How adoptees can build a ‘personal health history’ in lieu of family medical information

Minnesota Now

It has been nearly a month since all Minnesota-born adoptees gained access to their birth records. The Open Records Bill was a huge win for adoptees, in part because it allowed them to request medical history from their birth parents.

However, there are still many Minnesota adoptees born in a different country whose medical history remains a question mark. Heewon Lee is assistant program director of the Genetic Counseling Program at the University of Minnesota.

She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about a new Sahan Journal story looking at how international adoptees piece together a personal health history and what they can — and cannot —learn from genetic testing.