The Hidden Evils of Genealogy

"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth."
- Mohandas Ghandhi

For most of us, genealogy starts out as innocent curiosity, without a thought about what that curiosity did to the cat. Even though you are merely setting out to learn more about your family tree, and beginning with only the best of intentions, you may find yourself uncovering long-buried information that can have a devastating impact on living members of your family. Does that sound like an exaggeration? Listen to the following example.

The current emphasis on hereditary diseases being handed down from previous generations leads you to trace your own ancestry. After noting your own biographical stats, you begin working on those of your parents. You interview family members and rummage through all the ancient photos and documents in the trunk in your attic. It's a lot more work than you had expected, but it's more fun, too.

By the time you've filled in six generations of a simple pedigree chart, that famous chain-of-ancestry form that provides the base for most family history recording, you are filled with a little swell of satisfaction at the results of your efforts. After all, you have succeeded. You have triumphantly uncovered the information about your ancestors that you were looking for. However, you've also discovered a dark secret.

Your research reveals that one of your ancestors was not the actual son of the man he had always believed to be his father, his mother's husband. He was another man's son, shattering the beliefs of generations of your family members about their family history. They had believed a lie all these years.

Oh, you can fix the genealogy, all right, by switching gears and researching the actual father, but what about the part that can't be fixed? What if your ancestor, the son whose illegitimacy you have uncovered, were still alive? What if he did not know that the man he had always believed to be his biological father, was not even related. The truth was that another man was his father. What do you do then?

What is the right thing to do? Should you ask to speak with him alone, so that you can explain what you have discovered about the "mistake" in his family history? Should you tell him the truth, destroying the belief he has held his whole life? Should you beat around the bush and attempt to be tactful, or would it be better to be forthright? Is it a violation of his privacy, even to admit that you know?

What about the other members of your family? Do they have a right to know the truth about a false family history? Do you have a right to tell them? Without a doubt, you have ended up in the center of an ethical dilemma, through no fault of your own.

Here's another. What if you learn that the birth father of an ancestor was actually a relative of the mother? What if it wasn't a second or third cousin, or even a first? What if it was someone much, much closer? Regardless of whether it is determined to be a case of molestation or of consensual incest, this kind of revelation can be heartbreaking.

What about a discovery whereby the contemporary family members' fundamental values are violated? What if you learn that one of your ancestresses had undergone an abortion, contrary to the tenets of her own religious faith? If this happened long ago, and the female ancestor is no longer living, the problem is abstract; but if she is still alive, her privacy, reputation, and relationship with other relatives may be at risk.

This is the kind of revelation that can be devastating to individuals' sense of the basic honor and morality of their family. It might even lead to worry that the ancestors' behavior could have caused biological harm to their innocent descendants.

Still other kinds of problems can come up. Of course it would be reasonable for you to reveal any discoveries of heart disease, diabetes, or any of countless other health problems in your family history. However, what if the illness carries negative moral implications? What if your ancestor is discovered to have been a drug addict, an alcoholic, or someone who had contracted the H.I.V. virus? Should you include this information when you publish your genealogy research?

The medical profession has determined that publishing this type of genealogical data can be a violation of patient confidentiality. Patients have the right to insist upon privacy and refuse to allow public dissemination of what that patient may regard as personal and private information. This includes genealogical details. However, while this may be true of the medical profession, we're not talking about doctors and patients; we're talking about members of the same family.

You have very few choices. You may decide to reveal your discoveries to certain family members, but not to publish any of it. You could publish your entire genealogy research, including everything exactly as you found it. You can also censor certain details from the published genealogy as a way of protecting the family.

Whatever you decide to do with the secret information you may learn about in the course of researching your family tree, the thing that makes it difficult is the conflict between telling the truth and protecting the feelings of your family members.

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