I'm adopted and recently found out that I am one quarter Sámi

[KolyaReindeer]

Name changed because I would never hurt my parents but what do I do with this information?

I am living proof that nature outweighs nurture as I have always had very specific interests that my parents and big sister did not share - mostly large animal/snow related. Bizarre but genuinely true!

Apparently when I was born I had blue black hair and I have very dark brown eyes and a very rare Rh Neg blood group too. Until I did a DNA test I just thought that these things happened randomly but I googled pics of Sámi people and one of them looked more like my sister than my sister does!

As above, what do I do with this info, how do I process it? I love my Mum and Dad and my Sister but I cannot help but think that my 'heritage' needs acknowledging as well.

"If she's pregnant with an RhD positive baby, the antibodies can lead to rhesus disease when they cross the placenta and start attacking the baby's red blood cells."

If you're RhD negative, your blood will be checked for the antibodies (known as anti-D antibodies) that destroy RhD positive red blood cells. You may have become exposed to them during pregnancy if your baby has RhD positive blood.

"If no antibodies are found, your blood will be checked again at 28 weeks of pregnancy and you'll be offered an injection of a medication called anti-D immunoglobulin to reduce the risk of your baby developing rhesus disease (see preventing rhesus disease for more information)."

www.nhs.uk/conditions/rhesus-disease/diagnosis/

Oh that's just so cool, OP. I remember one of my old National Geographics having an article on the Sami people and of course, the photos were stunning.
It's interesting about your blood type. Ticks prefer your blood group. My SIL is also A negative and has Lyme disease and Bartonella, a sort of off-shoot of Lyme disease.

I hope you persevere and explore who you are when you feel ready.

OP, while I don't believe in that it's in your biology per se to like snow
@banivani google ‘genetic memory’! It’s fascinating.

I would recommend a trip to Inari in Finland. Not only is a beautiful place to spot the Aurora Borealis, but it's an important Sami centre (location of the Finnish Sami Parliament, and a really interesting Sami museum). What a fascinating group of people to be connected with! I did a DNA test and I was underwhelmed, sadly.

Well it looks like you off to the frozen north for you next holiday when we aloud to travel again.

I really don’t think your family will be upset if you want to find out we’re you descendants are from.

I had one of those DNA tests my ds gave it to me for Christmas, sent it away well when it came back the whole family thought it was so funny I’m 98% English but in brackets it said ESSEX no shit Sherlock I sound like I just walk of the set of Eastenders, even though I have lived in Scotland for 38 years . Obviously all my family sound Scottish.

OP have you seen this case study on the 23andMe website? The lady was in a similar situation to you and ended up moving to the Norwegian Arctic! Maybe you could contact her somehow?

blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/genetic-nomad/

One 1/4 Sami?

So what?

You never knew, why would you care?

I'm 1/4 german and 1/4 French... I don't care one bit. I'd go as far as to say I wish I wasn't.

Get on with your life.

[quote JinglingHellsBells]@Orangeblossom78 You don't always need a jab. I have 2 DCs am Rh A- and never had a jab. It's if your baby was jaundiced they can give you a jab to protect a 2nd baby.[/quote]
I think that is what happens nowadays.

When I had mine, a jab in the leg was given automatically, immediately after I gave birth - I am A neg. When cord blood was tested, all 3 of my babies also had negative blood 2 x A’s, 1 x O. So, in theory, I didn’t need the jab at all, but no harm done. Cost to the NHS? £5???
However, with the ‘newer’ system, unfortunately mistakes happen. One of my grandchildren was diagnosed with HDN in utero, had to be closely monitored with frequent Doppler scans, had to be delivered early and received 3 small transfusions in the first week of life. All for the sake of giving an injection (that she may not have needed) to his mother after a previous pregnancy.

The cost to the NHS for the checks/treatments etc. must have been substantial, not to mention the awful stress to the parents and danger to the life of the baby.

I am all for progress generally, but often, the old ways are the safest.

I did the Ancestry DNA tests because my dad had two sisters adopted. We found their children but unfortunately my aunts had passed away.

From doing family tree research, I discovered lots of people in the family tree had been adopted by other relatives and the family tree is just one big mess to be honest!

I strongly suspect my dad has other siblings and his uncle was his real dad. As I said - complicated!

the DNA tests show that dad and I are Irish, Scottish, English (all expected) but shows some Norwegian in us too so not sure where that comes from - maybe the vikings!

I urge everyone to do ancestry DNA tests if they can because even if you are certain of your family tree, someone else may not be, and your great great grandmother could be the link we need in our trees.

I did some work in Finland in the noughties and had colleagues who had Sami heritage. The Samis are the indigenous people of Arctic areas of Finland and Russia and Norway and Sweden. Go to the Riddu Riddu festival

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddu_Riđđu

if you want to encounter Sami culture.

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow was written by a Dane and when I mentioned it to my Finnish contacts they laughed in an appalled sort of way and said it was an outsider's romanticised view of the frozen north.

If you'd found you were a quarter Dutch would you immediately say 'That makes sense because I like Edam and I have some clogs'? No, you wouldn't. Be sensitive if you do act on this.

@sotiredofthislonelylife My children are in their 30s and I'm mid 60s.
You?

That's fancinating! It's funny, your interest in snow etc. I often wonder about instincts and genetics, if there's a link to ancestry.

It seems to be about the antibodies (Rh neg) see post above with NHS link

So they test first and then some get a jab and some not? I think anyway!

Main thing I guess is to make them aware of it just in case.

I'm nearly 60, my children are 30's to mid twenties and I never had an anti-D injection. When I asked about this later, I was told that they tested the children's blood groups and if they were Rh neg then I didn't need the jab.

So I am assuming my children are all Rh neg, and I've told them this, but really don't know!

Eldest child was jaundiced, but I never got anti D then either.

Very interesting - I hope you enjoy finding out more about the Sami people.

Maybe you're related to Renee Zellweger!

I have AB- blood type which 1% of the population has.

I wouldn’t have said A- is classed as ‘very rare’.

I'm sure OP has seen it, but the BBC produced a wonderful programme which just basically followed a Sami couple (? - it's a while since I watched it) on a sleigh journey. It's very beautiful.

How fascinating OP!
I’m a bit confused about the bit about your sister... you say she looks like the Sami people? She’s your birth sister then and you were adopted together, is that right?

Cherryfangtastic, stop a moment. Does my love of porridge suddenly make sense if I if I turned out to have a quarter Scottish heritage? Or my love of vodka suddenly turn out to make sense if a DNA test revealed that I was a quarter Russian? How would you feel if someone said they'd always loved tea and fish and chips, so everything made sense when they knew they were a quarter English?

This is romanticised nonsense verging on racist.

Hello, I was adopted and am only slightly younger than you. When I was in my twenties I found and contacted a biological aunt and found out that I was 1/4 Jewish, with some Asian blood thrown in too. It was a really wonderful thing to find out as I had been brought up Church of England but had always felt an affinity with Jewish culture, music, had been to many bat mitzvahs and longed to be part of it, and also an affinity with Asian cultures. My paternal grandmother was Jewish, and had arrived in the UK as a refugee from Eastern Europe.

It makes a big difference to how you feel, I think, adds dimension to your life, it is all good. In your shoes I would enjoy finding out more about it.

I wish I had known about it all growing up too, my dc love hearing about it all, but better late than never, at least you know now.

I also found out, at the same time, that my grandparents were journalists and music critics and involved in bringing jazz to the UK which tickled me pink too!

Renee Zellweger has sàmi heritage too if i remember correctly. How exciting op!!
How much are the DNA matches and how accurate are they?
I don't know much about my heritage or family so it'd be interesting to find out.
Aside from that.. I'm AB- and always thought I was "special", until I read this thread.. 🙄🤣

I’m A-, currently pregnant, and will be having the Anti-D injection. They did a blood test to test baby’s blood but it came back inconclusive so I’m having it anyway. They’ll test the cord blood when baby’s born. Pretty sure anti-D for Rh negative mums is the standard procedure.

OP I recommend that you order your first birth certificate and view the court papers on your adoption. You can also contact the adoption agency and ask to see their records.

It’s very important to contact the adoption contact registers for your country of residence, to see if there’s anything there for you and to leave information .

If your birth mother got married 6 months after you were born then you more likely have half siblings.

Please do all this before you get carried away on researching Sami culture based on a not very reliable blood test. You might be heading in the wrong direction.

Shed I didn't mean to offend you or sound racist! It IS a romanticised view. But I am also a biologist so I do wonder about these things.

I am an unusual mix of British, French, Mongolian. I often wonder/romanticise about the Mongolian side, probably because it's more unusual or 'rare' when compared with my other heritage. It's simply more interesting! I know lots about British/French culture because I've lived there, but I don't know very much about Mongolian culture.

Have to say I agree with pineapple up there.
So what? Being a quarter anything is pretty meaningless. You’re three quarters not Sami.