Anybody done an Ancestry DNA test? Worth it?

[wheneverwhereverwhatever]

Hi,

I always tell myself that I'll buy an Ancestry DNA test next time I see them on offer. They're on offer now, but I'm unsure. Any one done one? Worth it? Can't help thinking that it would be an expensive way to discover that I'm totally English (as I suspect!) but I am interested in knowing for sure what my back ground is.

Anyone found out anything interesting from one? Or discovered distant family?

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/c/dna

Can I use a false name, or conceal my name on the result part? I know of someone who was pestered by a great uncle after their email address and name were published. I'm guessing consent must have been sought first.

I did one because I don't know who my dad is but without expertise it's impossible to decipher .

Give it a lot of thought. You cannot 'unknow' whatever is revealed.

I found this podcast series fascinating and it raises some really interesting ideas and implications around these tests: open.spotify.com/show/60mnGyrXmukPwKHBJGbeB0?si=eO_EEp8nSpSdpiji6cqc6w

Yes do it! Met lots of new family in Aus from it as well as filled in some mysteries from a few gens back.

DH’s family found out that on his Dad’s side, they actually originated from a country they have a lifelong mutual hatred of which caused much drama (now long blown over) among his extremely large extended family, and was very interesting, but was taken in good spirit eventually!

I was able to connect an 89 year old 2nd cousin on my father’s side to his mothers family after he was adopted at the age of 2. My father’s aunt had moved abroad, had a child, put him up for adoption and none of her family knew of his existence. He was able to see a photo of his mother for the first time and talk to my father’s siblings to get some background on her. Made him extremely happy and brought him some closure I think. I matched with his son on Ancestry.

It confirmed that my father is sadly my father as I had matches with his family. Kind of hoping he wasn’t (abandoned as a child).

I discovered where my love of green countryside and adoration of potatoes in all their forms comes from! I had assumed I was half Scottish as that is where my fathers parents were from but I’m actually half Irish as they had migrated to Scotland from Ireland. Also discovered I’m 10% Norwegian (the rest English) which made me feel a bit exotic tbh!

I think for your reasons why not. I was just interested in the heritage part when I did one, my son kept asking and I had no information to give him (I’m adopted) but I ended up being contacted by a woman who seemed to be a niece. She went on to tell me my birth mother was alive. This wasn’t what I was looking for so I just deleted my profile, my social media is already tight due to work so hopefully I can’t be found again.

I've been looking at my family tree for about 5 years now but only did an Amcestry test a year ago. I've found cousins I didn't know existed and also made contact with a branch of my mother's family and been able to give them photos, and my own memories, of someone who was adopted within a wider family back in the 30s. That was pretty special.
I know DNA inheritance is random but I was surprised to find such a large Welsh percentage as a 2 x great grandmother is the first Welsh-born ancestor I've come across.
I find it all absolutely fascinating. Bear in mind you might get some unexpected surprises, but it's been great for my research and I'd recommend doing the test.

You can often tell if there is Viking blood by doing a family tree. If your ancestors had surname(s) ending in "by" like Appleby, Engleby, Suddaby etc and are from the NE!

The closest relative I've found is 4th cousin (loads of them all over the world). My DP hasn't found anyone closer in his family either.

@Paperbagsaremine I've also found a relative who is related to both my parents' sides of the family. No idea where the actual connection is though.

It all sounds very fascinating but like @KenAdams I think it a bit weird that private companies keep records of our DNA tests. I'm not really a massive conspiracy theorist but I feel uneasy about this. I think a family tree is better.

Although thinking of how much I'm spending on Christmas presents do I actually need any more relatives???

I did it to find out more about my mother who was adopted.
She knew the name of her birth mother but nothing of her father.
I traced him and also 4 siblings that she never knew she had, she always assumed she was an only child.
At nearly 80, she was well shocked but not upset by it and has no desire to meet up with any of her siblings. She never had any desire to trace her birth parents, she was more interested in her heritage.

I did one and have discovered who my grandfathers biological father was. He was born out of wedlock and his mother never disclosed who his father was to anyone and he was raised by his grandparents believing his mother to be his sister for much of his life. Sadly I found out who his father was after my grandfather had passed on.

I've connected with many relatives on there and have got photographs of my great great grandparents which my great aunts and uncles never had, they'd never met them because they both died tragically young. I had the biggest shock when I saw the photos because my great great grandfather looks almost identical to my dad and my brother, at a certain age they could pass for triplets!

I've also tested many family members and downloaded and reuploaded my results into a few other websites, one of which was called Codegen which brings up relevant articles related to illnesses connected to what genes you have. As an example mine brought up many articles about mental health, which I do suffer from. My mums said she has an increased risk for esophageal cancer which is what her father died of, I'm not sure how accurate the results are but ours have been pretty accurate from what we can tell.

You can also upload to Gedmatch where you can match up to other relatives from other DNA testing sites if they have uploaded the results there too. It also has other things, or did when I used it last, like predicting your eye colour based on your DNA (very accurate).

Using mine and my families DNA I was also able to genetically confirm the research I'd already done on my family tree which I was happy about.

I was also pleased to see a small amount of South Asian DNA in my results, I'm part Romany gypsy and often we have trace amounts of South Asian in our DNA but sometimes it's so small it doesn't show. The last couple of generations of my Romany side people have married non Romany people too so mine would be "diluted" more I suppose so I wasn't expecting it to still show up.

If you're interested in your Ancestry then I really recommend it. Although I can't say how it compares with similar DNA testing sites so there may be better ones out there.

Yes you can.

@capabilityfrowns if you need help then search out some groups on Facebook,just type in "DNA detectives", there is a group there with over 206k people in. They can help you decipher your results and can triangulate your matches for you to try and figure out your paternity. They're extremely good at what they do and have helped so many people and won't charge you for helping. Good luck, I hope you get some answers.

I'd be happy to look at this for you. I'm a certified DNA genealogist. Drop me a message and I will see if I can help.

I did Ancestry for a specific reason and I feel the cost of it is reasonable plus the online monthly fee which gives access to all birth / deaths / marriage / census records is fair for the basic one whilst you do your research. Especially if your family is either British going back many generations or from another country where paper records were recorded and preserved. I know many people who are second or third generation British born but their heritage is from somewhere in the world that records weren't made or preserved or have been destroyed, so for them it's disappointing when it comes to delving back into the past.

The other leading testing company is 23andMe which is the most popular for health and genetic testing. They don't have the access to records that Ancestry does. I wouldn't choose any other site.

Both sites will link you up with anyone who has also taken their test and is related to you.

Also as has been mentioned, before uploading your DNA onto a global database, check out how you feel about this, what arguments there are about ethics, safety, and future use etc.
ted to you.

I dont think I'm ready for answers just yet , but thank you x

I’m really into family history and have done an ancestry DNA test and got my living grandparents to do one also. It’s been brilliant, verified most of my paper tree, helped me figure out my Nan’s grandfather (her mum was illegitimate) and I’ve narrowed down my granddads great grandfather (another illegitimate ancestor) to a specific family. I have found a few surprises in the form of cousins who were adopted and children who were unknown, but I’m pleased I have!

The best thing for me has been figuring out Nan’s granddad was of French descent, I never would have suspected anything that exotic was lurking in her rural Hertfordshire ancestry!

I did one and am predictably British/Irish with 6% Scandinavian as most of British heritage are.

The surprise that I'm over 20% Scottish and 10% Welsh. I expected to be Irish/English.

In total I'm more Irish than I expected and the Scottish, Welsh and Irish parts total more than the English.

No need to use a fake name. Your results on Ancestry are linked to your username, not your real name, which can be as anonymous as you like.

Police in American CAN use some DNA to solve crimes. Not Ancestry though, another site called Gedmatch. Police in the UK cannot use these databases to solve crimes, all they can do is look at people who have had their DNA taken by the police when they have been arrested.

Also on the medical/insurance thing - only 23 and Me offers any sort of medical information about your genetic make-up. Ancestry are rolling out something called traits but it is so vague as to be fairly useless. You know you have red hair, or freckles or light skin without being told by Ancestry.

Not finding close relatives is a real possibility especially if (like me) you have ancestors in the UK going back several generations. Some communities test more than others. It's understandably popular in the US/Canada, South Africa, Australia/NZ. Because if you live there and you're white/European, you know that originally your ancestors came from somewhere else. My closest match is a second cousin once removed and the rest are all fourth cousins, despite me knowing that on my dad's side each generation had dozens of children. This can make it difficult to fit people into your tree unless you have traditional genealogy skills too.

I was not a fan of the Gift podcast - it wasn't really about DNA testing at all, it was about dodgy fertility clinics, or lying parents. The DNA Family Secrets show on BBC is much better and worth a watch for anyone considering these tests. Like @DNAexpert i'm qualified in this field too, but the DNA side of it isn't my speciality. I know the basics well enough to help other people though.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/use-of-genetic-genealogy-techniques-to-assist-with-solving-crimes/should-we-be-making-use-of-genetic-genealogy-to-assist-in-solving-crime-a-report-on-the-feasibility-of-such-methods-in-the-uk-accessible-version

As @DNAexpert said you need to take this with a massive pinch of salt. My paternal ancestors all lived in Roxburghshire which is right on the Scotland/England border. The Ancestry circle for "Scotland" goes all the way through Cumbria and Northumberland, Isle of Man, some of N Ireland. There was so much movement across border areas that it's impossible to say what is "Scottish DNA" and what is "Irish DNA".

It can be useful on some levels though, DH did an Ancestry test last year and found that he was not matching with anyone who has the same surname as him, and didn't have any matches in Wales, or Welsh ethnicity which was what he was expecting. He did however have lots of matches in NE Scotland, with a totally different surname. Confirmed the suspicion that his grandfather's father isn't the person named on the birth certificate.

@Stroopwaffels that's interesting!

Maybe I'm more Irish than Scottish which makes more sense.

I like the Welsh bit though. I now live near the border and spend more time there than the English side 😊

@DNAexpert not my sibling - it shows as a half-first cousin. So it's the child of my father's half-sibling. 359cM shared, which is slightly higher than other half-first cousins that I know for sure.

The account showed as a match 2 years after the test, whereas the vast majority were already on there, so I suspect they signed up just for the test. They have read the message but not responded. I suppose finding out your grandfather wasn't who you expected could be a bit of a shock, also finding out that your parent is one of twenty-odd children would be too.
There is a full name on the account but I've found nothing for any births in the UK, so they are probably American.

Northern Ireland is only 20 miles from Scotland. Lots of Irish people came to Glasgow during the famine for work, married and had children with other Irish people. How do you separate their DNA from other Irish people who stayed in Ireland? You can't - which is why it's a bit of fun and nothing else.

For some people who have real questions about parentage - was my Dad from Egypt or Jamaica sort of thing - it can be useful.