Ancestry tests

[Feralpeg]

My wife won't do it just because she doesn't want to get some relative arrested for some crime that they left DNA behind on 30 years ago.

If one of my relatives committed a crime, I have no problem with them being discovered and facing the consequences of their actions.

 

[violina]

I've done both Ancestry and 23andme because I'm interested in my background due to a lack of family records. Over time, the results have changed ever so slightly based on the new data that each company gets, but it hasn't been drastic changes. The lower percentages changed over time but not really the larger percentages -- plus my data got a bit more refined after my parents took the test as well as we were phased.

 

[tvguy]

If one of my relatives committed a crime, I have no problem with them being discovered and facing the consequences of their actions.

Me either

 

[emmybee]

So are these tests a one time charge? Or do they tease you with possible matches while charging you for the information?

 

[Feralpeg]

So are these tests a one time charge? Or do they tease you with possible matches while charging you for the information?

You pay for the DNA kit. They run the test and post the info. If you don't belong to Ancestry, you can see your result, but you won't get hints of possible info and you can't search. You don't have to be a member for info on matches based on your DNA. No other charges.

 

[maxaroni]

Interesting thoughts on this. I was surprised that percentages could change the amount a couple of them did. Going from 17% to 64% doesn’t seem like refining to me. For me, I know enough of my ancestry and not interested in going further. If DH had any interest, he may learn some about his background as his mom was adopted. However, we aren’t too sure we want to open up a potential Pandora’s box, nor do we want to give our DNA out like that. Just not comfortable with it and not curious enough to look into it further.

 

[aprilgail]

A friend of ours, found out he had a daughter that he had no idea about.... Talk about a shock... Of course they did a proper DNA test at a doctors office and without a doubt he is her bio Dad... he said that when he saw her he knew, as she looks just like his mom and sister... they do have a good thriving relationship after a few bumps they figured it out... unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it... his marriage did not survive, his wife did not want him to have anything to do with her... when they met and married and the daughter was already around 4 or 5 so it wasn't like he cheated or anything like that.... they did not have any children between them, and she ( his wife) did not want a family even though she said she did ... and he always wanted a family... lots of back story here, to much to write...

That test brought him a daughter, and now a son in law, and 1 grandchild and another one on the way... so for him it worked out great...

I am involved with helping people locate their families through DNA and this happens pretty often! I was adopted and located my biological family through DNA, my daughter was donor conceived and we have located some of her half siblings this way also. My 90 year old mom did her DNA and she had a very close family hit-this woman was searching for her bio fathers family- she was around 80 (her daughter was helping her) turns out we narrowed it down to my moms fathers scoundrel of a brother as her father- he had a family in Barbados that he abandoned and then came to the US and did the same here! For adoptees searching DNA is the best thing that could have happened! And even now anyone giving up a child for adoption or anonymous egg/sperm donation should know that those children will not left to wonder about their roots- you WILL be found.

 

[mousefan73]

No interest. I can trace relatives on both sides about 2-300 years back. Also my cousin got a call from a half sister our family knew nothing about. ( though later aunts/ uncles recalled “ there was something” ). My uncle is deceased so he never met her. My cousins have and all is good.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I used Ancestry years ago and was more recently notified of updated results. My previous second highest percentage, Iberian Peninsula at 11%, dropped off completely as did a few of the really low 1-2% regions. The breakdown of the remaining categories shifted a bit and one was added that I had originally expected to see. Overall, the new results were more in line with what they should be according to what I know of my family history.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I used Ancestry.com and they just came out with an update too. Your DNA doesn't change but the more data they get from others, the more accuracy they can predict with. My previous reading was something like 75% Great Britain. That surged to 93%. Two others (Scandinavia and Iberian Peninsula which had low numbers anyway) completely dropped off. They were also able to refine the areas where my ancestors settled with the U.S. They weren't drastically different but more detailed.

Mine did something similar. I had some small percentages of Scandinavian and European Jewish that went away entirely on the revised test and my "Northwestern Europe, Wales, England" is up in the 90 something percent with any remainder being Irish. My US stuff was like "Lower Midwest and Virginia Settlers".

 

[Christine]

Mine did something similar. I had some small percentages of Scandinavian and European Jewish that went away entirely on the revised test and my "Northwestern Europe, Wales, England" is up in the 90 something percent with any remainder being Irish. My US stuff was like "Lower Midwest and Virginia Settlers".

I think we must be related!!! Although I have quite a bit of western NC settlers.

 

[AlohaNow]

DH's percentages did update with the changes. He did not take the test to get percentages, he took it to maybe find out who his bio father was. Mission accomplished. The story is so insane that I can't even post it all here. A letter was sent, but Mr. Coward has yet to answer over a year later. DH's need to find out who his father is far outweighed any potential privacy issues. Just knowing makes him feel more complete as a human being.

 

[izzy]

My percentages changed quite a bit, and actually now more match what I know about my heritage. One funny thing happened, though. I got a hit for a first cousin who I didn’t know about. My grandfather had been quite a scoundrel and ran around on my grandmother. I figured he had fathered a child somewhere along the way. When emailing with this person, what I found is that it looked like we were first cousins because our grandmothers were identical twins. We had quite a laugh over that!

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I did My Heritage on myself and my donor-egg-conceived son about a year ago (My Heritage does a cheek swab, which was easier for a then-2-year-old than spitting). I wish I had printed off his results when I first got them, because I recently noticed that while his percentages are more or less the same, their map has changed. Since my MIL claims to be 100% Polish, I expected a much higher percentage from that region. Instead, my son got a very "light" area encompassing the Baltic states and just a corner of Poland. Now I go on and find that he has a "dark" area encompassing all of the Balkan Peninsula (Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Austria, and Greece). And then the other surprise - that hasn't changed - is that he's 2.5% Northern African. Otherwise, his 59% Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and English was as expected.

My results came out of left field. I know for a fact that a majority of my ancestors came from England, Scotland, German, and Hungary, as I have their immigration records. Imagine my surprise at discovering that I'm 46% French and German, only 16.5% Eastern European (there's the Hungary and possibly Romania), but 37% SCANDINAVIAN! Not a single drop of English or Scottish DNA whatsoever. Guess I'm descended from the Vikings that invaded Britain all those years ago...

 

[Anchored]

I have traced all of my ancestors back to the 1400's in Europe so I am fairly certain of my DNA
My sister did hers and it was pretty consistent with what I found
My cousin did hers and found out she had an older brother that her father didn't know he had.
I am not interested in sending my DNA out to anyone.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

I have extended family (father and son) who happened to do the Ancestry test within months of each other, and found each other 46 years after the father gave the baby up for adoption at birth. From what I was told, the son did his first, and had no hits since the father's DNA wasn't in the database yet, then when the father did his a couple months later, he got a hit saying "100% DNA match (to this person) highly likely (this person) is your father or your child"...or something along those lines. So, it seemed to have worked out pretty good for them! They cautiously emailed back and forth through Ancestry's secure messaging/email system for a while to make sure everything was legit, which it was, then exchanged contact info and ended up meeting. The son then went on to meet his siblings and birth mother and have built relationships with them. He was at our family's reunion and holiday parties this past year and he looks just like one side of our family. It's an incredible story.

 

[AndreaDM]

I used 23andMe about 2 years ago. I am adopted and thought I knew who my birth parents were since they were married at the time. Well, turns out dear old mom was not being faithful and I was the result of an affair. That threw me for a loop! Thankfully the bio relatives that I found (bio dad died 10 years ago) didn't mind me "turning up at the door" and were happy to answer any questions I had and even gave me lots of photos. I am the spitting image of an aunt which was bizarre to finally look like someone! We don't see/talk all the time, it was more for finding out information than forming a close family bond, I already have that.

Oh, and yes, the percentages of my heritage have narrowed down and gotten more specific since I originally got my results.

 

[llcoolj]

Because of this thread, I asked my DH and DSIL if they had received updated reports. Both had with slight changes, but it got interesting in that Ancestry.com had matched DSIL to a possible relation. My MIL was adopted and we have her birth parents names and knew she had multiple siblings. On a whim, I searched her parents' names and found an obituary for a man who was possibly her brother. While sadly the gentleman passed last month, the obit had all the names of his surviving siblings including the DNA match of my DSIL. I contacted the funeral home and asked for them to pass on my contact information. MIL had a degenerative neurological condition and we would love to have more family medical history. I haven't heard back and I don't want to cause the family any discomfort. We found a picture of three of her possible brothers and the resemblance is uncanny.

 

[Erzengel]

As others have said, the more people who do this, the more "accurate" it gets.

Went from
51% - Asia East
21% - Polynesia
13% - Great Britain
7% - Ireland

to

76% - Phillipines
13% - Irish & Scottland
6% - England, Wales & Northwestern Europe
3% - Germanic Europe
2% - France

 

[whatsthebuzz]

If you do the testing with one company, are you only able to find missing or unknown relatives who also used that same company?