second is three is Jella num Do, 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:49.240 and then four's Bussan, and then and then five is Chon. 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:54.159 So it's really interesting. I didn't like reading these, and 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:56.359 now I want to go and research it more because 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.119 those regions are not so of course I know Soul, 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:02.840 I'll so no Busan. I was told Signam City and 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:06.200 I think that's in the region of Soul, so I'm 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:08.880 interested in seeing that to be able to see those 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:11.760 regions um as well. And like I said, I did 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.960 try to contact someone who's like fifth removed cousin because 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:18.280 I found out they were adopted as well, and they 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:20.400 live in the States. So there's a chunk of people 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:22.480 that live in the States. And several of the people 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.200 that I went through that had connections or it shows 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:29.200 as possible relatives for me that has that list. Uh, 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:31.560 several of them were adopted, so that says a lot 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:33.600 to me. And I didn't understand the history behind that, 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.760 and I want to learn more because I'm like, wow, uh, 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:40.119 this seems to be so common. I wonder why. And 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:42.000 so there's a whole breakdown. Of course, I also did 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:45.720 my cyberstalking and went through like Facebook trying to find them. 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:50.280 Instagram LinkedIn was a big one, um, But I just 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:52.080 reached out to the one person because it turned out 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:54.560 she and I had been adopted the same year and 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:57.159 I really kind of wanted to see if we could connect. 0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:01.080 Haven't made it beyond that other than we shared each 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.200 other like as in like we confirmed and I guess 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:06.199 you can friend them. It's the best way I can 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:08.040 think of it. As like in Facebook, you can friend 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:11.400 them and so I don't know, we'll see, but it's 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:14.360 there and there's an option there, and it was nice 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:18.080 to know that I had an option with that. So listeners, 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:22.399 if I go beyond, I'll let you know, yes. But 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:25.280 uh so, moving on, we want to talk about the 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:27.840 help and Trades reports. And I didn't know it exactly 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.919 to expect since my background and my ancestry is a 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:34.760 big mystery for me. But looking through the reports, I 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.439 was my oldly surprised. Um. And just for reference, in 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:39.639 the in the reports, the way it's phrased, when you 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:44.000 see it, it's it is quote variants not detected, typical likelihood, 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:48.040 slightly increased risk, and increased likelihood, So that's kind of 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:51.560 how they report it. So in my report, type two 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:56.040 diabetes was at an increased likelihood with it being at range, 0:20:56.400 --> 0:20:59.080 so it gives you kind of a range of compared 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:03.960 to other how likely, and also states with it that 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:07.719 overall it can depend on different factors, which is always 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:11.640 important to remember because for me, I get my yearly 0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:14.920 physical exam with the blood words. Of course that helps 0:21:14.920 --> 0:21:17.600 our insured stuff. Um, and I know that I'm in 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:20.399 a good place right now. We will definitely have to 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:23.000 keep a close watch on it because things change and 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:25.560 your age and that all factors in as well. Yes, 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:41.720 And it's also worth noting that according to the c 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:46.040 d C for women, quote, diabetes increases the risk of 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:50.080 heart disease, the most common diabetes complication, by about four times, 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:53.120 and women but only about two times. And men and 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:56.160 women are also at a higher risk of other diabetes 0:21:56.160 --> 0:22:00.199 related complications such as blindness, kidney disease, and depression. Right. 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:02.919 And I didn't actually know the statistics until after I 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:04.879 started my research. I was like, Okay, let's see what 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:08.199 this is about. I wanted to dig deeper and just 0:22:08.440 --> 0:22:11.520 being able to get and attain this information as good 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:13.760 and I was like, oh wow, I didn't I didn't 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:16.120 know that women were higher risk. I feel like there's 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:17.639 other factors that I wanted to talk about in that, 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:20.760 but you know, we'll get to that later. Um. And again, 0:22:20.800 --> 0:22:24.040 it also says in the City City Report that it's 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:28.720 quote different among women African American, Hispanic, Latina, American, Indian, 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:32.159 Alaska Native, and Asian Pacific Islander women are more likely 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:35.960 to have diabetes than white women, which, of course, being 0:22:35.960 --> 0:22:39.200 an Asian woman, that's good for me to know. Yes, yes, 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:43.480 indeed yeah. UM. Also in that increased likelihood category was 0:22:43.520 --> 0:22:46.880 coronary artery disease, which Smithy has talked about before as 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:49.840 it can present differently in women UM than men. But 0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:53.520 also starting to remember according to the CDC quote heart 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:56.760 diseases sometimes thought of as a man's disease. Almost as 0:22:56.800 --> 0:22:59.719