Genealogy Notes

Know your family history. Talk with your relatives and take careful notes, especially about health problems that seem to run in your family. Then you can develop prevention plans with your own doctor. There is a free My Family Health Portrait tool from the US Surgeon General at https://familyhistory.hhs.gov/. You can use it to create a family health record. Then share this information with others in your family and your doctor.

Since My Family Health Portrait is Web-based, no additional software needs to be downloaded or installed. The health information you provide is stored only on your computer and not on a U.S. government server. You own the file and can choose what to do with it at any time.

With My Family Health Portrait, you can:
Edit or update your health information at anytime.
Save your health information to a disk and take it with you if you are using a public machine (e.g., at the library).
Decide with whom you want to share your health information.
Decide how to share your health information (e.g., mail it to someone).

If you do not know all the details about everyone in your family, the health information you do enter into the tool will be sufficient and useful. When used in consultation with a doctor or a healthcare professional, My Family Health Portrait can be a valuable tool for assessing your risk for disease and identifying strategies to prevent disease.

My Family Health Portrait is part of the U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative. For more information about the U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative, please go to:
U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative
Frequently Asked Questions: Family History Initiative