After having read the WHOLE 10-page A4 booklet that came along with it I of course had another reason to add: 4) they delete the samples once the research is done.
However, also after having read the whole thing I decided not to submit any swabs. The main reason being that they use it and link it to the DNA of your parents to study inheritable diseases. Since I'm adopted, my DNA would be of no use anyway, or pretty little. I had hoped maybe it could reveal some diseases that run in my family, in which case I would have benefitted from it...but it said that only in extremely serious, severe cases would they consider telling the person in question about it. And before they could even do that they would contact the ethics of science something bla bla bla to ask if it'd be ethical to tell the person of some major disease etc. etc. So basically likelihood of any good for them or me was pretty tiny. So I've decided against it and instead now have two really cool swab sticks that I can "play" around with and pretend I work with forensics..........
Anyway, it made me think of all the things that you don't know as adopted, at least my kind of adopted when you have no idea about anything. At one point I even asked my parents if they really thought my birthday was on the 21st of September. Mum stated she was rather certain of that fact since at least I was born in a hospital and not just left outside the hospital or orphanage in a shoe box - like someone apparently was who was from South Korea.
So for the sake of interest (for those who are), I thought I'd make a list of questions that I sometimes think to myself about (some more than others) and wish I would ever know the answer to.
-What was the reason for giving me away? (At least I am not one of those children who live miserably because they think they don't deserve love since their parents didn't want them. I'm just curious out of general curiosity since it might imply something about my parents' life style or history
-Where am I from? Or really, where are my parents from? (here's the confusing part, since I'm adopted from Vietnam but apparently look much more like a Chinese. This is not something that just my mum says but you know for sure when a Vietnamese person asks you if you're from China.... Not to mention how much taller I am than the general Vietnamese woman...whiter skin and less black hair (sadly).)
-Do I have any siblings? (Big, big question for an only child!) Do they look like me? Were they also adopted away? Where on Earth may they have ended up? Do they also wonder about their origins?
-Do I look like someone?!?!?!?! Who?
-Not to mention whether I have any inherited diseases or tendencies (such as -6.0 nearsightedness!! Must admit I think the least of this one though. Only time it pops into my head is because of my sight or when the doctor asks me, before prescribing anything for me, whether I have any genetic diseases. Scariest part is when I say I don't know, they say 'okay, then we just assume you don't'. Thanks, what a safe assumption.....)
-What do my parents do? Are they even alive? Do they know each other or was it just sort of a one night stand thing...
-Aaaand lastly, that I can think of at least, what my life would have been like had I not been adopted - or adopted to another family. This question doesn't really count though since all the others can to some extent be answered by my parents if I'd ever meet them while this question is just a generally hypothetical interesting question to think about.
Anyways, now I'm off to do something else.
Over 2000 words of my (so far terribly written and only drafted) dissertation!! "Only" 10 000 words to go...!