Posted by:
Tevai
(
)
Date: April 02, 2019 07:39PM
sbg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We had a “discovery” in my extended family
> that has caused nothing but heartache and angst.
> Not all DNA discovered siblings or cousins are
> welcome additions.
>
> Everyone on the planet does not want to be found.
Yeah, I know this situation well.
I agree that "Everyone on the planet does not want to be found." This is a statement which is 100% accurate.
But it is only the initial, "introductory," aspect of the situation.
Once the situation has "surfaced," and from a moral/ethical perspective, does the "child" (from at least the onset of their majority, through the entire rest of their life) have any moral/ethical standing here?
THEY have to live with whatever the fallout in that family has been--often/usually without understanding of what is "wrong," but knowing full well that something IS very, very wrong--even if they are being duped and misled--by their family, and possibly family associates--every moment of their lives.
The fundamental question is: Does a child, or an adult who WAS that child, have a right to their own biology? Their own family of origin? The inner truth of who they really "are"?
Or, because of the embarrassment or whatever of those who would seek to keep "all this" hidden, do they have no right to the truth (the fundamental truth, right down to the innards of their DNA) of who they actually are?
Do they not have a right to know their TRUE biological ancestors and relations, even if the contact is minimal and perhaps happens only once?
Is this not a fundamental right of being a human being, or an adult in our larger society?
And is it moral and ethically "right" that they are being lied to, and kept in the dark, every day of their entire lives?
Shouldn't there be SOME time, SOME point in time, when it is the RIGHT of these offspring to know the truth of who they actually are?
Why do the rights of biological parents and relatives eclipse the offspring's individual rights, both in a universal sense, and also as an American citizen?
My very biased personal opinion is: Children caught up in this have a RIGHT to their own biological truth....maybe not when they are children, but certainly beginning when they reach majority. Potential embarrassment of a/some party/parties does not negate another person's rights to their own biological truth.
I had two half-brothers I would very much like to have had even just one conversation with. They have both now died, and "that conversation" will never happen.
They never knew that they had a half-sister.
I think all three of us had a right, certainly as we reached adulthood, to that information, and access (if we desired it) to each other.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2019 07:43PM by Tevai.