I always loved having an Irish last name — so much so that when I got married, I continued using O’Brien as part of my professional name. O’Brien was such a part of me, I couldn’t let it go.
Ironically, my Irish heritage is the one I know least about.
I know I’m part Scottish — my maternal grandmother was born in Scotland and moved to the United States when she was 5 years old. My maternal grandfather was German. My paternal grandmother was Hungarian — she never even learned to write English very well. But my paternal grandfather? He split when my father was very young. All we know is that his name was James O’Brien. My grandmother never told us anything about his family or where he was from, just that he ended up in a coastal town in Connecticut. Trying to find traces of a James O’Brien isn’t exactly an easy task — can you imagine how many people in Ireland share that name?
So when at-home DNA kits first hit the market, I was intrigued. Would it be possible to learn more about my Irish background? Google tells me the O’Brien name dates back to Irish royalty in the 10th century, and that O’Briens ruled various kingdoms until England’s Henry VIII came along. I kind of like the idea of the royalty part — hmm, maybe I should have gotten an invitation to Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding after all!
Writer Jason Liebler took a look at at-home DNA kits in Who Do You Think You Are? and talks to a genetic counselor about the validity and accuracy of the tests. Rather than spend too much time on the ancestry part, we looked more at the medical side of the tests, such as whether the tests could truly tell you if you were at risk for specific health issues. The conclusion? While the tests could potentially provide valuable information, any medical “diagnosis” would likely mean a trip to a doctor to figure out what’s what.
Truth be told, I’ve yet to send away for one of those DNA kits, although I’m certainly curious. Would the information help me learn more about my Irish heritage (or — yikes — lack thereof) and maybe find new relatives? Would I be able to learn why my mom and her mom had red hair but I don’t? Or, on the more serious side, would spitting in a test tube tell me if I was likely to get breast cancer like my mom had (and survived), or a rare brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma like my dad has? Such tumors, which are benign but cause hearing loss, are said to be hereditary. Does that mean I’ll lose my hearing one day?
Knowing what could be coming has its pros and cons and is certainly something to consider. And besides, maybe I should learn whether to start making my children call me Your Highness.
