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Original poster

DNA/Ancestry test

29 replies

ShoppingBasket · 24/05/2020 21:52

Has anyone used these ancestry sites? I want to get my Dad a gift of one but there are so many to choose from. I would like my Dad to do some research after getting the results. Can anyone tell me their experience or recommendations please?

OP posts:
Clawdy · 24/05/2020 22:09

Checking in, I'm interested in doing one of these too. Wondered if they are still being done during the lockdown.

AlphabetDinosaur · 24/05/2020 22:15

I've done one with Ancestry and I find that the easiest place to do research. You can also upload your results from Ancestry to other sites such as MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA. They are still processing tests.

Original poster
ShoppingBasket · 24/05/2020 22:16

Have you looked into any of them Clawdy? I've been looking between ancestry dna and myheritage.com. There is a price difference but can't tell what the difference is in quality or if there is a difference.

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Original poster
ShoppingBasket · 24/05/2020 22:18

Thanks Alphabet, is there much research to be done after the test?

OP posts:
Esspee · 24/05/2020 22:19

Are you talking about just membership so that he can do research or a DNA test as well?

Original poster
ShoppingBasket · 24/05/2020 22:25

Oh do you have to get membership on top of the test to do researchm I thought you would do test and then have access to their database to find people.

OP posts:
Original poster
ShoppingBasket · 24/05/2020 22:26

Sorry I'm half asleep tonight, yes a test included, he has never done one.

OP posts:
StayAlert · 24/05/2020 22:29

I've done the Ancestry one and it's taking ages to come back, I posted it off 6 weeks ago and I've just this week had an email to say they've received it and will take another 8-12 weeks to get the results to me.

I imagine that labs are probably v busy at the mo with covid-19 related stuff but just thought I'd mention incase getting a quick result is important to you!

Clawdy · 24/05/2020 22:33

I'd heard the Ancestry one is the best. Sounds like it will take some time though.

Feduppluckingmychinhairs · 24/05/2020 22:35

I recommend the ancestry one. And there is a (free) website called gedmatch.com where anyone who has tested with any company can upload their data and cross check against the other people.

Original poster
ShoppingBasket · 24/05/2020 22:46

Great thanks all! Thanks for that StayAlert, that is quite a long time to be waiting for it.
Thanks Fedup for link to website that will keep him busy!

OP posts:
AlphabetDinosaur · 25/05/2020 13:43

If he wants to do lots of research he'd probably need to get a subscription to Ancestry afterwards but he can build a family tree for free. The DNA results give you an estimate of your ethnicity and a list of people who you share DNA with. Some of those you might already know, others you'd have to do research to find out how they are linked to you and where they'd fit in your tree.

AllMixedUp76 · 25/05/2020 15:10

My heritage have a sale on at the moment. I think they are more Europe focused, as opposed to ancestry who are US based. I personally have little experience with ancestry but have tested with 23&me and uploaded to myheritage. Both give me very similar ethnicity estimates. I would only use 23&me if you are interested in health (Very expensive for ancestry only).
Both ancestry and myheritage allow you to have a free account for a certain period. You could do that too see which one you like better, and to get a bit of a start to your family tree? Just remember to opt out once the free membership runs out!
One feature I like of my myheritage is that if you show you match with someone and you both have a tree up, it will suggest how you are related. I have found several 2nd cousins and one 1st cousin that we had no knowledge of before.

Andahelterskelterroundmylittle · 25/05/2020 16:30

Would you like to see what you get with Ancestry? I def didn't want health aspect as a focus so chose Ancestry .Hang on I'll take screen shots

Andahelterskelterroundmylittle · 25/05/2020 16:56

First page , general picture of your ethnicity

DNA/Ancestry test
Andahelterskelterroundmylittle · 25/05/2020 16:57

You can see map and break down

DNA/Ancestry test
Andahelterskelterroundmylittle · 25/05/2020 16:59

Map, list possible relatives - although they don't have to share any family tree names.

DNA/Ancestry test
DNA/Ancestry test
WhySeaEmm · 25/05/2020 17:27

Great photos above. I was really happy with our Ancestry ones.

Original poster
ShoppingBasket · 26/05/2020 13:29

Thanks Alphabet, good to know.

No don't think I'd want health for him. It's more of an activity to keep him busy with a bit of researching and finding people. With my heritage and ancestry I guess they are pretty much the same but ancestry is more popular. Does this then mean there are more matches on one site to another? Or are they working from the same database?

Thanks for photos that's really helpful. Oh wow didn't realise they break it down to parts in countries like they have done in Ireland. Now I want to do one 😂

OP posts:
MulticolourMophead · 26/05/2020 13:39

I've seen reviews, for all the DNA testing places, that suggests the ethnicity background stuff is just a guesstimate, and can be a bit hit and miss.

However, across all of them, the cross matching to relatives is pretty much accurate, as it's similar to the testing done for courts, etc.

noraclavicle · 26/05/2020 13:49

I don’t recommend Myheritage for the simple fact that they will try to hard sell you by text, email, phone (I had a call on Easter Sunday!), you name it, until you manage to get on top of all the privacy settings. Even when you have an annual subscription you get badgered to upgrade. They’re infuriating.

pamplemoussed · 26/05/2020 13:54

I recently submitted my DNA and got this back from Ancestry '

Your DNA results will likely take 6-8 weeks, but due to high demand, they may take longer.'

Agree - laboratories are probably pretty stretched right now!

YeOldeTrout · 26/05/2020 14:00

What do you think your dad would enjoy from it?
Most people just want ethnicity... but you could find out you had relatives you never knew you had & didn't to know about. Make sure your dad could cope before you risk that.

That happened to my uncle (I found out he existed). He's still pissed off at me & won't communicate. Neither of us is member of ancestry.com He had an unusual name so I quickly found most of his life details online from free sources.

Schlobbob · 26/05/2020 14:17

Ancestry has the biggest database so you may find more success with cousin matching there. If you have time, hold off until June as they may well do a 20% discount. Amazon sometimes sell the kits for £50, they do for Black Friday and Prime Day.

Ancestry has a much better way of being able to sort and categorise your matches, I also think the trees are much better on Ancestry than My Heritage. You can upload your raw dna data to other websites but you cannot import into Ancestry. My Heritage has some really useful tools that you can pay about £30 to unlock too. Hope that helps!

starfishmummy · 26/05/2020 14:25

Ancestry is considered the better one. I believe that if you wish to do so you can import your ancestry result into other sites like my heritage, but that ancestry wont take results from other testers.