A Victorian pilot study
Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing (DTC-GT) services are emerging as a way for those separated from family members by adoption or out of home care, to obtain information or seek connection with their lost kin.
However, practice has outstripped current knowledge and guidance for these vulnerable communities; and the impacts for those who search, those who are searched for, and the organisations that hold records, are not well understood.
This co-designed, Victorian project seeks to understand the effects of using DTC-GT services for the adoption and out of home care communities, and the accompanying ethico-legal issues for data collection, storage, use and disclosure.
This project is supported by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute's 2022 Seed Funding Round.
Have you used DNA to search for information or family members? Have you been found by someone who has used DNA?
If you have an adoption or out-of-home care connection in Victoria, we would love to hear about your experiences with Direct-to-Consumer DNA testing.
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Do you support those who use DNA to search for information or family members? Have you supported those who have been found by someone who has used DNA?
We would love to hear about your experiences with Direct-to-Consumer DNA testing.
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These surveys have been designed by the University of Melbourne research project team with input from those with lived experience.
For further information or to request a paper copy of a survey please contact: Dr Jeanette (Jenny) Conrick, Tel: +61 3 9035 9938, email: jeanette.conrick@unimelb.edu.au.
This project has human research ethics approval from The University of Melbourne, number 2023-25995-41078-2. It will be carried out according to the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007).
University-based researchers
Dr Jeanette Conrick, Department of Social Work
Dr Cate O'Neill, Faculty of Arts
Dr Ashley Barnwell, School of Social and Political Sciences
Dr Megan Prictor, Melbourne Law School
Kirsten Wright, Faculty of Arts
Nicola Laurent, Faculty of Arts
Dr Ralph Hampson, Department of Social Work
External collaborators
Charlotte Smith, VANISH
Jo Fraser, ARMS
Sharon Guy, Open Place
For information about this project, please contact:
Dr Jeanette Conrick
School of Social Work
Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
Email: jeanette.conrick@unimelb.edu.au