How accurate are they and which one would you use?
A co-worker refused to check the "suggest relatives" box because, as he put it, "my dad was in the Navy and I don"t want to know about any half siblings"So when you get an email from a complete stranger claiming to possibly be a half-sibling from your father's secret affair 50 years ago, please keep an open mind. Stuff happens.
We did AncestryDNA for Christmas gifts last year. We all enjoyed the process. In addition to finding out our nationality there ere a few cool things that came out of it.
1. Confirmed that my twin sister is my identical twin rather than fraternal (we thought so as we look a lot alike).
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Also, different ethnicity tests may show different ethnicity estimates (but you would think they should be similar???). Ancestry has me at 91% Great Britain and less than 1% Irish but 23andMe has me down as 59.7% British & Irish(???) and a bunch of other ethnic groups. (23andMe supports my ancestry research more so than Ancestry).
Ancestry did not show mine nor my daughter's Native American ancestry but 23andMe did (our family was created by adoption, our daughter's birthmother said her father was Native American and her phenotype characteristics supported her statements.) Go figure...
Imagine what could happen if insurance companies got a hold of the data.
Sorry for being wordy but I do a lot of genealogical research, not only for my family but for others.
I would suggest, if you can afford them, to order your tests from 23andMe over Ancestry. Reasons listed below, paragraph 3, 4, etc.
If you order DNA tests, remember, you inherit 50% of your DNA from each parent. If you have siblings, they may not have inherited the exact same DNA so if you can convince your siblings to order tests also, you will have a more complete picture. Ditto if you have older relatives, biological parents, biological aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.; having their DNA tested will help complete the picture. My mother, sister and I all had our DNA tested via Ancestry (ditto spouse and daughter; and then I, spouse and our daughter had ours tested with 23andMe). Via Ancestry, my sister's and my results were slightly different. Same biological parents and biological relatives, both sides, so nothing fishy going on.
Also, different ethnicity tests may show different ethnicity estimates (but you would think they should be similar???). Ancestry has me at 91% Great Britain and less than 1% Irish but 23andMe has me down as 59.7% British & Irish(???) and a bunch of other ethnic groups. (23andMe supports my ancestry research more so than Ancestry).
Ancestry did not show mine nor my daughter's Native American ancestry but 23andMe did (our family was created by adoption, our daughter's birthmother said her father was Native American and her phenotype characteristics supported her statements.) Go figure...
I think the 23andMe is a more accurate and in-depth test than the one offered by Ancestry (again, per my ancestry research). 23andMe charges more for their tests which can be an issue. I did gift my sister an Ancestry test years ago and some day I will "gift" my sister another DNA test via 23andMe or some other DNA testing group.
I am so glad we had my Mom's done. She is now ninety so our opportunity for testing her generation is limited. I wish we had other relatives from my Mom's generation to test but sadly they are all deceased now.
As others have said before, be aware that you may encounter information that you were not expecting. So far we have not.
I've done 23andMe, and I'm also in the molecular biology field (which, deals with DNA the most - since that's almost the only thing we ever work with!).
Ancestry for me wasn't my main reason for doing 23andMe, I was more interested in their other genetic tests, and a year or two ago they finally got FDA approval. My ancestry didn't show anything surprising (we have a long family history book from my mom's side), but I did find out I carry for a genetic disease. We later figured out it was from my mom's side.
I also got 23andMe for my boyfriend since he was adopted, and didn't really know anything about his ancestry (other than being Korean) and he actually has a chronic condition that may be genetic.
I've never looked into Ancestry.com's testing, so I can't speak on that.
Nothing could happen, due to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008.
I looked up the 23andme website and I think the health one sounds really cool!! I want to get this for my husband for his birthday, I think he'll be really surprised and excited. Have any of you seen any deals on the 23andme? $199 is expensive but I'll pay it if they don't do sales.
I looked up the 23andme website and I think the health one sounds really cool!! I want to get this for my husband for his birthday, I think he'll be really surprised and excited. Have any of you seen any deals on the 23andme? $199 is expensive but I'll pay it if they don't do sales
Ethnicity estimates are not an exact science. Each testing company uses their own algorithms. Gedmatch actually allows you to try different algorithms with the same set of raw DNA.
After watching the above video I don't know if I'd pay for this service. When several sets of identical triplets come back with different results then I have a hard time trusting the companies involved.
But is it actually verified that they're identical? Many twins who look alike assume that they're identical, but often DNA testing reveals that they actually aren't - they're fraternal twins that look identical.Just watched the video previous poster attached where three sets of identical triplets had very different results so like anything I'd take it with a grain of salt.