America has a new obsession and that is DNA Testing. The direct-to-consumer industry has blossomed exponentially from about $15 million in sales in 2010 to more than $99 million in 2017, and is projected to reach $310 million by 2022, according to market-research company Kalorama Information.

The need to know our history is something many people in America long to know about. America is not only a relatively new country but also such a melting pot of persons from every country it isn’t as easy to know your heritage here as countries in Europe where for hundreds of years their ancestry lines were documented as a standard practice.

In Europe properties were handed down generation to generation and genealogy was important to document for estate inheritance. Here in America homes are sold on an average every 5 years to anyone offering the right price. And marriage in America, for the most part, is decided upon based on finding someone we fall in love with and not because of the same nationality or family line although I am not speaking for everyone. We are literally a nation of mutts. Personally I have at least 6 different nationalities in my heritage that I know of and this is before doing any DNA testing.

DNA testing is a way to know ourselves more deeply and to create a story about who we are, where we came from and connect more intimately with our history. We are seeking connections and a sense of belonging to something and DNA testing is a way to find out this information and connect us to our relatives and ancestors.

Ancestry is not the only application of DNA testing. DNA testing can also be done for health research, genetic pre-dispositions (although the study of epigentics tells us genes get turned off and on by our thoughts and environment rather than heredity so putting too much stock in genetic pre-dispositions is, in my personal opinion, a big waste of time. Others may disagree with that but read up on epigenetics and make your own decision.)

DNA testing can also help people confirm specific relationships such as paternity and maternity, which is a different kind of DNA testing than ancestry testing. Direct relationship testing can tell people about their current situation and relationships and weed through all the infidelity issues that are so prevalent in this day and age. Whatever the reason you are using DNA testing for you are not alone in your quest to find the truth and answers about who you are.