When Richard was visiting his doctor prior to leaving for college, his doctor asked him, "How do you feel about being adopted?" This came as a complete surprise; Richard had no idea that he was adopted. Over the course of the next thirty-one years, in between "life" commitments, he worked to identify his biological identity. He was not a genealogist, but before his discovery journey was over, he learned many of the strategies used by genealogist. However, his biggest breakthroughs came through the advancements in DNA testing. Throughout the process, he was fortunate to connect with some volunteers who specialized in assisting adoptees. Finding Family is a good mystery, as well as a story of family and love; it contains many unexpected twists and turns. Even though this book covers more than three decades, it is a page turner; a must read for adoptees and for anyone interested in genetic genealogy. ( )

This was a great story!! I read this back around 2017 and I think this is the book that inspired me to do a DNA test in order to find my mothers biological family. My mother also did a DNA test and it turns out that her story is somewhat similar to Richards.

When Richard Hill did his DNA test, he thought his father was one particular person, but it turns out that his father was actually another close relative.

In my mothers family, there were 3 brothers - none of whom were married at the time my mother was conceived. Unfortunately noone from their families is interested in taking a DNA test in order to determine which one of these 3 brothers is my biological grandfather. I think its because they are catholics and they dont want a scandal in their family. After all my mother was born to an unmarried mother.

So even now in 2020, I still do not know who my biological maternal grandfather is.

I gave this 5 stars because it gave me the inspiration to fo my own DNA testing and family search, and because it was well written. ( )

How quickly we forget how time consuming family research was just two decades ago and in the case of DNA searches, how far we've come in the past five years! Finding Family is the story of Richard Hill's dogged search for the truth about his birth parents. The search took him more than twenty years and included the use of advanced technology as it was emerging. At the same time the author tells his story as if it were a novel with intriguing twists and turns. With a 2012 publication date I was a little concerned that it would feel dated. However, as genealogists, it is good for us to be reminded that not everything will be found on the Internet and that to do a complete and exhaustive search we must use a great variety of techniques and resources.

Very interesting story of a man's search for his biological family that started before the internet and DNA matching. Richard Hill shows shows the struggle of sifting through secrets for adoptees and the great improvements to genealogy searching. ( )

I found the book to be quite rewarding as it challenged my mind in how I think about my own genealogy research and DNA applications. ( )