Last November I bought one of those DNA kits that have been around for a few years, now. Like most people who spit in a small plastic tube and mail it for analysis, I wanted to learn more about my DNA ancestry composition. As a latinx woman, I was certain I would find a combination of European, Native American, and African DNA in my blood.

And that was the case. But the results got me thinking.

There is also an option to include your results in the platform’s open database to find relatives. These relatives would’ve taken the same test you did, with the same company, and would have decided to also share their results. As of today, I have 1,276 relatives in 23andme, scattered around the globe. Most of these relatives are distant cousins, people who share with me an ancestor 5 or 6 generations ago. 

It made me think about one of the questions that belongs in the Childfree Bingo: “If you don’t have children, who will carry on with your bloodline?”

Well, I can tell you that it will most certainly not die with me. It is not really my bloodline, I’m just a tiny branch in my family tree. Somewhere, some hundreds of years ago, someone had one child who is now the common ancestor of hundreds of human beings on this planet, and his/her bloodline will carry on for generations to come.

Which brings me to a scarier thought: If the descendants of one measly person a few hundreds of years ago has translated into hundreds, if not thousands, of human beings today, what will our planet look like in a hundred years if people keep reproducing at this pace?

Isabel Firecracker is the founder and firebrand of The Uprising Spark, a platform designed to help modern, childfree women define and reach their life goals. She is a world traveler, an avid kitesurfer, and loves dogs. Pragmatic, no-nonsense life coach and host of The Honest Uproar podcast. Childfree intersectional feminist.

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*Featured image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay