Warning on Ancestry (and other) DNA tests?

[MLMshouldbeillegal]

Ancestry, My Heritage and the other DNA testing companies are all pushing their tests as the ideal Christmas gift, and they are cheaper than ever. Ancestry had a black Friday offer for £50, My Heritage even cheaper at £39.

AIBU to think these tests should come with a wee health warning? That although it's marketed as a "find out your ethnicity" tool, in fact it might reveal some long-hidden family secrets?

I have tested with Ancestry and uploaded my data to other sites too. No surprises on my tree, matches with distant cousins who all fit into the picture as I know it. But I also go genealogical client work and I'm currently working with a man in his 70s who was given one of the tests for father's day back in June and is trying to process the fact that he is not matching with other descendants of his grandfather. Or at least the man he thought was his grandfather. So in later life, he's trying to come to terms with his much loved grandfather, who his father absolutely adored, is probably not his biological relative. It's a lot to deal with.

The testing companies really push the "find out if you're part Viking, part Native American" in their marketing but that aspect isn't really very accurate - My Heritage says I'm >2% Iraq/Iran/Turkey and I'm definitely not. Ancestry is more accurate given what I know about my tree.

Taking one of these tests could open up a whole can of worms in terms of relationships in the family, in this generation or further back with people who are long dead, and who you can't get answers from. For some people it can be a lot to process and I dont think the implications are properly laid out.

@MintMatchmaker The DVLA sell our information, Google sell it, Facebook sell it. We teach our kids to be safe online, this is a continuation of that, I choose to be safe online and not give my genetic information to a company run for profit.
Ok so maybe I'm clutching at straws saying insurance companies greedily want our information (which they do). Some other company will want it.

Found my birth father on a commercial DNA test (I knew I was adopted.) I expected to be one of those people who only got second and third cousins back and that I'd have the chance to take my time and slowly consider if I wanted to dig any deeper. It was shock when BF appeared immediately and overall, traumatic. I really feel for late discovery adoptees and NPEs who will really not know what's hit them.

The kits do come with warnings though - that require people to READ them properly. But the upshot seems to be - no one without any prior suspicions expects it to happen to THEM.

There is also the added nuance that people deep into this sort of genetic geneaology (who got into it for a variety of reasons) IME can often see their trees almost like a legal document that must be correct at all costs, regardless around the emotions of the people involved (adoptees, their adoptive families, the birth families, NPEs etc.) This whole universe of people can be super helpful when you're searching but also seems to have it's own moral codes/way of working that is not always aligned with people not into it all. If that makes sense.

A friend of mine is a genetic counsellor. She warns everyone she knows against doing these tests because the medical information is stored and sold on to insurance companies to affect future generations. It’s very “Gattaca” or “The Island”, but that’s where the real money is.

@MLMshouldbeillegal Thank you for confirming what I said

‘Genetic tests may have results’. Basic common sense. Do people need warning signs for everything?

They tell you what they give you. If you don't want that then that's on you. Would them giving a warning "by the way, the dna test you bought might tell you your dad isn't your dad." Actually change anything?

i agree, i did mine but refused the option of them matching you genetically to anyone else, so haven't had to deal with that side of it.

@Alltheblue

11:03DaisyNGO

I can't remember the details, I think it was the context of a 23 and me test which flagged someone up for either Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. While you might think knowing you're at risk would help you make lifestyle changes to avoid it, apparently this is not the case for some illnesses as the anxiety increases vulnerability.

I had a feeling this would be anxiety related. Thanks.

I found out who my biological father is (confirming what I thought) and I am glad I did. I am not planning to contact him, but it is interesting to know my heritage.

My DH has found out an even more important piece of information, which is that both his mother and grandmother died of breast cancer. DH has daughters and so needs to give them this information. This information came from someone we would not have been in contact with at all had she not shown as a match to DH. She contacted us after seeing she was a match with DH, whose surname is a branch of the family she is actively researching. So potentailly life-saving information.

@Ylfa (b)These tests are great for establishing genetic relationships and for illuminating lies and gaps in the paper trail (b)

Which not everyone wants to know, there is a difference between people who are adopted wanting to know where they came from. I have a friend and a relative by marriage who have both sought out birth parents. But these tests can throw a whole family into turmoil and I don't think it's right for one individual to make that decision for their parents, grandparents, siblings etc.

We now know that either my granddad or one of his brothers had a child that they probably never knew anything about. My Dad didn't ask to find out that he might have a half sibling, my Dad's other cousin didn't ask to find out that her father might have been unfaithful to her mother.

I don't know for every single one of these companies, but for most of them the ethnicity estimates are just based on a database of other people whose DNA analysis is publicly available or has been purchased by the company. So when it says you're x % from a certain country, all it means is that you have a match with the DNA of people who currently live in that country, it doesn't historically analyse where your actual ancestors were from - which is how most lay people are led to believe it works. So in terms of ethnicity, most proper geneticists think that this sort of DNA testing is useful for population-wide analysis, but pretty much meaningless for an individual.

Of course, the individual matches between family members are much more accurate, so if that's what people want them for then they work fine. But all this 40% French, 2% Algerian stuff is absolute crap.

I’m not really sure what your point is - nobody should find out about their ancestors in case it exposes infidelity?

Sorry that was to RollaColla

My DCs are adopted and their birth fathers have refused to be named on their original birth certificates/do letter box/anything. However DD birth mum told us enough information that we think her birth father has other children, a little older than DD who is 7. DS we don't know (his birth mum doesn't think so but who knows). Given the potential age of DD siblings, we may do this when she is in her late teens because she has, I feel, the right to know if she has siblings and to contact them if they want contact BUT if we did it while they are all children, we would possibly get an uncle or cousin who would potentially tell under age children that their father had been unfaithful. We need to be certain that all the children (that we know of/suspect) are adults.

Absolutely agree with you OP! I did it for fun and to find out if my grandpa had any Viking heritage but discovered my Dad is not my bio Dad among other things! It’s all fine and I’m glad I know but it was all a bit of a shock!

@Ylfa

I’m not really sure what your point is - nobody should find out about their ancestors in case it exposes infidelity?

Not al all. I am a huge fan of DNA testing when used in conjunction with more traditional genealogy. And if you're adopted, or all you have is a mother's name on a grandparent's birth certificate, then DNA can provide the answers.

I just think lots of people go into it without thinking through the implications of perhaps finding their dad isn't their dad, or that their mother doesn't match with any of the people she thinks are her cousins.

I also agree that a lot of genetic genealogists do get very zealous about the whole thing. Everyone has the right to know where they come from and do that DNA test to find relatives. But if there's ambiguity in a result, such as determining which of several brothers are a potential father, then the test taker has no right to start demanding other people test for them to clarify matters. I have seen this so many times of the forum - just test your brother/cousin/aunt, pay for the test for them. And lots of upset and disbelief when the aunt says thanks but no thanks, she'd rather not.

@Cocomarine

I think people need to take personal responsibility and engage their brain 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s bloody obvious that you might discover something unexpected. The sort of person who doesn’t think of that would read the warning (well, if they bothered to read it) and never assume it could apply to them anyway. Why do you think people should be absolved of using their own brains?

Because not everyone is able to 'use their own brain' in the best possible way.

This why so many people are so easy to scam and will give thousands of pounds to complete strangers or pass over their bank details to someone on the phone because they claim to be calling from their bank or utility company.

Just be thankful that you are able to use your brain well enough to make sure you read the small print or in order to protect yourself from scams, not everyone is as lucky as you.

Rolla, that is in the interesting moral issue - that something you do a DNA test or of course something more traditional like buying older birth certificates or looking at family letters (or just having a chat with a great aunt) affects other people. In my view it is fine to look into things even if that affects others. However I can certainly understand the other position of some people who disagree.

I wonder if any of these sites have been able to check if the much quoted statistic that a third of babies born within a marriage are not their father's child is correct or wildly out?

“ I don't think it's right for one individual to make that decision for their parents, grandparents, siblings etc” yeah I do understand this, but one individual already made that decision for everyone when he decided to inseminate whoever wherever?

I wonder if any of these sites have been able to check if the much quoted statistic that a third of babies born within a marriage are not their father's child is correct or wildly out?

That's been fairly roundly debunked.

They reckon 1-2% and that percentage has remained fairly static for a while.

www.kqed.org/science/11450/new-dna-studies-debunk-misconceptions-about-paternal-relationships

MLM thanks. I thought it was extremely unlikely - not that many women cheat!

@Strawberry0909

I agree, a relative of mine did one of these and discovered he had another brother, a man he grew up with,

We had this in our family too, although with us it was a complete stranger. Not a surprise, really, that the now deceased relative had had a child outside of his immediate family set up, as he had form. Luckily it wasn't his wife that found out, as she'd be devastated but a younger member of the family who's kept schtum, but was a bit shaken.

OP I thought everyone knew that any tracing of ancestry could potentially show up things they didn't know and might not wish to know?

I did a DNA test to discover my heritage but have never used it for anything else. It's up to the individual to use it as much or as little as they want to.

Also, in terms of collecting data, you would be shocked at what is known about you already. if you have a credit card and shop online, a huge amount of data is kept already and has been for 10 years or more. Companies build profiles and all Facebook does it use data from people's accounts and activities to sell to other organisations.

@Justilou1 Thank you for confirming what I said

I think they are illegal in France for the very reasons explained above