Diary of an Adoptee: GOT DNA? #719

DNA analysis, also called genetic fingerprinting, is a fascinating science that is routinely being updated. Deoxyribonucleic acid, a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms is the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information. If you watch a TV show like CSI, you see it used to help solve criminal investigations or determine maternity & paternity. Companies like 23andMe and Ancestry offer similar saliva tests for about $75 or less that determine ethnicity and other individual profile characteristics. Once this sample is analyzed, they can then match you up with other individuals who share similar traits (DNA Relatives). It was this kind of testing that has ultimately led me to finding five half-siblings, and perhaps solving the question of Hoosier Daddy? 

Over the past week, I’ve been admittedly obsessed with watching Game of Thrones (GOT). As is typical for me with most good series, I’m driven towards getting to the end. I’ve written about it in my blogs, shared thoughts with my son as well as other friends, and spent a lot of time viewing episode after episode. I did stop to watch the I.U. football game, but that turned out to be another disappointment, and paused a few times to catch up on the World Series. It will probably be good to get through GOT and GET on with my life.

After my wife and I completed our run/walk with the pups this morning, I did briefly switch from “Lannister World,” referencing one of the main family of characters in GOT, to “Bannister World,” my personal quest for information on my birth. My closest Bannister (as sometimes spelled) or Banister DNA match may very well be a half-sister. As to be expected, she was very surprised at my existence, but does not deny the possibility that her father might have had a premarital relationship with my birth mother, his distant cousin, and also a Banister. He would have then gone into the Marines, most likely unaware of the pregnancy, and married another woman with five children together. His son died at an early age, but his five living daughters would each be my half-sister. I have been in regular communication with Julianna, a DNA relative who shares 1,719 cMs (centimorgans). Wikipedia explains that centimorgans are units for measuring genetic linkage. It is defined as the distance between chromosome positions (also termed loci or markers) for which the expected average number of intervening chromosomal crossovers in a single generation is 0.01.  Ancestry.com provided this chart, comparing levels of shared DNA in centimorgans to possible genealogical relationship: 

This chart confirms my growing suspicions about Julianna and her sisters. It points to their father being my father, and may very well end my exhaustive quest to identify him, at least scientifically. Unfortunately, he is no longer living, but I may get a chance to meet the rest of his family over the holidays when I return to Indiana. This is very exciting news to me.

I have two distinct pockets of DNA relative matches on my Jerry Banister Family Tree through Ancestry.com. This is indicative of the two sides of the Banister family that I believe came together over the Thanksgiving holiday nearly 68 years ago. I was the result of that fateful union that led to my adoption. It may have been a one-night-stand or a short-lived affair, but my 85-year old birth mother Edna Faye refuses to acknowledge that it ever happened. She’s missing out on one of most successful events in her life, if I do say so myself!

In other “Banister World” news, a new DNA relative surfaced on the father’s side of the family. Her name is Sue Ramsey. I sent her a note through Ancestry, hoping to confirm that she is 2nd cousin Debora Sue White Ramsey (654 cMs), born in 1961. The Ramsey’s are joined to the Pershing’s through marriage, with the union of Burke and Nellie Louise Banister Tapley. I have other DNA relatives in this mix including 2nd cousins Ada Ann Pershing (316 cMs) and Telessa Hadley (477 cMs), both of whom I communicate with regularly. Other seconds in order of centimorgan levels include Jessy Bramley (315), Terry Bannister (262) with the double “n” that shows up occasionally on my tree, Jenny Bramley (248), Donna Pearcy (218), Krista Hale (207), and Ryan Donohoo (202). They are all identified on my tree with green “DNA” labels as their profile pictures. My half-sister Julianna also has a son named Gabe (894 cMs) who would be my step-nephew, should all this data be accurate. In addition, on the mother’s side, Ancestry lists a second cousin, Cathy Crews. All of my other matches on the mother’s side are through 23andMe that is not currently using centimorgans as a basis of comparison.

23andMe was the first DNA test I took at the suggestion of my boss several years ago. I’m forever grateful I took her recommendation and invested the small fee in a saliva kit. It lists my second cousins as Marilyn Banister (5.56% shared DNA) and Janine Marthai (5.37%). Deb Banister Vaughn (2.85%), Phillip Legg (2.46%), and Brandon Willard (2.16%) are categorized as second to third cousins. I’ve identified all of them on the Jerry Banister Tree with the exception of Phillip. Deb is the only one I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in person over tenderloin sandwiches in Indianapolis, although I have met Janine’s mother who was born a Banister.

As you can see, “Banister World” is slowly coming together. At the same time, I’m already in the 6th season of GOT’s “Lannister World,” a fictional Royal family that has a few similar skeletons in their closet. With Halloween right around the corner, I’ve rattled a few more Banister bones through the scientific magic of DNA. Trick or Treat. I also feel closer than ever to solving my very own CSI mystery through the use of centimorgans. Until this new development in DNA research, the only other Morgan I was familiar with was Captain Morgan. “To Life, Love, and Loot!“