Family separations result from conflicts, disasters, and forced migration, leaving children disconnected from their families, communities, and, at times, cultural identities. Forensic genetics has historically contributed to the victim identification decades later, as in reunifications of families separated during Latin American dictatorships in the 1970s-1990s. Advances in genomic technologies create opportunities to support reunifications of surviving family members in contemporary conflicts, including the ~20,000 Ukrainian children abducted into Russia. Realizing this potential requires DNA database systems for human rights and humanitarian family reunification. Establishing a DNA database system early in conflict is critical because opportunities to document biological relationships can close due to displacement, migration, death, or illegal adoption. Such systems must balance scientific rigor with governance appropriate for vulnerable populations and cross-border contexts. Systems to collect, manage, and compare DNA from relatives are often absent or poorly integrated internationally. The war in Ukraine illustrates these challenges, where coordinated DNA systems are emerging. To explore these challenges, we conducted fieldwork in Kyiv in 2025, including consultations with Ukraine-based missing persons specialists and semi-structured interviews with internally displaced caregivers. Ukrainian experts described the expansion of national DNA capacity since 2022, with more than twenty institutions now equipped for DNA. Yet the scale of missing persons cases places extraordinary demands on these systems. Experts have emphasized challenges in coordinating data across institutions and ensuring DNA systems can support both identification of the deceased and reunification of living families. One critical challenge emerged: to support families inclined to share DNA while preserving family privacy. Caregivers expressed confidence in DNA as a reunification tool while identifying barriers including misinformation, uncertainty about institutional roles, and limited awareness of DNA-based processes. A key next step is identifying which organizations are best positioned to assist families. Families were most eager to work with organizations they trusted—as determined by transparency, institutional visibility, and prior interactions. Emerging distant kinship tools (e.g., investigative genetic genealogy, sequencing) expand identification of relatives across diaspora populations and generations. However, their use raises ethical and legal questions regarding consent, privacy, data governance, and cross-border platforms. Responsible use of DNA databases for separated families will require sustained dialogue among organizations, scientists, policymakers, and affected communities, as well as alignment of legal standards governing DNA data sharing in human rights and humanitarian contexts. Developing ethical and operational frameworks for these systems is essential to support reunification efforts while safeguarding the rights of vulnerable children.

Authors

• Sara Huston (Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, United States of America)
• Diana Madden (Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, United States of America)
• Marcia Maxson (Northwestern University, United States of America)
• Tabitha Bonilla (Northwestern University, United States of America)