DNA Tests
 

I was surprised that this didn't come up on a search, but -

Has anyone ever had their DNA tested? Which company did you use, and was there a specific reason why you chose that company?

I'll be honest, I would love to have mine done. I have so few relatives alive that it would be nice to find even dead ones!

What worries me is the unethical part. What if some lab worker at ancestry.com co-opts your DNA and spreads it around a crime scene? Or sells any medical information to your insurance company? Maybe I'm paranoid, but I actually had a free ancestry.com kit and have just been too wary to use it.

Any takers out there?

Here are a few disclaimers from ancestry.com:

Privacy for Your AncestryDNA Test



Was anyone happy, unhappy, or satisfied by your results?

I'm very curious about it, but have not gotten it done for the reasons you bring up. Right now, pre-existing conditions cannot prevent you from getting health insurance, but that wasn't true in 2008. Pre-existing conditions can prevent you from getting life insurance or can make your life insurance very high. What about genetic disposition to certain diseases? If it is known, could it affect the ability to get these insurances? Or cause you to have sky high premiums? Ever see the movie Gattaca?

That said, I'm very very curious. I want legal protections though. I have a second cousin who did it. She found out she's related to all of our other second cousins ;) Plus some other people too!

I've been wanting to do this for a good while -- there was a National Geographic sponsored project a few years ago that was more academic in nature. Pretty sure mine would only say I'm an Irish & German mix, but I'm still interested.

Whatever you do, DO NOT purchase"AncestrybyDNA". (Not to be confused with "AncestryDNA"). What a big rip off! Both of my parents are from Germany and my results said I was 95% European and 5% Indigenous American. (Not sure where the IA comes from.) I could of told you my family was from Europe but where? Eastern? Northern? AncestrybyDNA has a 1 star rating on Yelp.

I did the Ancestry.com one. I'm mainly Great Britain with some Scandinavian (12%) and small amounts of other European countries. I wish it got more detailed with the GB part. Am I more English, Scottish, Northern Irish? Some friends did a similar thing but they used either the National Geographic one or 23andMe, but I think they did the NG one.

I'd like to do the kind like 23andMe, but really have no need to. When my kid gets a bit older, I think we'll do it for her because we have no idea what her family health history is.

I remember a conversation in the "Who do you think you are?" thread on the topic.

They just give you British, not English, Scots, Welsh, or Irish? That a HUGE spectrum, considering that the British Isles is still the traditional jumping off place for the New World!

Genealogically, I know that I am Scots, Irish, English, Swiss, and German, but a photo exists that makes me wonder about my gg-granddaddy. He's somewhat up for grabs, IMHO.

I used 23 and me. They do your ancestry and test you for some genetic stuff that causes illness.

I haven't dug deep into why, but I heard that with the XX vs XY chromosomes, that it may be easier for male DNA to get more specific. I haven't researched it much. If someone knows that a different company gets more specific, I'd love to try it.

I used Ancestry when they had a sale, out of curiosity. There is a separate Irish category! I have done extensive genealogy, most of it in my mother's side, which predates even Charlemagne for her mother. Her father was Swedish, and a genealogist in Sweden did his genealogy back to 1640. There were no surprises there, and my DNA test confirmed what I had discovered through my genealogical research. It is important to remember that your DNA genealogy can be very different from your geographical genealogy! My grandmother's gateway ancestors all came from England. But they traced back to the Norman invasion and before that. Normans were "Norsemen" and went back to the Scandinavian invasions before that. Then married French women and subsequently married within the same gene pool up to and after coming to the Virginia Colony. I am 44% Scandinavian with but one Swedish ancestor!

The next large chunk was Western Europe, which included the low countries, Germany, and France. My father's paternal ancestors came from Germany, but after arriving and settling, married Quaker women who had come from England. I had previously found that some of his Quaker ancestors had married some of my mother's maternal ancestors, but the two had been on opposite sides of the Civil War in England! His mother's maternal ancestors came from France and her father's from England.

The BIG surprise was that I have but very trace DNA from the indigenous English, which tells me that those who had come from England on my father's side (Quakers) must have been from those areas where there had been Dane Law.

The other BIG surprise is that the third largest group was Irish, which includes Ireland, Scotland, and the Celts. I could trace one of my mother's maternal lines back to early days in Ireland and another to Scotland, and yet another to Wales, where some of the "Marcher Lords" had married women from those areas after they had invaded them. Again, my ancestral DNA did not match my geographical genealogy as far as my gateway ancestors are concerned.

These DNA results go back at least 1,000 years, and some say even further. I would say doing my DNA was definitely worthwhile and very interesting. I didn't do it to locate any new cousins, but many people have enjoyed that as well.

I did the Ancestry DNA test earlier this year and was pleased with the results. I already knew that both sides of my family were from Poland; but, I wanted to check to see if perhaps there was anything else that might show up and surprise us. I had heard a family rumor that my great-grandfather was a German orphan that was taken in by a Polish family. Though, I now believe that is not true or the story was for one of his brothers or something like that.

At any rate, there were no surprises. My DNA came back 98% Eastern European. LOL! The other 2% registered as Europe West, Great Britain and Ireland. In reading the [scientific] explanations on their website, it's possible that the 2% of Great Britain could be a random quirk of the DNA testing process as some DNA pieces just happen to look like other regions (or something like that). In that case, I could still be 100% Eastern European as I should be. Interestingly enough, according to the reading materials, I have more Eastern European DNA than native Eastern Europeans!! (98% vs. 82%).

The DNA test cannot really pinpoint if my family is from Poland, Lithuania or Belarus, for example. However, all of my known blood relatives prior to arrival in the U.S. were born in Poland; so..........

What's also cool is that, if you want them to, Ancestry.com can scan their database of other Ancestry DNA customers and let you know if you are a scientific DNA match for other members. It will even tell you if the match is close or more distant. I've found a few second cousins this way - confirmed relatives that I already knew about. There are also a few promising leads for other "cousins" who might be able to fill in large sections of the family tree once we are able to figure out who our common genetic ancestor is.

In all, I was pleased with the product. About 15 years ago, we found a family in Poland that shares our uncommon surname and comes from the same region that my family comes from. Looking at photos, their great-uncle and my father bear a striking resemblance. We figure we're related somehow; but, we've not been able to work out the common ancestor. We've kept in touch as "honorary family" all of these years. I went to Poland a few years ago to visit with my mother's side of the family. While there, I got to meet the other family possibly related to my dad's side. They were really great and we're hoping to figure the mystery out some day. Well, part of that mystery is going to be solved shortly. I ordered an extra Ancestry DNA kit and I'm going to send it out to Poland. My "honorary cousin" in Poland agreed to spit into the tube and mail it back to the U.S. Then, using Ancestry DNA's matching feature, we will finally be able to determine if we are blood related or not! It won't tell us who the common ancestor is; but, it will be able to give us a scientific probability of whether or not we are blood-related. I have the extra kit here and plan to mail it out to Poland sometime this week. I will try to remember to come back and let you know how it works out! :cool:

Thanks for your story, navane. I am very interested in hearing how this turns out. My mother's ancestry is very well research to way before her gateway ancestors, but not my father's, other than the Quakers. I connected some time back with a contemporary on my mother's maternal line. Lo and behold we had 12 ancestors in common, all in England, where he still resided. He even came to a family reunion here in the US with a huge genealogical chart of his family in England and its connection to the family here. We had an immediate personal rapport. He also had the same rapport with a cousin in my mother's generation who had roughly the same careers in their respective countries. There are also contemporary Swedes who are cousins on my mother's paternal line.

But my roadblock is on my father's side as I can't go back any further than my gateway ancestors with the exception of the Quakers. I did, however, come across a picture of a WWII German officer who was the spitting image of my father. He was a "von", which is part of that family's lore. I couldn't find any further record of him so that is all that I have. Germany is about the only European country I haven't gone to, mainly because of what happened here. There is, however, a street in my beloved Vienna, Austria bearing my family's surname.

Ah, the mystery!

1964Alum,

Interesting! What has been a problem for us is that Polish last names are often spelled incorrectly in many records, ship manifests, etc. Just a couple of days ago, I got a small break in the case when I found the funeral mass card of a great-aunt (one of my grandmother's sisters that I didn't know about). When I added it to the family tree, Ancestry.com started pulling up old U.S. census records matching her married name. Apparently she and her husband were still living with her folks (my great-grandparents). Those census records were showing with my grandmother's maiden name spelled incorrectly. The only reason I found those records is because my great-aunt and her husband were in the household (with their names spelled correctly). Similarly, Polish people often changed their first names to something more American. So, right now, I'm stuck on trying to find information on a great-grandfather Wojciech who apparently also went by "Albert" or "George".

Hopefully you'll catch a break and find something that links you to the big clue you needed!

Have you tried Soundex with the names? That would be my first suggestion.

Another is the back story of Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak. She was born Megan Smolenyak, and then met and married a man with the last name of Smolenyak. She was able to trace their lineage to a small town in Slovakia, and there were four distinct Smolenyak families. Through DNA, they were able to isolate one of the families from the other three, and so it happened that she & her husband were not even remotely blood related.

Navane & 1964, I immediately thought of Megan when I read your posts. So often, the very "tribe" to which we think we belong is not indeed ours. I know that, at best, I'm only half-related to all but seven people with my maiden name. One of my ancestors seems to have had an illegitimate child, and while pregnant with #2, was sent to the United States (to avoid the stigma?). She met & married a man who never adopted her children, but they did use his name. In tracing their mother, it seems that she may not have been German/Swiss after all. This is one of the puzzles I'd like to solve, since there's not proper records otherwise.

I used Family Tree DNA because my MIL, who is very into genealogy, asked me to do it and paid for the test.

So far it's told me exactly two things.

1. I have Irish ancestry. (Not a peep about my English, Scottish, Indian, or Polish ancestry. My father's whole family is Polish. :confused: )

2. The closest relatives it's shown me are possible fourth cousins. (Which means I am not closely related to my husband.)

I tried to get my dad to do the Y-DNA test, but he refused, and I don't have a blood-relative uncle or other male relative I can ask.

Guess I'm just a mystery wrapped in an enigma. :)

And that is certainly possible. That is why I asked my honorary cousin to take the DNA test. I told him via Facebook the other day, "Even if the test shows were are not blood family, I will always still call you cousin." His response to me was, "heheheh [family surname] is blood family. we are conected but we dont know where and how. we are conectet even with that part they say no we are not conected. yes we are just must find how"

(Specific note to honeychile: The last name you know me by on Facebook is my last name....however, it was not our original surname. Our family name was shortened when my dad was in the first grade. ;) Our original surname is slightly less common.)


I believe that some companies have tests which are only based off of either the Y chromosome or on the mitochondrial DNA. Those would search the paternal and maternal sides, respectively. If you did an mtDNA test, then you would be looking at your mother's lineage and, therefore, your father's Polish side would not have shown up.

I did their standard kit and mtDNA. I would have thought that the standard kit would have turned up something about my Polish ancestry based on the X chromosome I got from my father. And it doesn't explain why my English and Indian ancestry don't show up.

I do wish I could have gotten a Y-DNA test. But my father flat out refused, and now it's too late.

I did 23andme over a year ago. Here in Canada you get health info as well, which factored into the choice. Recently I decided to do AncestryDNA as well because I built my family tree there and would like more family matches.

It was really worth it to me. I went in for the ancestry info, but found running the raw data through Promethease gave me so much health info that actually helped me choose medications (turns out I'm an ultrarapid metabolizer of some which explained a lot).

Ancestry wise 23andme gave me some snippets of ancestry I didn't expect, like little bits of Iberian and Southern European I'd love to trace. I'm curious how Ancestry will break down the UK/Irish because 23andme lists it as "British and Irish" while Ancestry.com breaks down Celtic ancestry separately.

Overall it's been totally worth it. If you're interested in health info, try out Promethease - https://promethease.com/

You just download the zip file of your raw data from whichever site you used and upload it. For 5 bucks you get a TON of health info. Ancestry actually tests more SNPs than 23andme right now so I'll be running the Ancestry DNA test as well.

I got my mom and 23andme test for Xmas, so I'm excited to see how that affects my results (and I'll be able to break down which side some DNA came from). I find 23andme is better for comparing results to family members which is why I got her that one.

Update! The kit went out to Europe, my "honorary cousin" spit into the tube and I just received the kit back today! I immediately put it right back into the mail to be sent to the lab. So, provided the sample was good and the solution was able to stay fresh enough during the long trip in the mail, we should have some kind of answer in a few weeks!

How exciting for you Navane! I look forward to hearing the results.

The DNA test results for my "honorary cousin" in Poland came in today and, sadly, he did not turn up on the match list for me or for my father.

There are two other women on ancestry.com who have ancestors with the same last name from the same general area as my family. Those two women are distant DNA cousins to each other; but, they did not match with me.

"Honorary cousin" in Poland has known family from both of the two exact towns where these ladies' ancestors came from. I was certain that, if he didn't match to me, he would match to one or the both of them. If so, then I could put them all in touch with each other and they could "meet" each other.

Unfortunately, neither one of the two women came up as a match for him either! So, either we have a lot of unrelated people with our uncommon last name running around or the DNA test isn't able to go far enough back to pick-up the connection.

I do understand the complexities of DNA and how these things can get muddied up based on the various combinations and scenarios. Though, I was a bit surprised that the other two women didn't match either. I don't know about the two ladies; but, me and "honorary cousin" did both separately come up as having DNA from the same specific region in Poland.

Oh well...we'll keep plugging away at the family tree the old fashioned way!


This may very well be a similar situation here. One village has a current population of 650 and the other 13,060. So, kinda small...but, yeah, maybe they are unrelated, but decided to use the same last names.

My aunt and uncle were tested. My uncle (my mom's brother) and mom thought they were 100% German, but it turns out they're only 78% German and 22% English and Irish. My mom said that made sense, because some of the ancestors lived along the coast of the Baltic/North Sea.

My aunt from Minnesota thought she was 100% Norwegian. It turns out she's 50% Norwegian and 50% Swedish and she's really ticked off about it! LOL -- in my mind, this is hardly a dramatic revelation, but it matters to her. I think if you have the testing done, you need to be prepared for surprises.

On the other side of the family, my cousin was tested. We had a great grandfather who was maybe German and maybe Dutch, and from her results, it turns out he must have been Dutch.

So, I'm less German than I thought, and more English and Dutch than I thought, but it's only the percentage of the predetermined mix that changed.

We do DNA tests all the time.. but it's more about confirming the identity of a father than anything else.

A half-sister found me through AncestryDNA.

I used it to honestly get an idea of my European ancestry. I knew I'd obviously have West African ancestry.

<---- 21% British
<---- 36% Nigerian

It's absolutely none of my business, but I'm intrigued: what is the other 43%?

Nigeria 36%
Ivory Coast/Ghana 14%
Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers 4%
Mali 5%
Senegal 4%
Cameroon/Congo 4%
Africa Southeastern Bantu <1%

Great Britain 21%
Europe West 4%
Iberian Peninsula 2%
Italy/Greece 1%
Scandinavia 1%
Finland/Northwest Russia <1%

The remaining one percent is Asian and Pacific Islander.

We did it...23andme. Mr. Ellebud was 47% Ashkenazic Jew. 3% yahkot...an Mongol tribe who, in the 1400s, married into the Jewish population. Then on his mother's side...French Canadian, Italian, English, Alsace, Irish and I don't remember.

Me: 3% Yahut...and97% Ashkenazic Jew. I am boring.

I just did 23andMe me and am also part Yakut, as is DH! Never knew about this before!

We didn't know either about the Yakut. They were, I guess very busy. My father said that it was possible that we had some Mongolian blood because of the original last name. The tribe, so says wikipedia, lived in Siberia. My family is from Germany and Kiev, Russia.

May I ask if you are Jewish?

Ethnically, yes. 47.9 %. My great grandfather was part Siberian, I'm guessing that's where it came from. Very interesting though!

I am an adult adoptee and have tested with Ancestry and 23andMe. I have uploaded my results to Family Tree DNA, GedMatch, DNA.Land and MyHeritage. MyHeritage is not ready for primetime in IMHO.

I am going to meet my bio-father in June! My bio-mom refuses contact.

As far as ethnicity some of it is very broad. If Ancestry lists you as Irish it is really more accurately described as Celtic. So it could refer to six territories widely considered Celtic nations: Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

I think I have Mr. honeychile talked into doing it! Turns out that he's the only local male cousin, and his cousins would love to get his report. Cousin #1 used 23andme, for what it's worth.

My mother and I both did Ancestry as our Christmas gifts last year. Mine took about 8 weeks to come in. My mom got a notice in about that time frame that her sample could not deliver results, so she had to resubmit and wait another 8 weeks. Frustrating!

It was cool to see what part of my heritage comes from what side. I knew for the most part i would be at least half Polish and a quarter Norwegian. Turns out I'm 70% Eastern European and only 16% Scandinavian - however that I'm also 9% Irish! News to me, but that could absolutely be from Viking conquests. 16+9=25. On the nose.

My mother was exactly what she thought she would be - 98% Eastern European.

Neither of us have matched with any relatives closer than 4th cousins.

^^Didn't they break down the Eastern European? I'm not expecting someone to be of, say, Lichtenstein descent, but Eastern Europe is pretty big!

I did 23andMe and my sister did AncestryDNA. My results:

Northwestern European 78.0%
French & German 31.8%
British & Irish 18.7%
Finnish 0.2%
Broadly Northwestern European 27.3%

Southern European 11.7%
Balkan 4.0%
Iberian 2.1%
Broadly Southern European 5.6%

Ashkenazi Jewish 1.2%
Eastern European 0.6%
Broadly European 7.8%

East Asian & Native American 0.5%
Native American 0.4%
East Asian < 0.1%
Yakut < 0.1%
Broadly East Asian < 0.1%
Broadly East Asian & Native American < 0.1%

Sub-Saharan African 0.2%
East African 0.2%

Unassigned < 0.1%

My sister's results:

Ireland 38%
Italy/Greece 22%
Europe West 18%
Iberian Peninsula 5%
Great Britain 4%
Finland/Northwest Russia 3%
European Jewish 2%
Europe East 1%
Caucasus 1%
Africa 0%
Asia 0%
Native American 0%
Pacific Islander 0%

Both of us were surprised that we apparently have little to no Native American ancestry—our grandmother (mom's mom) grew up thinking her father was full-blooded or mostly Cherokee.

An fyi: eastern european generally is code for Jewish. Since Jewish is NOT a race but a religion part of who one is is about the cities or ghettos (de facto not Nazi type ghettos or walled off) ghettos.

In any case what one is doesn't make who one is.

I disagree. Eastern European is code for......Eastern European. That includes the peoples of Russia, Latvia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, etc. If you meant to say that Jewish is generally code for Eastern European, you might have a better case.

Having been a tour hostess through The Nationality Classrooms, I've learned to never paint such a wide brushstroke over any group of countries! I've seen people come close to fisticuffs over centuries-old borderlines!

FWIW, what I've been told (and have discovered through genealogy), my ethnic background is Scots, Irish, English, and German/Swiss. I expect that there could be some Iberian and/or Nordic, due to the Irish, but we'll see. I'm sure that there will be a surprise or two!