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Family Secrets: Emotional Fallout from Genealogical Research

Online Resources

From webcasts to podcasts and other online content, the resources on this page provide access to discussions of emotional fallout from genealogical research along with some sources for getting support.

The following links include selected blog posts about DNA discoveries, family scandals, and dealing with surprises in your family history.

These links include a few podcasts episodes that reveal current interest in family history stories and their impact on descendants, discovery, and healing.

Library of Congress subject specialists have created research guides that provide background and resources for further study.

The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) has created an excellent list of forums, mailing lists, and Facebook pages as a means of connecting with other genealogists.

TED Talks are short videos of talks by current thinkers on a variety of topics.  We have created a list of some talks concerning family secrets, genetic genealogy and dealing with trauma.

Television reality shows that find and reunite biological families are growing in popularity. When popular television shows present one to four family histories in an hour, it's easy to forget the many man-hours contributed by trained genealogists to research and edit those stories. Stories are selected and edited for maximum drama and emotional impact. They may also be selected and edited to exclude unhappy results.

Family histories that demonstrate how ancestors met and dealt with hard times help us develop compassion, courage, and hope. This is another reason genealogical programs are popular.

Here is a list of some current television series that are available online or on recordings:

The websites linked below are dedicated to aspects of genealogy that are freighted with emotional impact.