Here's a guest post I wrote for the MyHeritage blog with my five top tips for an adoption-related search.

The use of the genealogical DNA website called GEDmatch to solve a long history of crimes perpetrated by the Golden State Killer has a lot of people wondering, “Should I be concerned about the privacy and security of my DNA?”

Some families and its members are more comfortable with sharing medical history information. In other families, it is harder to learn this information. When you have the chance to gather health information from family, what should you focus on?

There's no right or wrong way to filter through the results of raw genomic data and no professional standards or guidelines about how to do. So I've come up with my own strategy for how to do it out of necessity.

We don't know and understand all the factors that cause Alzheimer's yet, so while genetic testing can be helpful, it oftentimes won't be able to tell the whole story.

Adoption affects access to information about a person's history, most significantly for the person who was adopted. As this post reveals, it can also affect the parents who have adopted a child with complex medical needs and no clear underlying cause.

Anna Childers is a genetic counselor who interviewed adult adoptees on their perspectives on DNA testing.

How do you know if a DNA company you found online is reputable? And whether its results are reliable?

With the growth of tests like those from Ancestry and 23andMe, questions naturally arise. These tests promise to connect people to unknown genetic relatives, reveal ethnic background, and possibly uncover latent health factors.

Are you giving a DNA test as a gift this holiday season? Here are some things to consider before making this decision.