Inheriting genes from a non-blood relative can happen in a few different ways. one way is through adoption, where a person is legally adopted into a family and becomes part of that family's genetic lineage. another way is through a phenomenon called "genetic assimilation," where an individual who marries into a family and has children with a member of that family can pass on their own genetic traits to future generations of the family. additionally, sperm or egg donation and surrogacy can also result in a child inheriting genes from a non-blood relative.