This is a story about France, but like most genealogy stories, it affects family historians around the world.
If you live in France and want to test your DNA for genealogy research, you must order a kit from outside the country. You cannot order it from an address in France because it is illegal to sell DNA kits there. That however, may change if Geneanet has its way.
The French genealogy website Geneanet has joined the campaign to resurrect the debate about changing the “law on bioethics” in its home country. A new bioethical law is being prepared, and Genenet sees this as an opportunity to amend the law so that genealogists can take DNA tests.
Geneanet is encouraging people to sign two petitions to change the law that bans the use of DNA tests for “recreational” purposes, including genealogical research.
In a newsletter sent to its subscribers at the beginning of April, Geneanet said, in French, “We are campaigning for a modification in the law that will include ethical safeguards to avoid abuses.”
Online petitions
Geneanet asks people to go to the website of the Etats généraux de la bioéthique before April 30, 2018 to sign the petition for a change in the current law.
Guillaume de Morant also created a petition last June on Change.org that is directed at members of the National Assembly and senators. Geneanet encourages people to sign this one as well. The name of Mr. de Morant’s petition speaks for itself: Autorisez l’ADN généalogique! (Authorize genealogical DNA!)
The title of this petition is, in French, “Change the too restrictive law that bans DNA recreational use.”
Mr. de Morant is asking the French government to “authorize DNA tests for genealogical and recreational purposes.” He writes in the petition, “In 2011, when the law on bioethics was passed, parliamentarians could not have guessed what would happen with DNA testing. … We now use DNA as a hobby. … It is useless to ban these tests. The tide has already turned. Every year, about 100,000 French citizens order DNA kits from other countries.”
DNA tests are illegal
DNA tests for genealogy have been illegal in France since the law of bioethics was passed in 1994. Tests to determine ethnicity or medical conditions are also prohibited.
The law was passed before the advent of genetic genealogy that uses DNA to discover one’s origin and to connect with cousins who tested their DNA.
DNA tests in France can now only be conducted for three reasons: medical research, research for the treatment of rare diseases, and a judicial inquiry.
Personal paternity tests are also illegal in France. French authorities believe that paternity testing can cause friction within families.
In an article written in 2012 on The French Genealogy Blog, Anne Morddel explained why some people in France were concerned about DNA tests. She wrote, “Recall that we are in the region where people lived under the Nazi horrors and the thinking here is that genetic testing can edge mighty close to racial testing and the creation of a mass of data about citizens’ racial backgrounds could lead to the same old trouble.”
DNA testing companies
Ancestry, 23andme, FamilyTreeDNA, IGenea and, since the beginning of April, MyHeritage ship DNA kits to France, and they make no secret about it.
MyHeritage founder Gilad Japhet told the French magazine, La revue française de Généalogie, DNA kits for the purpose of genealogy and ethnicity have become one of the most popular consumer products in the United States and around the world.
Mr. Japhet said, “We are responding to a real demand in France, with a high quality product in French that makes it easier to access DNA results and find matches to other people and family members who have immigrated to the United States, Quebec, and other parts of the world during the last centuries.”
Commenting on the legal issue, Mr. Japhet said, “We are an Israeli company and our DNA laboratory is located in the US. If there is a negative reaction from the French authorities, we will comply, but we are optimistic.”
If the law is revised, this will be good news for genealogists, especially those in Canada and the United States who want to trace their French Canadian, Acadian, Cajun, and French Huguenot roots back to France.
Please allow
Please allow