While most of our Amerasian clients are of Vietnamese and American heritage, we also work with individuals from many other backgrounds. This includes people with roots in the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Germany, Norway, France, Ireland, and other countries outside the United States.
Hapas: “Our Dads are White and Our Moms are Asian”
War Baby = Human Being
A war baby is someone born to a U.S. soldier and a mother from another country, usually during or after a time of war. These children were typically born when American military personnel were stationed overseas, whether during active conflict or in peacetime service. In most cases, the U.S. parent is the father, though in rare cases it may be the mother.
Every war baby’s story is different. Some were born from loving relationships. Others came from brief encounters. And tragically, some were conceived through assault. No matter the circumstances, these children were born into complex situations, and they matter. Their lives matter. They deserve to know their history and the truth of where they come from.
Below are some videos that show the wide range of this issue.
The HORRIFIC Torture Of The French Mother That Slept With A German Soldier
Người Mỹ gốc Việt đang bị ICE Di trú tiếp nhận và đối mặt với nguy cơ trục xuất!
Với việc Chính quyền hiện tại thắt chặt Biên giới Hoa Kỳ, tôi đã nhận được một số báo cáo trực tiếp về người Mỹ gốc Á bị Cơ quan Di trú Hoa Kỳ giam giữ và phải đối mặt với việc trục xuất. Hiện tại chúng tôi có 4 khách hàng đã bị giam giữ. Đây là những gì tôi biết:
1 – vẫn bị ICE giam giữ trong 4 tháng qua 1 – bị giam giữ và thả 1 – bị giam giữ và giữ trong 72 giờ, sau đó được thả 1 – bị trục xuất
Những cá nhân này đã ở Hoa Kỳ hợp pháp, hoặc là công dân nhập tịch hoặc thường trú nhân (thẻ xanh). Không ai có lệnh truy nã hoặc liên kết băng đảng nào và bị giam giữ ở các tiểu bang khác nhau, một người ở một sân bay lớn.
Chúng tôi đã được yêu cầu hỗ trợ về nguồn lực, vì vậy chúng tôi đã biên soạn danh sách này từ các khu vực chính mà chúng tôi biết người Mỹ gốc Á sinh sống. Nếu bạn cần thêm thông tin về tiểu bang của mình mà không có trong danh sách, vui lòng liên hệ với chúng tôi và chúng tôi sẽ cố gắng tìm trợ giúp cho bạn!
Amerasian/Vietnamese Americans are being detained by I C E Immigration and facing deportation!
With the current Administration cracking down on US Borders, I am getting several direct reports of Amerasians being detained by US Immigration and facing a risk of being deported. Right now we have 4 of our clients that have been detained. Here is what I know:
1 – still in ICE custody for the last 4 months 1 – detained and released 1 – detained and held for 72 hours, then released 1 – has been deported
These individuals were in the US legally, either having their naturalized citizenship, or permanent residence (green card). None had any active warrants or gang affiliations and was detained in separate states, one at a major airport.
We were asked for help with resources, therefore we have compiled this list from major areas where we know Amerasians reside. If you need more info for your state not on the list, please reach out to us and we will try to find you help!
Vui lòng lưu và chia sẻ hình ảnh này để bạn biết quyền của mình.
Please save and share this image to you know your rights.
Nếu người thân của bạn bị giam giữ và có nguy cơ bị trục xuất, vui lòng liên hệ với bất kỳ nguồn lực nào dưới đây:
If your loved one has been detained and is at risk of being deported, please contact any of the resources below:
Community Legal Aid SoCal Provides free legal aid and immigration services with Vietnamese-language assistance. Phone: 800-834-5001 or (714) 571-5200 Website: https://www.communitylegalsocal.org
Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California (VABANC) Offers free legal clinics and resources focused on the Vietnamese American community. Website: https://vabanc.org
Asian Counseling & Referral Service (ACRS) Provides immigration support, citizenship assistance, and public legal education with Vietnamese-speaking staff. Phone: 206-805-8917 Website: https://acrs.org/legal-services/
📍 Illinois (Chicago Area)
Vietnamese Association of Illinois (VAI) Immigration case management and help with legal referrals for Vietnamese individuals and families. Phone: (773) 728-3700 Website: https://hnvi.org/chicago/
Chicago Legal Clinic Offers pro bono and low-cost immigration legal help; Vietnamese language services available upon request. Phone: (312) 226-2669 Website: http://www.clclaw.org
If you know of anyone who has been detained by Immigration, please report it to us so we can try to keep track of those who were taken. Thank you, stay safe everyone!
In the fall of 2017, Michelle received a message from a new match on her Ancestry DNA account inquiring if she was closely related to anyone who served in the Vietnam war. Knowing the only 2 choices were her father or uncle, she clicked on his profile and saw he had also matched with her brother that she grew up with.
While elated to have a new sibling she never knew about, sadness ensued when realizing he missed knowing their father by just 10 months of passing away. Michelle was determined to make up for a lifetime of missed memories. She eventually moved closer to her new brother to form a loving bond with him and his family. Together, they are helping others connect with their own biological families.
Michelle and Dung’s father was just one of thousands of Vietnam Veterans who fathered a child while serving overseas. The repercussions of the discovery lead Michelle to do more research on other families in similar situations.
Being a 20+ year seasoned Genealogist and Researcher, Michelle’s previous experience with reuniting families were from adoption scenarios. She has successfully reunited dozens or more adoptees and long-lost relatives in the last 20+ years.
It wasn’t until meeting her new brother that she realized the magnitude of children still left seeking their American fathers. From this encounter and experience, Michelle has committed to dedicating her time and talents to help other families reconnect.
Meet the Team
Michelle Reed Founder & Owner
Starting with her own family tree, Michelle has 20+ years of research and reconnecting families on her resume. She has found and reconnected dozens of families who were from Adoptions and Amerasians.
In her professional life, Michelle is a Graphic Designer, Website Developer, and Digital Marketing Specialist.
In the beginning of 2019, Michelle and her adult son moved from her home state of Michigan to Georgia to be closer to her brother and his family. Her blended family consists of 3 siblings, Dung, Kevin and Donna, (all sharing the same father, but with different mothers).
Their father served in the Army during the Vietnam War. He passed away in 2016, never knowing he had another son out there. RIP Dad <3
Dung Peter Pham Partner & Vietnamese Translator (and amazing brother to Michelle)
Dung was born in Saigon, Vietnam during the height of the Vietnam War. His mother discovered she was pregnant and fled into deep jungle territory in hopes of saving herself and her child. Dung was raised by family in this secluded jungle area.
In early 1990, he and his mother and siblings made their way to American through the Amerasian Homecoming Act established to bring children of American Soldiers to the US. He became a US citizen and met and married his Vietnamese wife, Van. They have 4 beautiful children and also reside in the North Atlanta, GA area.
He often runs into other individuals who are half-American/half-Vietnamese and will share his story. He hopes to find more Amerasians who are in search of their American fathers and families and assists them as liaison and interpreter for WarBabies.
What We Do
Warbabies.org is compiling a database of both American Veterans and Amerasian Children. This database is secure and not to be released to the public or any individual outside of it’s organization. We hold anonymity to a higher standard due to the nature of each individuals experience.
We take every precaution of maintaining an individuals rights and respect their privacy as much as possible.
We utilize several DNA testing companies and comply fully with their terms of service. Upon DNA sample submission, we analyze the results and who they connect with.
If a close match is made, we take steps to try to contact the individuals and conclude how they are related and work towards finding out who the father is or who the child is based on the amount of DNA centimorgans between each individual. Additional testing with closer relatives may be necessary.
Sometimes luck is on our side and we find that the matches are close, half siblings, parents, grandparents, etc.
Then the real work begins… The Reunification Phase. We act as a liaison between the families until they are both comfortable with the next phase, the Healing Phase.
We do not judge circumstances and strongly believe that it is not a shameful or embarrassing situation and that a loving and caring relationship can develop over time.
We need your help…
If you would like to join our team, please send us your resume and a bio, with a short essay on how you can help in our mission. We are currently seeking volunteer Grant Writers, Researchers, Communications, Counselors, and Translators that can speak multiple languages.
It is in my experience that many Vietnam Veterans were told that their Service Records were destroyed in a fire. Often time, with great persistence, records were found and copies were provided. It is important to note that the branch and years of records that were destroyed in the table below. If you or your loved one served outside of this time period, don’t let anyone tell you your records were destroyed in a fire!! Keep pressing for your records!
Branch
Personnel and Period Affected
Estimated Loss
Army
Personnel discharged November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960
80%
Air Force
Personnel discharged September 25, 1947 to January 1, 1964 (with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.)
“The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is incredibly encouraged by the news that North Korea has returned 55 boxes of remains believed to be U.S. service members who have been missing in action since the Korean War,” said VFW National Commander B.J. Lawrence.
“This is a huge step in the right direction that we hope will finally bring peace to the peninsula and closure to American families who have been waiting more than six decades for their loved ones to return home from their war.” The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency lists 7,691 missing Americans from the Korean War, with some 5,300 believed to be in North Korea. DPAA also lists 111 Cold War losses in the vicinity of the Korean peninsula.
* POW/MIA DNA Samples Needed.
The Department of Defense wants family members of All Veteran that are MIA to give a DNA sample. The phone numbers are: Army 1 800 982 2490 * Marines 1 866 210 3421 * Navy 1 800 443 9298 * Air Force 1 800 531 5803 * Coast Guard 1 202 795 6637.
When you call have the following information: Your relation to the Veteran (family member). The war they were in. The time period. Where they were stationed. Service number. And approximate time they became missing.
Once this is received they will send out a test kit, with all instructions. Consisting of two cotton swabs for the inside of your mouth. Then send back.This is FREE. The time frame is about two weeks to get the results, if they have the veterans DNA on file. * It should be noted that once all family members become deceased , it is impossible to identify the remains.
* Praying for All Service members and their families!
Committee: House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship
A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the admission of certain sons and daughters of citizens of the United States, which citizens served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States abroad, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
This bill establishes a non-immigrant visa category for an alien who (1) is 18 or older and is the genetic son or daughter of a U.S. citizen who served in the Armed Forces on active duty abroad; or (2) is the spouse or child of such alien and is accompanying, or following to join, such alien.
To obtain a visa, the alien’s citizen parent must petition and receive approval from the Department of Homeland Security. The petition shall include (1) DNA evidence establishing the parent-child relationship, (2) a written statement that the parent will provide financial support until the alien receives lawful permanent resident status, and (3) proof of the parent’s U.S. citizenship and active duty with the Armed Forces abroad.
The period of authorized admission for aliens with the visa is five years, and 5,000 principal visa aliens may be admitted per fiscal year. Holders of such a visa may adjust to lawful permanent resident status after meeting various requirements, such as being admissible as an immigrant.
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the admission of certain sons and daughters of citizens of the United States, which citizens served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States abroad, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 8, 2019
Mr. Kind (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the admission of certain sons and daughters of citizens of the United States, which citizens served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States abroad, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Uniting Families Act of 2019”.
SEC. 2. ADMISSION OF CERTAIN SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES WHO SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES.
(a) Classification As A Nonimmigrant.—Section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (U), by striking “or” at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (V), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (V) the following:
“(W) subject to section 214(s), an alien who—
“(i) is 18 years of age or older and is the genetic son or daughter of a citizen of the United States, which citizen served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States abroad; or
“(ii) is the spouse or child of an alien described in clause (i) and is accompanying, or following to join, the alien.”.
(b) Requirements For Admission.—Section 214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(s) (1) A visa shall not be issued under section 101(a)(15)(W) until a petition has been filed in the United States by the citizen parent of the visa applicant and approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
“(2) The petition shall be in such form and contain such information as the Secretary of Homeland Security shall prescribe, and shall include the following information:
“(A) DNA evidence that establishes that the beneficiary is the genetic child of the petitioner.
“(B) An agreement in writing that the parent will provide financial support for the beneficiary until the beneficiary’s status is adjusted to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
“(C) Information that establishes that the petitioner—
“(i) is a citizen of the United States; and
“(ii) served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States abroad.
“(3) The period of authorized admission for an alien admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(W) shall be 5 years, which may be extended for one additional 2-year period.
“(4) The total number of principal aliens who may be admitted under section 101(a)(15)(W) during any fiscal year may not exceed 5,000.”.
(c) Adjustment Of Status.—Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(n) (1) The Secretary of Homeland Security may adjust the status of an alien admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(W) to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if the alien—
“(A) is admissible to the United States as an immigrant; and
“(B) satisfies the requirements under section 312, unless the alien is a child described in section 101(a)(15)(W)(ii) who is under the age of 18.
“(2) The numerical limitations of sections 201 and 202 shall not apply to the adjustment of aliens to lawful permanent resident status under this subsection.”.
(d) Naturalization.—Section 312(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1423(b)) is amended by inserting at the end the following:
“(4) The requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply to any person who has satisfied such requirements under section 245(n)(1)(B).”.
Now is the time to write your letters to Rep. Kind and Rep. Fitzpatrick so that this House Resolution does not stall!!
I am your sister I am your brother I am your niece And I am your nephew
Your father is my father To make us siblings Your brother is my father To make us cousins Your Uncle is my father To make us 2nd cousins
During he served in Vietnam He meet my mother And they had me… It make me into your blood lines… Why you denied me? What did I do wrong? And why you hate me? I am just victim…
I came to America for ten thousand miles To search for you and my father And I found all of you in Ancestry DNA But you all denied me? Why?
I don’t want any trouble And I don’t want any help from all of you I just want to get to know my father Because I had lost him so many years. I just want to see my father… Please don’t close the door on us
I am just a victim Was born in the war You should be love me And bring me home NOT to HATE me… And let me go Why you divided us? What did I do to make you hate me? You father made us Your brother made me Your Uncle made me Now we have to deal with…. Don’t be selfish…
Please let me see your father Because his is my father too ! Please let me see your brother Because he is my father ! Please let me see your uncle Because he is my father !
Please don’t close the door on us I want to see my father To how my father’s doing? If you won’t let me see him…. To make sure to tell him that I am here In America to see him… And if he died, Please tell me how he died? And where? So I can go there to visit his grave
Please, Let me have a moment with my father Once the last Chance If he is still alive Please let me see my father Then you can close the door … I don’t question you anymore Because I know who is really I am And where I came from
Johnny Appleseed: Citizenship Transmission Laws and a White Heteropatriarchal Property Right in Philandering, Sexual Exploitation, and Rape (the ‘WHP’) or Johnny and the WHP
Yale Journal of Law & Feminism, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2019
Blanche Cook University of Kentucky College of Law Date Written: October 18, 2018
Abstract
Title 8, United States Code, Section 1409—one of this country’s citizenship transmission laws—creates a white hetero-patriarchal property right in philandering, sexual exploitation, and rape (the “WHP”). Section 1409 governs the transmission of citizenship from United States citizens to their children, where the child is born abroad, outside of marriage, and one parent is a citizen and the other is not. Section 1409, however, draws a distinct gender distinction between women and men: An unwed female American citizen who births a child outside the United States, fathered by a foreign man, automatically transmits citizenship to her child. An unwed male American citizen, by contrast, who fathers a child abroad with a foreign woman has the distinctly male prerogative to either grant or deny citizenship to his foreign-born non-marital child at his leisure.
On the surface, it might appear that § 1409 treats men and women differently because it is easy to determine a child’s mother, as opposed to a child’s father, at birth. In fact, a majority of the Supreme Court has deployed these “natural” differences between men and women to shield § 1409 from three separate gender-based equal protection challenges. Justice Ginsburg, however, has keenly observed, “History reveals what lurks behind § 1409.” What lurks behind § 1409 is a long legacy of white hetero-patriarchy deploying the legal category of citizenship to perfect sovereignty in itself and vulnerability in “foreign” women for the very purpose of sexual domination.
The historical model for this racialized regime of sexual domination is the classic case of Dred Scott, where the denial of citizenship to anyone of African descent further facilitated a white hetero-patriarchal property right in philandering, sexual exploitation, and rape. In Dred Scott, the exclusion of anyone of African descent from person-hood, through the legal mechanism of citizenship, perfected power in white men and vulnerability in racialized others. By excluding anyone of African descent from citizenship, enslaved owners continued to enjoy an unbridled property right in the use and enjoyment of the enslaved. The denial of citizenship to the enslaved facilitated their use as property. Following suit, § 1409 makes citizenship the property of men, through which they can exclude their non-marital foreign-born children from membership in the American polity. Section 1409 vests in these fathers not just a right to exclude their children, but to discard them, leaving them profoundly vulnerable to the sting of “illegitimacy,” ethnic and racial animus, and financial precarity — a form of destruction, while simultaneously empowering these fathers to sexually possess, control, use, and enjoy foreign women. Section 1409 understands all too well: in order to sexually exploit the mother, one must control the status of the child.Suggested Citation:
Cook, Blanche, Johnny Appleseed: Citizenship Transmission Laws and a White Heteropatriarchal Property Right in Philandering, Sexual Exploitation, and Rape (the ‘WHP’) or Johnny and the WHP (October 18, 2018). Yale Journal of Law & Feminism, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2019. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3460194
Remembering Operation Babylift – March 26- April 27, 1975.
As the NVA closed in on Saigon, President Ford ordered the evacuation of Amerasian and Vietnamese orphans. Over 3,300 were rescued during the operation, to be adopted by families in the US, Australia and elsewhere.
On 4 April 1975, a C-5A departing Tan Son Nhut Air Base with child evacuees and their US caretakers suffered a catastrophic failure after takeoff, losing most flight control. While trying to return to TSN, it crashed, killing 138 including 75 children and infants and 38 caretakers, women from the Defense Attache Office, Saigon.
God bless you, sisters, soldiers and the children. Rest in peace.
From Special Corespondent, Morris Ramsey (American Veteran father trying to get his Amerasian child into the US).
This is info I gained from my 10 years of trying to get my adult aged daughter to the states. The things I learned may not pertain to other southeast Asian countries because of some immigration laws that did not include the Philippines but for the most part where derivative citizenship and the after effects are concerned it is the same. Derivative citizenship [Derivative citizenship is citizenship given to children through the naturalization of parents or, sometimes, to foreign-born children adopted by United States citizen parents, if certain conditions are met. … When a person gets derivative U.S. citizenship, it happens automatically, by operation of law.] is possible before a child who is under the age of 18, but because this process started for me and my daughter long after she was 18 that will be the part I focus on. I will also talk about how legitimization laws by state come into effect with this process. I am not an attorney so this is only my experience.
First off, I want everyone to understand that after the age of 18 it is virtually impossible to gain derivative citizenship. Even in the immigration law it states it must be before that age. The only slight chance you have is if the fathers name is on the birth certificate, he can show that he has had contact over the years with the child or mother and he can show where he gave financial support. This would be in the form of check or money order stubs.
If a child with an American father and has no current contact with the father, derivative citizenship is not possible even if the child is under the age of 18. Part of getting the citizenship is doing a DNA test. With no father present then that is impossible. If a child of an American father has contact with the father but the father never signed the birth certificate then this is where the legitimization laws come into effect.
Some states have this law and others do not. Basically, if a state has this law then a father can just say this is my child and that child is seen as his daughter. This really doesn’t matter if the child is over 18 but for those under 18 and no birth certificate was signed this can be very important. In my daughters case, the two states I showed I had lived did not have the legitimization law. Because I was stationed for a short period in California, my attorney tried to use their legitimization law but the U.S. State Department said no because the time living there was too short. Even though the immigration law read that I could use that argument, they changed the verbiage in the law so myself or anyone after me could never use that.
There is something I want everyone to really understand and listen to. No matter of a child’s age, but especially if the child is over 18 and the father and child together try for derivative citizenship which will most likely be denied, then you will not be able to apply for or get a green card. At least this is what happened to us and I was given this bad news by the embassy in Manila. I was also told they knew the derivative citizenship would not work but they could not tell me before hand which was pretty crappy. The reason this will keep a person from getting the green card, even if it is just to visit, is because after not getting the derivative citizenship the U.S. government will consider that person a flight risk. Meaning that person would become an illegal alien and not return to the Philippines.
Now lets say because of this info you skip the citizenship way and look at the green card. You may get moved closer to the front of the line because there is an American father present, but all stipulations that goes with anyone else applying for a green card goes the same. You must show that you own property, have money in the bank or maybe you have children that you are not taking on the visit and you will be going back to. Just showing one of these will not work. It probably needs to be all and more. This way the government thinks you have to go back to the Philippines.
I know for most everyone that reads this, it crushes a lot of hopes and I am truly sorry for that. For 10 years, me and my family have had hopes crushed at every turn and it is painful. No matter if you are 18 or 50, none of this is your fault!!!
Whether us fathers lost contact, didn’t contact or just left you behind, this falls on us and the U.S. government. We are to blame. I blame no one other than myself for me and my daughters situation, but I do blame the government for being such asses about it. I missed out on a lot of years with my daughter and it took many of us to grow up from that young arrogant military person to realize that. But again….It is not your fault!
But lets go on to some hope you all may have. The I-130 Petition for alien relative. I will not talk a lot about it because I do not know enough on how it works but even if you have never had contact with your American father this is a possibility for you if you have a relative that resides in the US and is an American Citizen. Its even better if you do have contact with your American father. A family member that is a citizen of the U.S. can petition for a family member to come to the states. I believe once here, you will be able to go through the process of becoming a citizen yourself. I believe you have to do the process in a certain amount of time or you will have to go home. What I am not sure of, in this instance, is how close of a relative you have to be. Meaning do you need to be the child, parent or sibling of the US Citizen.
As far as a father trying this to bring an adult age child (over 18) to the US, this may be your best choice. As you now know, other ways that will not work may very well knock you out of ever bringing your adult child to the states. With the I-130 you will have to do a DNA test, but an American father would be petitioning to bring your child to the US just like a non-natural born citizen can do. This is also $1,000 or so, which is cheap considering the upwards of $12,000 I spent only to be rejected. With the I-130, the citizen will have to show they can support the family member, but the I-130 will work.
There is a catch for American fathers. Part of the I-130 is the child’s birth certificate. If you never signed it, then it can cause some issues. From what I have read on the I-130, it may even stop you from using the I-130.
I will be back in the Philippines late this month and will meet with a Filipino immigration lawyer so I hope I will have more info on if the I-130 is possible.
Keep checking back here for updates as we get them! If you have any specific questions for Mr. Ramsey, please email us for his contact info. If you are an American father and have been successful with bringing your Amerasian child to the US, we want to hear from you! Please email us contactwarbabies@gmail.com.
Unless you are a seasoned genealogist, you may have never heard the terms Pedigree Collapse or Endogamy. These terms are used in relation to your family tree.
Upon building your family tree, you double the size of your tree for each generation: you have 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, 16 2nd-great grandparents, 32 3rd-great grandparents and so on. When you think about it, that is a whole lot of people to research when you go too far back, especially once you add other children to each set of grandparents.
At WarBabies, we focus within the first 3 generations of you, as seen in the chart to the right. What this means is we primarily focus on who your DNA matches are up to your 2nd cousins. If your closest matches are 3rd cousins, this makes our research timely and more challenging. If your closest DNA matches are 4th cousin or farther out, it makes it darn near impossible to find your close family because of pedigree collapse and endogamy.
In genealogy, pedigree collapse describes how reproduction between two individuals who knowingly or unknowingly share an ancestor (endogamy) causes the family tree of their offspring to be smaller than it would otherwise be.
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is also the term for when cousins marry cousins, whether it be knowingly or unknown to each party.
Endogamy is common in many cultures and ethnic groups. Several religious and ethnic religious groups are traditionally more endoganous. Endogamy, as distinct from consanguinity (the fact of being descended from the same ancestor), may result in transmission of genetic disorders, the so-called founder effect, within the relatively closed community.
By building a family tree, after reaching a later generations, you may discover several lines that intertwine due to a relationship between cousins or similar family. What this does is “collapse” the pedigree of your tree, shortening it because these lines are duplicated.
You must remember, this was a VERY common practice prior to the 1900’s when our ancestors didn’t have easy modes of transportation and “stuck to their own kind” in their small towns and villages. The dating pool was much smaller and in order to survive, it was acceptable to marry and have children with a cousin, sometimes even with aunts/uncles marrying their nieces/nephews.
In today’s society, this practice is highly looked down upon, and may even be illegal in some states. However, it is still common in many different cultures outside of the United States.
Because for the very first time, the 2020 Census Form can be done 100% online and it has a new option to type in “Some other race”. If we can get a uniformed mention of the term Amerasian counted in the 2020 Census, it will show our government that you exist and could eventually help push along the HR 1640 Uniting Families Act!
Please share this with anyone who is of mixed race with an American Father and Asian Mother who was born as a War Baby. It is vital to #BeCounted!
