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.

I would highly recommend uploading your raw dna to Gedmatch where you will may match many people who tested with Ancestry (by far the biggest database) provided they have also uploaded to Gedmatch.

@Pineapple1

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.

Have to say I agree too.

It’s easy to say “ get on with your life “ when you know and have always known who your bio family are and your family history.

Cherryfangtastic, thanks for acknowledging the romanticisation of the situation.

I'm uncomfortable with the way that those of us who live such immensely rich and privileged lives tend to sit in our comfy armchairs and get all sentimental about the lives of indigenous people. Particularly about the lives of indigenous women.

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.*

That’s how you feel about it but it’s not what OP feels like about it. There is no right or wrong way to feel here. OP is adopted so perhaps her wish to find out about her relatives and heritage are something she feels she needs to get a sense of her history.

I think those saying forget about your heritage and get on with your life are being incredibly closed-minded. Human beings are driven to make connections in order to develop a cohesive narrative to their lives. I know from experience that those who have no contact with their birth families, no matter how lovely their adoptive family have been, can often feel cast adrift. It's your connection with past generations which anchors you. Besides which, family history is fascinating! Good luck, op.

These DNA tests are pretty much generalisations.

I had mine done and my ancestors way back were from Siberia, and more recently a mix of Norwegian and Dutch.

I'd not set too much store by the tests but if @KolyaReindeer you want to pursue your family tree that's perhaps more relevant.

@Orangeblossom78 I think they have changed in reverse of what you experienced, timewise. I am in my 60s and my DCs are fine and I never had the injection.

HunkyPunk. You said exactly what I was tryIng to say but far more articulately.

How very exciting OP! The Saami are a fascinating people. I have a distant ancestor (far too distant to claim Saami heritage) who was a shaman.

Might be a good idea to look at other genealogical resources with the information you already have (do you have names of your birth mum's parents? Further back?), MyHeritage is popular in Finland at least, Sweden and Norway too, so might be a good place to find out more. I found out my maternal family history on geni.com (some of my relatives are very much into it so have researched far back)

[quote JinglingHellsBells]@sotiredofthislonelylife My children are in their 30s and I'm mid 60s.
You?[/quote]
My children are between 45 - 50

I agree with shed. Learning about your heritage is a wonderful and important thing for anyone to do, and must be especially meaningful for someone who is adopted. But saying that being 1/4 sami explains your love of snow and that this makes you "living proof" of nature over nurture is ridiculous. I'm 1/4 Spanish but have no intrinsic love for stereotypically Spanish things. My dp is 1/4 Greek but he isn't sitting around saying "ah, so that explains my love of Plato". Investigate your heritage by all means, but don't try and use it as a way to explain bits of your personality that don't need explaining. Some people just love the snow - I know I do! It just ends up otherwise like the people who say "my hot temper makes perfect sense now that I know I'm an Aries".

Shed I don't blame you. I recently returned from a long trip to India. When I told people that I found it difficult to enjoy because of horrific things occurring at the time (two young women raped and burned alive in a nearby village), I was met with several "well that's their culture isn't it". Couldn't believe it

That's bloody horrific Cherry

Not at all DesparateNan! Took me so long to write my post, I'm afraid I hadn't read yours making the same point

I'm confused OP. There is nothing stopping you investigating your birth family there are many agencies that will help you including charities and local authorities - are you in the UK? Or just start to study Sami culture etc - but what is the problem? What do you actually want? If your adoptive parents now sadly have dementia, how would they know what you are doing?

I am in my late 50s and found my birth mother in the 1980s. I found my birth father this year which was a massive shock. I've been there done that got the T-shirt etc., do you need names of post adoption services for people in your position?

Well you are what you are, ito your DNA but nurture gives you your culture.
Unless of course you want to move and become a sami and adopt the life.
It is hard to process these things, there are so many people who have surprises like this.
I'd learn as much about it as you can and maybe plan a visit if that's your thing.
There are fb groups for adoption and individual countries, races and creeds.
I'm Romany and Have cousins all over the world that I'm finding.
Have you got a Gedmatch number to find your relatives.
There are alot of Roma married into Sami, they will have dark hair and dark eyes. Not suggesting anyone with these features would be Roma, btw.
You don't have any Asian, Indian, Persia DNA, do you?

ByGrab I know I often sit and think of some of the women we met there. They were so lovely in such an unfair world.

@ByGrabtharsHammerWhatASavings

I agree with shed. Learning about your heritage is a wonderful and important thing for anyone to do, and must be especially meaningful for someone who is adopted. But saying that being 1/4 sami explains your love of snow and that this makes you "living proof" of nature over nurture is ridiculous. I'm 1/4 Spanish but have no intrinsic love for stereotypically Spanish things. My dp is 1/4 Greek but he isn't sitting around saying "ah, so that explains my love of Plato". Investigate your heritage by all means, but don't try and use it as a way to explain bits of your personality that don't need explaining. Some people just love the snow - I know I do! It just ends up otherwise like the people who say "my hot temper makes perfect sense now that I know I'm an Aries".

Agree with this. Completely get the fascination with background and heritage for the OP but yeah...one can get carried away on the wings.

I’ve got dark eyes and I love wildlife and snow...but I’m not a quarter Sami. I just happen to like these things.

Those tests are really unreliable, OP. Ancestry is far, far more complex than being able to look at a gene and say oh yeah, this person is 1/4 Sámi.

By all means look into this further but you need to be prepared to find out you don't have any Sámi links.. despite liking snow.

www.livescience.com/63997-dna-ancestry-test-results-explained.html

www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-accurate-are-online-dna-tests/

blog.genomelink.io/posts/understanding-the-accuracy-of-ancestry-dna-tests-for-the-dna-newbie

Those of you who have posted just to say "so what?", was was the point?
The op , like lots of us, thinks its interesting.
It's an interesting thread.

I don't understand why you would post just to say , so what?

@ByGrabtharsHammerWhatASavings

But saying that being 1/4 sami explains your love of snow and that this makes you "living proof" of nature over nurture is ridiculous. I'm 1/4 Spanish but have no intrinsic love for stereotypically Spanish things. My dp is 1/4 Greek but he isn't sitting around saying "ah, so that explains my love of Plato".

Completely agree. The snow thing made me laugh. It’s not that simple.

“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!”

Because this is silly and shows the OP is getting carried away.

I'm 1/4 Polish and I don't like sauerkraut OR sausage. I do like noodles and dragons, so my grandfather must have lied about his nationality and actually came from China.

😂