There is hell to pay if don't agree, or at least there was 21 years ago. I wouldn't doubt if now they outright call CPS on you.

I read all the paperwork and declined due to this fact, written in very small print. The nurses and my pediatrician threw a hissy fit. I was by myself, a new mother and stuck to my guns. The pediatrician fired me. I said, "GOOD! I don't want a Dr. like you!"

I have no idea what they do now. Best to research and take precautions. But yes, they had it right on the paperwork they are going to store their DNA.

:(

~Bonnie

: "...You probably know where your Social Security card,
: birth certificate and other sensitive information is being
: stored, but what about your genetic material? If you or
: your child was born in California after 1983, your DNA is
: likely being stored by the government, may be available to

: law enforcement and may even be in the hands of outside
: researchers, CBS San Francisco's Julie Watts reports. Like
: many states, California collects bio-samples from every
: child born in the state. The material is then stored
: indefinitely in a state-run biobank, where it may be
: purchased for outside research. State law requires that
: parents are informed of their right to request the child's
: sample be destroyed, but the state does not confirm parents
: actually get that information before storing or selling
: their child's DNA. KPIX has learned that most parents are
: not getting the required notification. We've also
: discovered the DNA may be used for more than just research.
: In light of the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook scandal and
: the use of unidentified DNA to catch the Golden State
: Killer suspect, there are new concerns about law
: enforcement access, and what private researchers could do
: with access to the DNA from every child born in the
: state."

: "...Some states destroy the blood spots after a year, 12
: states store them for at least 21 years. California,
: however, is one of a handful of states that stores the
: remaining blood spots for research indefinitely in a
: state-run biobank. Even though the parents pay for the
: lifesaving test itself, the child's leftover blood spots
: become property of the state and may be sold to outside
: researchers without the parent's knowledge or
: consent."

: "...You do have the right to ask the biobank to destroy
: the leftovers after the fact, though the agency's website
: states it "may not be able to comply with your
: request." You also have the right to find out if your
: child's blood spots have been used for research, but you
: would have to know they were being used in the first place
: and we've discovered that most parents don't."