Any point in DNA test?

[FairytalesAreBullshit]

Been pondering for a long time about these DNA tests that reveal Ancestry. Whilst it would be interesting to know about this stuff, it appears most people that subscribe to it are from the US. Very few, if any testimonials are from the UK. So was wondering if there was any point or not.

Have any of you paid to have it done, or know anybody who has had it done? Or have you been in my situation, where you think £70 is a lot of money to spend just finding out, about your heritage?

Thank you in advance for any help.

I know about my maternal side, but not my paternal, so there is a bit of background to this. That I guess is why I'm hesitant, as I know little about my paternal side at all. There's the, are something's better off not being looked into. I've gone 40 odd years not knowing, so how much of a difference would it make. I don't know if that makes sense.

I don't think it specifies people, more the areas of the world your ancestors came from, so I don't think it would unearth anything scandalous. I'm following though, as I was considering getting one for my husband's 40th this year.

I've heard they aren't massively accurate either.

It just tells you that you have a gene that is mostly associated with people living in a certain place. That doesn't even give you a definite for that being part of your heritage, because your and their ancestors may have got it from elsewhere and for reasons that gene may have since become more isolated thus being considered a gene "from" that place.

A friend of mine did this and the results were absolutely fascinating. He had to send some spit to the US!

As far as he knew, his family had lived in the same part of the world for generations before they moved to the UK. His sample suggested that somewhere in the distant past, they had lived in very different places. It started lots of discussions within his family.

He felt it was worth the money (not sure how much, but he is quite careful how he spends) and I am considering doing it once I am earning and have done all the boring stuff like getting the house painted.

I did simply because I was interested.

I think it's accurate enough to satisfy your inclination to know more about your past. In my case it confirmed what I thought.

Treat it as a talking point at a dinner party and it's money well-spent.

My parents had them done. They are keen genealogists so they were able to connect with 'cousins' from around the word and add to their genealogy.
My kids are adopted and we had their DNA tested. The results were interesting but there were no cousins in the data bank yet but that may change as more people are added. We hope they will be able to find biological family members in the future.

How can you access that? Any links?

I really want to do this. My parentage is very mixed, there are big gaps in the records, and slavery was almost certainly involved at one point. So I'd love to have some clarity.

I have had it done. It does match you to other people also test. I am not in contact with my great uncle who I previously had never heard of. It gives you bands of how closely related you are.

Tested*

I imagine you would have to be prepared to potentially discover information about yourself and your family tree that wasn't previously known to you...
For example, what if your father isn't your genetic father... Or your mother isn't your genetic mother [egg donation]...
You could make contact with other genetic relations via the data base? What if you were able to discover half siblings or your donor in this way?
This could have far reaching implications for some people

There's two out there, the one via Ancestry is £80 plus postage, another one is £70 no mention of postage. I know that regardless of where you have it done you can email your results to ancestry and they'll add you to the database.

That is one thing, I don't know who my Dad is, so there is a chance that it could say hey look a half sister. My real Dad doesn't even know I exist so to say it'd be a shock, bit of an under statement.

I have thought about it, my df was born in a mother and baby home in 1943. His dm( who kept him-she must have been determined as she was unmarried and disabled) never told him anything about his father but my df looks greek/southern itaian.

It would be interesting to see what show up as well as the welsh/english we know about