The Weirdest Things People Have Learned About Themselves From DNA Testing
Reddit user OmarBessa asked: 'Redditors who have gotten genetic tests, what's the weirdest thing you learnt from your DNA?'
At the end of the last century DNA laboratory companies began to offer direct-to-consumer home DNA test kits.
According to The Center for Genetics and Society, as of November 2023 more than 26 million people have taken an at-home ancestry DNA test.
These tests have helped people find and reunite with long lost family members. However not all revelations were well met.
Unknown ancestry was discovered.
Infidelity and secrets and lies were also exposed by these tests which led to strife in some families.
Reddit user OmarBessa asked:
"Redditors who have gotten genetic tests, what's the weirdest thing you learnt from your DNA?"
Unexpected Ancestry
"So my dad is from the Philippines and my brothers and I all assumed our whole lives we are half Filipino and half Polish/German from my mom. Even my brothers married Filipino women and are very much into the family culture."
"Anyway I’m the only one who did the dna test and it came back we are only a 1/4 Filipino."
"There’s a mix—1% Japanese, 1% South American, etc...—but the big surprise was our missing 1/4 was Iranian/Romanian."
"My brothers flat out refuse to believe it."
~ Accurate-Neck6933
"Learned that I (White) had a 100% Nigerian ancestor around 130 years ago. Now I want to dig deeper to find out who it was!"
"What’s funny is that I spent a gap year in Nigeria as a teenager, and I love the culture and food and still have a lot of Nigerian friends."
"It’s still a big part of my life."
~ MPD1987
Identity Confirmed
"For 29 years, it was assumed that my dad who raised me was not my biological father, that I was the product of an affair my mother was having."
"I came out with blond hair, freckles and blue eyes. A stark difference to my tanned, dark featured dad."
"My dad chose to raise me as his own anyways, refusing paternity tests. I was never made to feel like I wasn't his."
"I took 23&Me simply out of curiosity and found out that he is in fact my biological father."
"My dad has told me he didn't want to know the results either way, but I let it slip showing my sister's the app one time at dinner."
"He didn't react, but I got an extra big bear hug getting on the train to leave that night."
"It was assumed when my mom found out she was pregnant that the pregnancy was the product of the affair. My features only solidified that assumption."
"He was already raising my mom's first daughter as his own, who he'd met when she was 2 and told my mom he wanted to keep raising the kids together. They got married and he adopted her a few months after I was born."
She was also treated so much as his that I didn't even know she was adopted by him until I was a teenager."
"My parents stayed together for 14 years, and to this day are still best friends."
~ LamePennies
"As an adult, my father-in-law found out his mother was actually his grandmother and his older sister was actually his mom."
"Things were different in the late 30's."
~ CBus660R
"I think this is quite common, especially when the real mother is still very young and in school when they get pregnant."
"The grandparents will adopt the baby and say they’re the mum’s sister/brother, and so the mum can continue their life as normal as possible."
~ _leo1st_
Adoption Answers
"The daughter I adopted and I are actually distantly related!"
~ cherrybounce
"As an adoptee who is considering doing the DNA thing, this intrigues me."
"My brother (also adopted, not a blood related sibling to me) did the DNA thing and found his birth family! I got to meet two of his half siblings. It was fascinating seeing 'nature vs nurture' in real time."
"There were certain mannerisms, etc... that all three of them did, and then other things my brother did that are definitely from the family we were raised in."
"Really cool to watch."
~ MasterChicken52
"Not me but my grandma got a DNA test done because she was sold as a baby—this happened back in the 30s (Depression Era, USA)—and never knew her biological parents, so a family member urged her to do it so we could maybe find them."
"We found both sides—a half-sister from her bio mom and a half-brother from her bio dad."
"Although it was kinda weird to realize we have family close by (only 20 miles away in one case), it was much weirder for the bio families to discover my grandma’s existence, since neither side had anything to do with the other."
"Her bio mom and bio dad seem to have crossed paths at some point in the same city. He was a married man, she was an older teen. Not sure if it was a one night stand or whatever but her bio mom was pregnant as a result of that night."
"At some point in her pregnancy, she checked into a home/hospital for pregnant unwed teen mothers (using a fake name). The bio mom was told the home would find homes for the babies, so she delivered and left."
"Bio mom went on to marry and have her own family, while bio dad likely never knew of the situation."
"As it would turn out, the home was not adopting out babies, rather selling them. Since my grandma was blonde and blue eyed she was bought quickly for a higher price by a woman."
"My grandma didn’t know until her teens that she was sold."
~ very_bored_panda
"My grandparents—they were married at the time—had a biological son they gave up for adoption before my mother was born and never told any of us about."
"Turns out some of the extended family knew my grandma had been pregnant before my mom but kept it a secret."
~ Academic_Smell
"If it was during the great depression in the US it was sadly something that happened. Not even just with babies."
"Some families had to give away their children or some of their children (I can't imagine the trauma for everyone involved) because they couldn't afford to feed themselves, let alone a child."
"My husband's grandmother told me about family members she knew who had to find new families for their children or even send them to live in an orphanage where they would at least be fed.
"Sometimes they were able to get the kids back after finances improved but not always."
~ EthelMaePotterMertz
Infidelity Exposed
"My ancestry is exactly what I grew up being told, I have several family members who were really into genealogy".
"But I found out I have a first cousin we didn't know existed."
"Apparently, my uncle had gotten married and had a son no one knew about when he was 19 and stationed across the country that he bailed on."
~ nelsonalgrencametome
"Ends up my bio dad was quite the dabbler."
"None of his relatives were surprised I existed, just that I was the only stray kid that did (so far). I keep an eye on my results for any other mystery siblings!"
"I told my new half siblings if I ever went to a family reunion I'd show up in a shirt that said 'Spare Parts' or 'I'm your plot twist'."
~ Catlore
Solving Unsolved Mysteries
"I had the same suspicions when I took my test. Turns out it was my grandmother instead with the secret babies she put up for adoption."
"Didn’t find out until 6 years after she passed away so we’re never getting answers as to what happened."
"Also got a surprise contact by the police, as I was a high match to a John Doe that was found drowned on the shores of Lake Superior in 1991."
"That was a fun family tree rabbit hole to dive down. Turned out to be a half 1st cousin from my grandmother’s firstborn."
"The local police were great about informing me and communicating. The case was assigned to them by the provincial police who were clearing out thousands of cold cases."
"I was also very excited to assist because I’d done a rather in-depth family tree about a decade prior."
"They have a team of forensic genealogists, most of them on a volunteer basis, and they were incredibly good at finding information. A lot of it was birth/marriage records and working off random dna matches to try and figure out where the Doe related to the match."
"In my case, I was a 422cm match to the deceased so we looked from my maternal great-grandparents on down."
"I assisted myself on a couple of cases afterwards, all just unidentified bodies found in water or bush, nothing criminal that would require clearance."
"To be honest, I felt a little morbid because of how interested I was in the process. I had to temper my enthusiasm when responding to the police initially."
I didn’t know the person, I had zero attachment to them and it was more of a scientific interest."
"It wasn’t until weeks later when I realized how close of a relation it was that it hit me. That plus he was likely murdered made me feel bad about my earlier enthusiasm."
"But in the cases I volunteered on, those people were loved and missed."
"One fella was a cousin of a beloved NHL enforcer that passed away a year before and I recognized the names of the immediate family we had to contact. They still had Facebook groups dedicated to searching for him with posts until the day before we contacted them."
"I’m sure there’s a relief at having answers but grief at the loss being confirmed."
~ Jrewy
More and more people are exploring their roots through DNA testing.
Have you taken a test? What was your DNA revelation?
People Who Lost The Genetic Lottery
Reddit user G00dR1ddance asked: 'How did your genetics f'k you over?'
One of life's many challenges to being successful and happy is to work hard and stay focused on our respective goals.
There are many obstacles that can discourage us, but persistence and a drive to overcome can be rewarding.
Unfortunately, there are some things that are simply beyond our control, and it has nothing to do with fate.
It's the qualities we're either born with or without that can impede us or prevent us from ever achieving what can only be seen as a pipe dream.
Curious to hear examples of one of life's cruelties, Redditor G00dR1ddance asked:
"How did your genetics f'k you over?"
These Redditors were unhappy with appearances.
Uncooperative Vision
"Lazy eye, and a total lack of depth perception."
– Crow_of_Judgem3nt
"Same. Do you struggle with driving? I just moved to a big city and I can’t drive here bc navigating all the traffic is too hard with no depth perception. It’s so scary!"
– Subnautica24
The Worst Parts
"Moms Family: Perfect teeth, male baldness. Dad's family: Terrible teeth, perfect hairline."
"Me: Sh**ty teeth, bald before 25. My 2 brothers: Perfect Teeth, Perfect Hairline."
"Feels FN bad."
– Yogannath
"They should all chip in for a trip for you to Turkey for a cheap hair transplant and dental work."
– turboprop123
Made For Farming
"All 4 grandparents were farmers. I look like I was bred to farm and f**k to make more little farm workers. Broad shoulders, big boobs, no waist, no @ss worth mentioning, and thick legs. I just look like I was bred to work forever until I die. 120 years ago."
– bwvdub
Stop With The Flattery
"I too am sturdily built. I am not tall but I am muscular and broad with the big boobs and the broad hips and sturdy legs. I could carry very heavy sacks of feed from when I was very small. My family nickname was 'the forklift truck', so that's.. nice."
– LibraryOfFoxes
Room For More
"My mother’s OB said she had a pelvis ‘you could drive a bus through’. I was a natural breach birth and share those genetics. You could host the last supper on my a** and have room for plus ones."
– Elephant_axis
These Redditors are living on borrowed time.
Cardiovascular Health
"Bad heart. I'm the first male in at least 4 generations to make it to 40. And that's only because I was finally properly diagnosed and treated. I wouldn't have made it to 35 if I didn't find the right cardiologist."
– socteachpugdad
"Bum ticker - dad’s aorta exploded when I was 11 and my brother died from the second heart at 41. Just hoping to see my 60s."
– poontong
Being Kept At Bay
"I have a blood condition where I retain iron. It's slowly killing me. Destroyed my liver, pancreas, and led to a massive heart attack."
"Fortunately, I live in the 21st century where modern medicine can keep me going with...bleeding."
– Objective_Stick8335
"Sad Aspect" Of A Family
"Huntington's disease"
– alc1864
"My oldest uncle married a woman who had Huntington's, but they were very young and she wasn't symptomatic yet. In the 70s so no genetic testing or much public awareness. They had 5 daughters. My aunt and their eldest have long since passed away, and the remaining 4 are in various stages of the disease. It's always been a sad aspect of our family. A truly cruel disease."
– Wasyloosker12
BRCA Genes
"I’m BRCA2 positive, giving me roughly 74% chances of developing an incurable genetic breast cancer in my life. It also gives me about 22% of having an ovarian cancer."
"On the other side, double mastectomy lowers my chances to about 3%, but it should ideally be done before I reach 30. I will also need a hysterectomy in my 40s."
"I had 50/50 chance of getting the BRCA2 gene mutation so well, genetics did f'k me over!"
– PoutineMaker
Redditors share more of their crosses to bear in life after being blessed with these traits.
"I'm more attractive to mosquitoes than most people. If I'm out when mosquitoes are around, I end up covered in bites (which I'm also allergic to, so I end up with quarter sized welts that itch for daaaays after the fact)."
– p1013
It's sobering to realize the ailments your parents struggled with are starting to become our own to bear.
High blood pressure, arthritis, and predisposition to atherosclerosis are some of the undesirable parts of my family's genetic makeup that I never really thought about until I noticed how fatigued and in pain I've become with age.
Although I have so much gratitude for surviving every year I get to celebrate my birthday, getting old still sucks.
On occasion, all of us look in a mirror and wish there was something about our physical characteristics that was different.
Being a few inches taller, having a different hair color, maybe a smaller nose.
But then, as we continue to stare at our reflection, we might suddenly realize there are some things about ourselves which we don't mind at all.
In fact, we might even be proud of our eye color, the shape of our ears, or having an enviable jawline.
For most people, finding their best attribute might not be so difficult to determine, owing to slim pickings.
But for those blessed with good genetics, choosing their best physical trait might be a bit more difficult.
Redditor askredditiscool was curious to hear what people with enviable genetics considered their best physical quality, leading them to ask:
"People who have 'won the genetic lottery' what qualities do you have?"
Come and get me!
"I'm not allergic to mosquito spit."
"So they bite me and I feel the pin prick, but I never get that red swollen itchy-as-hell welt."
"I also apparently taste bad enough to them that they will go for anyone else in the area before me."
"Ticks, on the other hand, will hunt me for f*cking miles."- open_door_policy
Million Dollar Smile
"No wisdom teeth!"
"The trade off is the ticking time bomb that is my cancer genetic..."- Opin88
"Well, uh my father and I have the bottom half of our wisdom teeth fit in and the top half of them don’t even exist."- MasterYoda092
"My teeth are nearly perfect."
"Whenever I switch dentists, they are a bit stunned at the first appointment."
"My husband hates me for it."- BilobaBaby
Happy Dance GIF by benjamin lemoineGiphySo flexible!
"I can actually lick my elbow."- Soulerous
Unbreakable?
"Strong bones."
"At age 72 I've fallen several times in the last few year, low blood pressure, and have never broken a bone in my life."- Duegatti
Pure blood indeed!
"Not a single blood related person who had or has cancer for at least 3 generations."
"Meaning parents, grand parents and grand grand parents and all their children and children's children."
"Or any other inheritable disease."- yohoho_99
Sleeping Beauty ain't got nothing on me...
"I inherited the Sleep Button gene from my grandfather."
"When I want to fall asleep, I just... do ...in a matter of minutes."
"I haven't struggled with falling asleep/waking up more than ten times in my entire lifetime."
"I can't nap for sh*t."- VertebrateCrossing
I got time...
"Not sure yet but like I may live a really long time."
"People on my mom's side just have exceptional lifespans."
"My great grandma got in a bad fire at age 45 and had third-degree burns everywhere."
"No one thought she'd recover or live very long."
"Out of pure spite for the husband she has been separated with for 23 years, she lived till she was 96."
"This was in India and she was upper lower-class."
"Meaning the healthcare was sh*tty."
"My great great grandpa lived till he was around 116."
"He maintained his capability and independence till the very end."
"In his last few years, he started to lose his eyesight and hearing but he still cooked his own food, bathed himself, did the house chores, etc."
"My grandpa is at 78 right now and he'll hopefully remain in good health."- a-lovelyy-ladyy
Old Lady Dancing GIF by MattielGiphyThe Lucky One!
"Not me, but my dad."
"All of his siblings, except his older brother, have heights within the range of 4’11” to 5’4”."
"All of my dads brothers are balding/ have been for years, and the rest of them have noticeably grey hair."
"His mom is 4’11, and his dad was 5’5."
"My dad is 6’0” with a full head of curly hair, and he only has about a 1/2 an inch of grey hair on the sides of his head.
"He’s turning 55 this week."
You win some, you lose some...
"I have severe scoliosis, I'm getting surgery in a few months."
"I was born with a heart disease and I still have a defected mitral valve from it."
"I have really bad asthma."
"But i have a 6.8 inch slong at 15 so its all worth it."- bremcrem
I guess I'm just perfect.
"I have no allergies."
"My parents are not the healthiest but me and my siblings have a super fast metabolism."
"Also, I am not exaggerating when I say my entire family has a genius gene."
"My uncle engineered the Dubai mall."
"My Great Uncle wrote a paper at Harvard, taught classes, wrote a book on anthropology, graduated from honors in UCLA and he was a foreigner."
"My brother got a full scholarship to Harvard."
"I have nothing but honors classes."
"My sister is going to dental school."
"My Grandpa, 4 uncles, and some cousins are all doctors."
"My dad was a lawyer before immigrating but when when he got a low paying job here he made a clause in our rent agreement that has saved us nearly 200 grand in rent."
"My other Great Uncle worked as a diplomat for our home country."
"My aunt has a degree in Sociology."
"Also my uncle is an architect in Germany and they all come from a war torn country, Syria, and yet still accomplished all this."
"Also, I am bilingual as well as everyone else in my family."
"I forgot that my other Grandpa owned a farm with workers and was mayor of the hometown."- OpportunityLazy4467
"I've been 110 lbs since I was 14 no matter what I eat."
"I'm 5'8 with long limbs and I still have curves for days despite being thin."
"Grey eyes and bouncy, shiny French hair."
"Light brown, thin but lots of it so it looks great and behaves just fine."
"It has always been kept long and reaches my lower back."
"The native in me means I can tan as dark as I like, I don't ever burn."
"I also love my cheekbones and the shape of my upper back."
"It's a very prominent gene as only my maternal great grandmother was native."
"Never any major health issues."
"Hated this when I was young and insecure, but having an A cup means no need for a bra."
"I f*cking love it now."
"They seem to cast a bit more of a shadow in my 30s, so I'm even happy with their appearance at this point."- newcowboys
perfection GIFGiphyThe Money I save on deodorant and razors!
"No one in my family gets body odor."
"Our hairs are so thin we don’t need to shave our legs."
"I’m unlucky and have to tweeze my armpits about once every two months but no one else needs to tweeze any hairs."
"Downside is our eyebrows are so thin that I need to get them tinted every so often."- ewc58
No diet necessary!
"I can really easily put on muscle due to how I process food but I also get fat reaaaallly easy."
"No middle ground."- MicrowaveCapriSuun
"I have a really really fast metabolism."
"I eat a lot and I' m still 36kgs."
"im 178cm tall."- UnEpicBoi
Some people are just born lucky.
True, it's what's inside that counts.
Which doesn't mean we don't still wish we had perfect teeth every now and then...
We all have certain things about ourselves we would love to change.
Many aspects of our bodies, inside and out is the first thing to come to mind.
And what's frustrating is that many of those things we're passed down to us thanks to DNA.
Certain diseases and bodily aspects "run in the family."
Which often feels like a cosmic joke.
We have to learn to embrace it.
So let's do some venting...
Redditor dump_acc_91 wanted to hear about what generational issues have been passed along to many of us.
"Which sh**ty genetics did you inherit?"
My eyes. One droops, seems to be a paternal side issue. I'm looking into eye surgery but it's expensive.
Head to Toe
the addams family remix GIFGiphy"Hair on every inch of my body except for the top of my head."
elgatogordo19
"Me too... And I'm a lady. Thankfully, due to the wonders of laser hair removal, no one can tell anymore that I used to look like the love child of a yeti and cousin It."
LilPeaHen
Drenched
"Excessive sweating."
mrzpzp
"Same and the treatments are considered cosmetic where I live. I just want to sweat a normal amount and not have to change my clothes multiple times a day like a normal person. lol"
Kyubey4Ever
"Same! My mom could stand in the sun for 2 hours not breaking a sweat while I will be drenched when the temperature rise by one f**king degree so thanks dad."
lawsuy
Scars of the past...
"Severe acne when I was a teen that left behind scars."
DeathSpiral321
"Acne that forgot to leave with the rest of puberty is also not fun. I have the scars AND I have the angry zits that like to crop up along my bra line. At least at this point, my face is taking the least of it and I don't have deep pockmarks or scarring there. But I don't wear plunging necklines because my chest is a mixture of new and old scars."
ConniveryDives
Brush Away
"Teeth. I brush using an electric toothbrush for 2 minutes twice a day using prescription toothpaste, I floss twice a day, I've had braces and I floss under the permanent retainers once a day, I wear my night retainer every night and clean it every morning, have a dedicated tongue brusher and scraper that I use as needed, I go to the dentist twice a year and get fluoride treatments, I don't drink soda or eat excessive sugar, and I still have cavities."
"I had to get a root canal that ended up failing (missed by the guy who did the root canal and 3 separate dentists) and when the cap eventually rotted off I had to get an implant which got infected, then got infected again, then was deemed chronically infected and had to be removed. Now my wisdom teeth are acting up and need to be removed. I am so f**king sick of putting in so much time, energy, and money to be below par with most of the rest of the world I'm only 33 ;_;"
NeedsItRough
Bad Breed
Red Blood Cells Sickle Cell GIF by DiscoveryGiphy"My parents met in their 20s, bonded over how they both have sh**ty circulation and everyone in their families has crappy circulation, and were like ‘I know, let’s breed!’. Went as you’d expect."
cateml
Bad circulation sucks. People don't understand the issues it causes. All of these can be difficult to deal with.
Bad Moves
poop toilet GIF by Poo~PourriGiphy"Dad has IBS-D, mom has IBS-C. My GI said you’d think they’d meet somewhere in the middle and give you regular bowel movements. Sadly not, I’m also a C."
Torshii
Issues of the Mind
"Likely Alzheimer's. Both grandmas had it, my mom has it, and I'm in my early fifties and starting to feel the beginning of decline. Frankly, I'm scared sh**less."
f_leaver
"I'm in the same boat, 2 generations in my family are diagnosed with it on my mother and father's side. Lucky me it's was late in life for both sides of the family, but I've always had notoriously bad luck so we'll see. If you haven't already, I'd definitely suggest seeing a neurologist sooner rather than later."
Taz447
It's gone...
"Hair loss."
Girlinda7
"Me too, but it's not a full bald. It's much thinner hair by my crown and down the middle of the top of my head. There's still hair there, but if you look at my head from above you can see that the hair there is much sparser."
potatoluIz
"My wife says it not a big deal but I always tell her she would be freaking out if she started to lose her hair too. Hair means just as much to men as it does to women. Confidence killer."
YM1979
Painful Endings
"I'm slowly going blind from RP. Thanks mom. My spinal discs are deflating and pinching off my nerves, Thanks dad."
ruzzerboo
"My son has RP as well. He is blind and uses a cane. He has a good government job, is married with two children. There is no cure but maybe someday. They are always working on trying to find a way to fix the retinal cells that are dying. It will happen but I am not sure if it will be this century."
LazyBox2303
Evolution
Come On Reaction GIFGiphy"Half of my face has my mom's bone structure, the other half my dad. Come on, evolution, I thought this was all about symmetry. OH and they both have addictive personalities which makes substance abuse almost instinctive. Luckily I was a pothead instead of an alcoholic or pill popper. We’re all doing better now LMAO!"
vashonnn
Form the start...
"Hard to tell what was shi**y genetics and what was a result of my mother smoking like a chimney throughout the pregnancy."
TirayShell
"Same. And she recently admitted she drank 2 beers a day as well with me so that's cool. It's a miracle that I'm a functional human."
pennylane3339
Generations
"It's alcoholics all the way down."
faceeatingleopard
"Alcoholism going back multiple generations on both sides of my family. So well documented that one of my great grandfathers was written about in The NY Times back in his day, for a few of his drunk antics. My mother got dementia from alcohol-related brain damage before 45. I just don’t drink at all, I know it’s there waiting for me."
amarg19
barely function
"The gift of over thinking (anxiety)."
Username-xxx
"I feel your pain. It takes a lot for me just trying to function since covid. Social media/news organizations don't help at all."
"Half the population is becoming desensitized, emotionless, and seriously lacking any empathy while the other half can barely function due to the stress of the state of world politics/job market/just trying to survive. The world was not like this 20 years ago, though the signs were there and were being ignored. I want a restart."
CocoScruff
The Slip
"My back went out in my 20s, and wasn't getting better. After a while I couldn't stand up straight, and had to get it scanned. The found the channel in my spine that the nerve goes through is 1/4 the size of most people's, so the very minor disc slip I'd had became a major problem."
"They wound up having to carve that channel (dunno what it's called, sorry) wider. Instant relief, but I now have a pretty weak back that's prone to going out. I recover with rest, now, thank goodness, whereas before I wouldn't. Anyway, that's probably my worst thing, genetically speaking. Bad spine."
Coygon
Blow Ups
"Anger. My father gets angry and used to get violent and even beat up my mom and us kids. My first reaction for anything is anger but over the years I've tried to control my anger as much as possible and I'd say I'm doing a much better job than before."
peoplecallmedude797
Everything
"Being unusually hairy, oily, and large framed for a woman. It's a thing with my family, none of the women in it are exactly the picture of traditional feminine beauty. I have to wear guy's sizes in shoes because my feet are too wide for most women's shoes."
alufangirl1993
Life sucker punches everyone...
"A very rare recessive progressive genetic disorder. I'm a carrier. My wife also is a carrier. Incidence of being a carrier is over 1 in 1,000,000. Unfortunately for our kids, they have a 1/2 chance of being carriers, 1/4 chance that they won't, and 1/4 chance that they'll inherit the double recessive gene and manifest the disorder. 2 out of our 4 kids have manifested the disorder and their life expectancy is 10-12 years. Life sucker punches everyone."
mbstone
It's all a mess...
"Short, acne, small boobs, crooked teeth and underdeveloped/too far back jaw (they got mostly fixed with braces), thin hair, mental illness, scoliosis, tiny toes (what the f**k is up with that, I get too many comments about my baby feet) Can't think of anything else a the moment. It's like I won the reverse genetic bingo. If this was medieval times I would definitely be the repulsive town witch."
amputatedsnek
Well, we are who we are, for better or worse. Let's make the most of it.
People Explain Which Of Their Genetic Traits They Wish They Could Change The Most
In the life-defining battle for joy and contentedness, self-acceptance stands as a major prerequisite. We cannot change the things that are out of our control.
Feeling good only comes when we let go of our anger or sadness about those uncontrollable elements.
That said, it is so natural to yearn.
Nowhere are those uncontrollable variables more pronounced than in the area of genetics and inherited traits. Written on our body, solidly embedded in our DNA, these ailments and tendencies were there since day one.
And some of them suck.
A recent Reddit thread offered space for people to air some grievances about those inherited difficulties. A full life will demand accepting and living with these traits, but it's still nice to spend just a moment on the internet expressing some frustration.
C_Greuel04 asked, "What genetic trait of yours do you want to change the most?"
That Which Shall Not Be Named
"I'm a guy in my 30s. The hair on top of my head is thinning and I don't like that. I refuse to use THAT word, that word applies only to eagles and tires, not the human head. Nonetheless, I am paradoxically in both denial and still try to cover it up by military crew cutting my hair."
"I do wish it was fuller, though."
-- llcucf80
One-Two Punch
"Diabetes and mental illness. I'm too young to be this f***ed up." -- hurricanekeri
"I was gonna say my toe thumb but your comment reminded me of my crippling anxiety and depression." -- pixiepeg
"Same."
"I was diagnosed at a very young age (18 months) and it really just adds up and takes a heavy toll on you mentally. I've been really depressed for the last couple of years and I blame 85% of it on my diabetes." -- man_on_hill
Looking for the Sweet Spot
"My height. I wish I were 4-6 inches taller." -- somemetausername
"As a tall guy: Doesn't mean sh** if you're still a looser/don't have your sh** together." -- a**hole67throw
"Trade you! I'd rather be a few inches shorter" -- lildancingcat
Limb Struggles
"Well I'd probably undo my genetic disorder. I hate dislocating my shoulders every day!" -- thesunalsorose
"My only issue with not wanting EDS is that I would also lose the ability to relocate joints by myself" -- Dsexylic69
"But if you didn't have EDS, you wouldn't need to. Most people don't dislocate things."
"I think I'd miss my smooth, stretchy skin if I fixed my genes (probably EDS but too ill to get diagnosed) but I'd like to look my age and not be in as much pain. Being able to press buttons/use my tablet without my fingers bending backwards would be awesome." -- Purple-Penguin
An Unfortunate Hodge Podge
"I kind of won the shi**y genetics lottery. My entire family on both sides are addicts. My mother has npd and is bipolar and my father suffered from major depression and OCD. Both parents has psoriasis. My mother had thinning hair and my father had heart disease."
"Between both of them they were allergic to pretty much every substance on the planet. They were lactose intolerant and my father had celiac disease and IBS."
"I got all of the worst parts of all of that AND I got these little a** baby hands and feet from god knows where."
"If I could change anything I would just like to be able to breathe regularly and not get sinus infections every other damned day. That would be awesome!"
-- lizzpop2003
A Couple Very Different Struggles
"Would be nice to have actual breasts. I'm 30 and they seem to have not gotten the memo that they were supposed to keep growing past age 11."
"But if I can only have one fix then I'd fix my eyesight. I'm completely defenseless without glasses. Lifting them up now, pretty near to my monitor, I can faintly make out the colour of this text but no details of it. It's just a bunch of blurry lines to me."
-- TheCoolerL
Within Our Power?!
"My metabolism. I miss being able to eat whatever I wanted and it not effect me, but once I hit college and after, I have to be a lot more careful." -- Kunihiko001
"Pretty sure variation in metabolic rate is ~10% max. It's probably your activity level rather than your metabolism." -- Gazrael957
"That's a small range of percentage. And considering activities do affect metabolism and we change lifestyles when finishing high school, change in metabolism due to age seems to be even smaller. So it is just lazy people after all ..." -- villanelIa
NUTS
"Allergies, man. The amount of times people make puns on the word 'nuts' or just snicker is stupid. Yeah yeah I've had this my whole life guys get over it...literal death here"
"Also, imagine wondering what something tastes like that you've never had before! Asking people to describe nuts almost always is followed up by 'nutty' ahsvcjajskjffna seriously? No shit nuts are nutty? How helpful..."
"Some people do have fair responses tho like 'earthy' or 'the bitterness of straight coffee, but earthy' idk how accurate either of those are but they're all I got lol"
Unwanted Exterior
"I am a woman and I am f***ing hairy. My mom has no body hair. Like even her arm pits are mostly smooth and beautiful long hair only on her head."
"I take after my dad and can grow dark black hair over 1.5 inches on my legs. The sheer amount of time and money I spend on looking like a normal human is just too much. It's like evolution skipped me."
Constantly At Play
"ADHD. The ability to retain and recall information is one of the most basic and critical parts of life in general, not even just human life."
"How my brain can possibly manage to f*** that up repeatedly for decades is a mystery."
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