Late discovery of genetic origins

There are a number of ways YOU can participate in this process.

Provide non-identifying information to any or all of the questions below.

Your email address will be received and held with a printed copy of your response in a secure place under my direct supervision.

provide identifying information in the Comments box only if you feel comfortable to do so. This is not a university supported research project and is not being conducted using quantitative/qualitative research protocols. Provision of identifying information may however strengthen future applications for funding to expand this site, set up a more permanent networking vehicle, or to conduct further studies in this area.

E-mail Address: *

What type of late discoverer are you? *

Do you want to explain your discovery status in detail?

What was your age at the time of late discovery? *

How long has it been since late discovery? *

How did you discover this information about your genetic origins? *

Do you wish to share the story of your discovery?

How has the discovery of the intentional concealment of knowledge of your genetic origins affected you? *

Where are you located?

What is your gender?

Do you have any other comments?


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Who am I?

My name is Helen Riley and I am a late discovery adopted person. I found out I was adopted at the age of 21. This secret and its 'late discovery' had implications for my identity pre-disclosure, and significant long-term impacts on my identity, on my relationships with others and on my values.

I have been interested for many years in raising awareness about the effects and implications of discovering the truth of one's genetic origins later in life. I am currently conducting PhD research at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, into the ethical implications of this type of secrecy and its late discovery as an adult. This research includes gathering stories from both late discovery adopted people and donor insemination offspring. There are links on this site to my published research and other research on this topic.

I have set up this site in order to try and gather more information and data about 'late discovery' experiences, and to provide a central point for accumulating information about the different types of late discovery – eg. late discovery of adoptive status, late discovery of donor conception status, and other types that may not fall into either of these categories.

Late discovery of genetic origins

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