Has anyone done a Ancestry DNA test??

[loopylass13]

Has anyone done a Ancestry DNA test?? How did it go? Did you get any answers in terms of relatives? Whether close and distant etc. Please tell me your experiences.

I am debating whether to do a test myself. One question - wondering if females can only trace the mother line and if males can only trace the father line, or whether the test links to all family no matter the gender?

Thank you x

Pinkginxx mine came back sayIng ‘100% European Jewish’ (which was not a surprise) so somehow they can identify Jewish genes as well as location. The European part was then broken down into Central and Eastern Europe with the relevant countries shown. So yours could well be worth doing on that basis.

Now I’ve thought about it. Does anyone know how they can trace Jewish DNA as I thought Jewish applies to religion not race?

I have free software for constructing my family tree (gramps).
The DNA test that DD took few weeks ago with ancestry.com, cost £49.

I read that BBC article with mixed feelings. I look like my dad & have my mother's hands; I'm sure of my parentage but can't imagine I'd be upset anyway if they weren't my bio parents (I screw up too, I can forgive my parents for that kind of screw up). However... a cousin was lied to about who is his biological father; I'm pretty sure cousin doesn't know the truth. He'll probably find out if he takes a DNA test, though, and he already has issues with his mom.

@Frozenteatowel - Jews are an ethnoreligious group, i.e. an ethnic group who are 'bound' by a shared religious background. Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish people, but not all Jewish people are religious. As we are an ethnic group, that's how they can trace the DNA.

That's the sort of label that I find really dodgy, like the "Belgian" DNA someone mentioned upthread. Given that Belgium has only existed since the mid-19th c, I don't know how the fuck it's supposed to have its own DNA.

CheeseTheDay thanks that makes sense.

Jewish doesn't mean religion actually. One of my friends is jewish but she is a catholic. The jews are people who originate from a people in the middle east.

The nazis also killed jews that had converted to christianity.

How private is the database? I mean, would it list your full name and surname and show who you’re related to? Or is there a level of anonymity before that? How does it work with the connections?

(FWIW I think donor offspring should be told of their heritage, so I think that anyone who hopes to remain anonymous can’t complain. It’s too big a deal for the offspring.)

@robinwasntred - that's a good point about London; someone about 3 or 4 generations back on my dad's side was from there, so it could be that the other genes were picked up there. Interestingly, that's the bit of my family I haven't managed to trace back that far, so that might be the key.

My DDad did one. He has brushed over the results which is odd as he is very interested in family history. I suspect that it confirmed some family history he isn't comfortable with. I really want to do mine now.

I’ve done ancestry one but I’ve not wanted to connect with relatives so haven’t given that permission- I’m no NC with some relatives.

There were a few surprises some I sort of can understand but not others.

They don’t have a customer service department that you can ring to ask for explanation which is a shame.

I've bought one for my teenage son for Christmas but not done it yet, I got it him as a few months ago he was researching his surname which made me uneasy... as our surname is as a result of someone his Nan (on dads side) married (with him for only a few years) while she was pregnant with another mans child.... folk should really think twice about giving their children surnames of non blood relatives as it gets messy further down the line

Yes, I found out my father wasn't my real father. I wouldn't have known either of them anyway so why the lie? It just pissed me off and made me distrust my family.
now I'm wondering whether to contact all the new family members it threw up or leave it alone. I wish I hadn't bothered really.

@TaMereAPoilDevantPrisu well it said western european but that is not a term we use anymore so said western european (now known as france/belgium/germany/netherlands) but same thing I guess?

I'm an adoptee and have registered my results in the hope of finding my parentage , it's proving much harder than I anticipated.

Yes, the kids and I got DH an Ancestry DNA test for father's day this year. Found enough close relatives (i.e. 2nd and 3rd level cousins) who had sufficiently large and detailed family trees that a couple of weeks ago, after months of research, I finally managed to pinpoint his previously totally unknown biological father for him.

He (his dad) was overjoyed thank fuck! He had suspected that he'd fathered a child with DH's mum, but she had told him the dates meant that it wasn't his baby. We recently found out from her sister (after MIL had passed away) that MIL had planned to have a baby and raise it alone...i.e. she flat out lied to him, rather than was mistaken.

DH's dad was only just turned 18 and she was mid twenties when they met. He was crazy about her, while she was using him as a sperm donor. He was not convinced that he wasn't the father, so he'd already told his wife of the possibility of having a child out there somewhere when they first met (they've been married for over 30 years.) Thankfully she's every bit as excited about finding DH as her husband is, and they now have two grandchildren they never knew about. DH has 3 half-siblings who all seem really excited about what's happened too. It's quite surreal how well everything has worked out (so far!)

They're flying over to visit us in less than a week. I'm currently cacking myself about making a good impression (and cleaning up our bombsite of a house!)

DH and I did them last year. I'm 27% merlot, 23% shiraz and 50% chardonnay.

I bought an Ancestry DNA kit for myself and my son last Christmas. I thought it was interesting at first, but the more I find out about it, the more I realise it's not that useful.

The way Ancestry and other big brands work is they compare your DNA to other people on their current database. So, it is not the same as some true ethnicity DNA tests which can only be done on the male line to get both maternal and paternal results.

My DNA was mostly British, but my son had around 50% British and 50% other European DNA. We took this to mean than the other European DNA came from his father's side. However, a few months later, they updated my son's results to increase his 'British' percentage! How does that work? Well, it's all because it compares people on the database at any given time. It doesn't compare your DNA to people in those areas 100 or 1000 years ago. Can't really explain it any more, but it was well covered on a BBC radio programme which explained it better than I can.

Anyway, on a different note, before Christmas, the following story got lots of coverage about the perils of DNA tests.

'The Christmas present that could tear your family apart' www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-46600325

@Frozenteatowel that was my understanding, that I strongly suspect a Jewish ancestry but i don't see how a religion can be shown?? I can see how it can show that my ancestors were from certain regions (from family tree I'm English/Welsh from the dawn of time) but I'm really curious as to my great, great gradparents having stereotypically Jewish names (midlands).
Sorry if I'm being completely thick but how would it show a Jewish anaestory if it hoes back at least 200 years?

Sorry for the typos 🙈

Yes, I did the Ancestry DNA test. It was interesting. My results were 50% Western European which is rather vague sadly, 30% Scottish / Irish and 20% Scandinavian which confirmed known family history but interestingly, on my maternal side, i wasnt able to find the Scottish family my grandmother talked about so often, only Yorkshire based relatives back to 1790.

I also discovered that one of my uncles was the result of an affair and had a different father than my grandfather (which is why he looked so different to siblings).

I was also contacted by a 3rd cousin who helped me grow my family tree massively.

Interesting stuff but skeletons lurk.

www.businessinsider.com/dna-testing-delete-your-data-23andme-ancestry-2018-7?r=UK&IR=T

I just don't believe that given we share, like, 98% of our DNA with chimps, Scottish DNA is that markedly different from Yorkshire DNA. Can someone sciencey explain?

Lol at BringOn

western european (now known as france/belgium/germany/netherlands) but same thing I guess?

Well see this is one of my worries about these. Given the way nationalism is on the rise, I can well imagine a few years down the line Viktor Orban or someone equally unpleasant going "You don't have 50% Hungarian DNA? You can't be Hungarian any more then".

There have been a number of high-profile cold cases solved in the USA by police accessing these databases and working out the criminal's family tree.

It wasn’t from the actual DNA testing/genealogy sites themselves though. They all have privacy policies.

There is a site called GEDmatch where users can input their raw dna data, which you can download from ancestry/23&me after you have done the test. If you choose to share your raw DNA data on this site then the police can compare it to DNA profiles in their databases.

GEDmatch is what the police in the US have been using.