Family Histories, Family Stories and Family Secrets: Late Discoveries of Being Adopted

This paper reviews what we know about the experiences of adopted people who discover in later-life that they are adopted. It begins by discussing how and why various facets of the adoption experience have come to the fore over the 20th and 21st century time span of contemporary adoption. The paper concludes with the fact that research on the late discovery of adoption is in its infancy. It also points to parallels that will exist for people who have been conceived by anonymous donation and raises additional areas for possible research.

Gender, Family Histories, and Late-Life Economic Well-Being

Text TK.

How memory survives: Descendants of Auschwitz survivors and the progenic tattoo

The impact of the Holocaust on the descendants of survivors and the ways in which they embrace, embody and memorialise their family histories is the subject of this paper. The paper explores intergenerational storytelling and silences about the Holocaust through the lens of the number that was tattooed on the bodies of inmates in the Auschwitz complex and has been replicated on the bodies of some survivor descendants. The number has become a symbol of the crimes of the Holocaust though its meaning has changed during different periods of Holocaust remembrance. Using the genealogy of the tattoo, this paper explores its meaning in relation to private and public memorialisation for the descendants of survivors living in Israel who have replicated the number on their own body. An earlier version of this paper was presented in December 2020 at La Trobe University’s Agnes Heller Annual Sociology Lecture.

Deviations From Standard Family Histories and Subjective Wellbeing at Older Ages

Life course research emphasizes that health and wellbeing at older ages are influenced by experiences occurred in the previous stages of life. Several studies have focused on fertility and partnership histories and health at older ages, but fewer have examined subjective wellbeing (SWB), especially using a holistic approach. Another strand of the literature demonstrated that non-standard family behaviors negatively influence SWB. We contribute to these strands of the literature by examining the association between non-standardness of family histories and SWB at older ages. We argue that individuals who experienced non-standard trajectories have been exposed to social sanctions throughout their life course which could exert negative long-term influence on their SWB.We apply sequence analysis and optimal matching on retrospective data from the seventh wave of the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to calculate the degree of non-standardness of family histories between age 15 and 49. Subsequently, we estimate linear regression models to assess the association between non-standardness of family histories and older people's SWB. Our results show a negative association between non-standardness of family histories and SWB, which is stronger for lower educated individuals and in Southern European countries.

The importance of variants of unknown significance (VUS) in BRCA mutation.

e22507 Background: Genetic testing of patients for BRCA mutation may report variants of unknown significance (VUS). The use of multi-gene panels in clinical care has been increasing. Consequently, the reporting of variants of unknown significance has also increased. More than two decades of research and testing have elevated the status of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes as the most well characterized genes. However, VUS are found even in BRCA1/2 testing. This raises many ethical and policy issues including communicating the significance of the results and possible clinical management options to patients. The practicing physicians would face the ethical and potential legal burden of contacting and explaining to patients, when any role of VUS changes and gets reclassified as potentially harmful. Methods: Data were collected retrospectively from medical records of patients tested for BRCA mutations. The results of fifty-two patients were analyzed. Eight patients had BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and twelve patients had variants of unknown significance. Results: When the results of thirteen patients with BRCA mutations with VUS were analyzed further, the variants included POLE, CHEK2, PALB2, MUTHYH, BR1P1, MSH3, ATM, RAD51C, GALNT12, etc. The age of these patients ranged from 39 years to 69 years. Four patients had ovarian cancer and eight patients had breast cancer, and one patient had both breast and ovarian cancers. The number of patients with stage IV, III, II, and I diseases were six, one, two, and two respectively. One patient had bilateral breast cancer and one patient had carcinoma in-situ. Eight patients had family histories of various cancers, including cancers of the breast, uterine, and prostate cancer. All patients were treated appropriately and three patients died due to their disease. Conclusions: Based on patients’ age, family histories, and disease characteristics BRCA mutation analyses were done. All patients tested positive for BRCA mutations and VUS were informed about their results. Variants of BRCA1 and BRCA2 occur in 2%-4% of tests depending on the laboratories, where the tests were performed. There is no concordance as to how VUS results were reported. There is conflicting evidence regarding the pathogenicity of VUS. These make clinical recommendations very complex. Based on existing guidelines, physicians can explain the details of the significance of BRCA! And BRCA2 mutations to patients with clarity. However, it is difficult and unclear to give recommendations regarding prophylactic measures, specific treatment options for BRCA mutation positive breast and ovarian cancer, follow-ups, and family testing in patients with VUS. Therefore, during BRCA testing, when VUS are reported routinely along with mutations of known significance, the treating physicians would need a better guidance to advise their patients without unduly increasing their anxiety, fear, and potential for misunderstanding.