OT: Ancestry DNA Kit

[TKL67]

Just sent mine in. What have your experiences been like?

I'm more interested in my genetic/ethnic makeup then connecting with distant family members.

Anyone find out they had a closely related family member they didn't know about?

 

[ClemTiger9]

Just sent mine in. What have your experiences been like?

I'm more interested in my genetic/ethnic makeup then connecting with distant family members.

Anyone find out they had a closely related family member they didn't know about?

My biological father was adopted in a closed adoption, so mine turned up some interesting results. I found several 2nd cousins that I had no idea about. My heritage was interesting as well. I knew I had some German lineage, but everything else was a surprise.

 

[clemsonalex]

I think you will enjoy your results. One thing I found to be interesting was that we were always told my great-grandmother was 100% Cherokee. When my results came back with 0% native american blood, I was a little surprised. Just goes to show you that you can't believe even your most revered family legends sometimes.

 

[wdrcu75]

I am distantly related to a big time serial killer out west.

 

[StSimonsIslandTiger]

I did this and it was fascinating. Just wanted the ethnicity results and did not explore the family tree stuff much, maybe later when I find some time.

40% German, 36% Irish, 14% British. 11% Scandinavian, and some various small %s.

Thought I would be more British. There were these tales of Cherokee Indians on my mother's side. It was BS- no trace of Native American.

 

[StSimonsIslandTiger]

I think you will enjoy your results. One thing I found to be interesting was that we were always told my great-grandmother was 100% Cherokee. When my results came back with 0% native american blood, I was a little surprised. Just goes to show you that you can't believe even your most revered family legends sometimes.

Same here. Those stories or legends are common.

 

[clemsonalex]

Same here. Those stories or legends are common.

Here's the interesting part. We can definitively trace back to an ancestor who had a native american name. Closest we can figure is that she was captured or assimilated into a tribe and given that name as an infant.

 

[Jangalang1]

I did the $80 test or whatever and they sent the %s. Then they want more money for other detailed stuff. Maybe I misunderstood but it seemed like a money pit to truly learn something interesting and specific. Meanwhile some random Mormon company now has my DNA.

 

[CreoleTiger]

Just sent mine in. What have your experiences been like?

I'm more interested in my genetic/ethnic makeup then connecting with distant family members.

Anyone find out they had a closely related family member they didn't know about?

It’s a scam. Their ability to identify your heritage is limited to Western Europe..

 

[Charybdis]

Mine was pretty neat. Surprisingly Mediterranean.

25% of some combination of Iberian/Spanish, Greek, Italian, North African, Middle Eastern. Also heavily Scandinavian.

 

[TKL67]

I did this and it was fascinating. Just wanted the ethnicity results and did not explore the family tree stuff much, maybe later when I find some time.

40% German, 36% Irish, 14% British. 11% Scandinavian, and some various small %s.

Thought I would be more British. There were these tales of Cherokee Indians on my mother's side. It was BS- no trace of Native American.

My father-in-law did it and was expecting almost an entirely British Isles background. He ended up having a significant amount of Scandavian descent.

What I found very interesting was the breakdown that he received about how peoples moved throughout the centuries. More than likely, his people were all from the British Isles, but Scandinavian blood lines were inserted through the Viking conquests.

I'm currently under the assumption that I'm 50% English, 25% Irish, and 25% Polish. Since Poland was the stomping ground of Europe for centuries, I'm very curious to see what shows up there.

 

[StSimonsIslandTiger]

Yep. Lots of Viking invasions and settlements in Britain and Ireland probably account for the Scandinavian %.

 

[WinstonW101]

Congrats on providing your DNA to the NSA & every other government agency

 

[StSimonsIslandTiger]

It’s a scam. Their ability to identify your heritage is limited to Western Europe..

Mmmm... it is worldwide. The entire continent of Africa has very similar DNA among natives and is consider one pool. The entire western hemisphere is a single gene pool in regards to Native Americans. The natives in the Falkland Islands of Argentina and the Eskimo peoples of the Artic and Alaska and all in between have very similar DNA.

Europe and Asia are broken down into many unique gene pools.

 

[StSimonsIslandTiger]

Congrats on providing your DNA to the NSA & every other government agency

I want Elizabeth Warren's DNA report.

 

[TKL67]

Congrats on providing your DNA to the NSA & every other government agency

I don't use Siri or any voice recognition technology, but curiosity prevailed in this case.

 

[PainClinic]

Protect your DNA...you can do a name search and find out 80-90% of what these DNA tests will show you.

I searched my last name years ago and found out Western European Celtic/ Scottish/ Irish/ German ancestry. I found our family coat of arms and how the spelling had changed through the years.

There's no way I'd put my DNA in a vial and send it to some nameless, faceless, cough... cough... government database.

 

[Florida Tiger]

Yep. Lots of Viking invasions and settlements in Britain and Ireland probably account for the Scandinavian %.

My little research of the vikings they were spreding their DNA daily.

 

[CU1TruTiger4Life]

No. I just turned mine over directly to the government while I was in DC a few years back.

 

[ChucktownK]

I did it, found it interesting. I love all this heraldry/ancestry-type stuff.

They'll give you the breakdown of what country/region. Then you get a webpage showing any cousins you have who took it, and how Ancestry believes they're related to you (2nd/3rd/4th cousin, etc). If you have family tree info then you'll be able to figure out stuff.

If youre not going to go through the family tree info then I'm not sure what you'll get out of it. You will probably notice some cousins you've forgotten when they show you your relatives. They do not tell you that so & so is exactly this (2nd cousin on your moms side, for example), you have to figure that out.

That is where I think they don't do a great job, its not a wonderful tool to find long-lost relatives or connections when youre in your ancestry research. Its not searchable in that way.

if you want to find out how your chances are of getting prostate cancer, they will let you download your DNA data to a text file (which doesnt have your name or anything in it). You then upload that to other sites that will tell you that stuff. For that, the 23andMe test is better as Ancestry doesn't collect some things that they do.

 

[treetiger]

It was the best thing that I could have ever done. I had hit a brick wall with my grandmother's surname of Ross, as well as her mother's father (my 2nd great-grandfather) Joseph Banner Sprague who came from Canada. DNA was able to verify who I thought the next generation of parents were. I got my last surviving aunt to do it, now one of my sisters got a kit. For someone with 100,000 people and growing on their tree, it has opened up a multitude of possibilities. As a genealogist, I encourage everyone to do this, if not for themselves, for their children.

 

[Earle36]

I want Elizabeth Warren's DNA report.

She’s Pocahontas!
Of course she would be full blooded Cherokee. After all, she’s Obama’s favorite politician, so she has to be honest.

 

[twtiger03]

Tempted to swap my dog's mouth and see what comes back.

 

[Ron Munson]

I think you will enjoy your results. One thing I found to be interesting was that we were always told my great-grandmother was 100% Cherokee. When my results came back with 0% native american blood, I was a little surprised. Just goes to show you that you can't believe even your most revered family legends sometimes.

Same here.

 

[yemassee]

I won’t name names, but several on here submitted their DNA tests, and they trace back to the ancient trolls!

 

[WinstonW101]

I don't use Siri or any voice recognition technology, but curiosity prevailed in this case.

Just be sure and have airtight alibis for the rest of your life in the event of any murders investigationgs in your area run too long unsolved .

 

[ChucktownK]

I think you will enjoy your results. One thing I found to be interesting was that we were always told my great-grandmother was 100% Cherokee. When my results came back with 0% native american blood, I was a little surprised. Just goes to show you that you can't believe even your most revered family legends sometimes.

I had the same info and the same discovery. Her surname was even something the Cherokee had used.

 

[TheRealMintaka]

If you have a sibling, send them the DNA kit as a gift. Their results will be the same as yours, but their DNA profile will be out there and not yours. LOL

 

[TigerStack13]

I think you will enjoy your results. One thing I found to be interesting was that we were always told my great-grandmother was 100% Cherokee. When my results came back with 0% native american blood, I was a little surprised. Just goes to show you that you can't believe even your most revered family legends sometimes.

Apparently Native Americans have declined to participate in DNA testing, giving ancestry very little to use for reference sampling for North American Native Americans. Unless things have changed, that could be the problem. My Grandpa's Granddad was 100% Cherokee and I did not receive any percentage in my DNA. I could trace my family all the way back to him, but then it goes cold. It could just be a coincidence as well though.

 

[shortbus22]

Some people in this thread considering murder in the future apparently.

Idgaf if the gubment has my DNA. As a matter of fact, after the @CUinSD debacle, I want them to have my DNA so they can easily identify me if I'm ever murdered.

 

[dpotter24]

Protect your DNA...you can do a name search and find out 80-90% of what these DNA tests will show you.

I searched my last name years ago and found out Western European Celtic/ Scottish/ Irish/ German ancestry. I found our family coat of arms and how the spelling had changed through the years.

There's no way I'd put my DNA in a vial and send it to some nameless, faceless, cough... cough... government database.

Where do you search for this? I’d be interested in seeing what the results would be.

 

[TICrack]

I'm no expert on genealogy so yall bear with me if I'm way off base.

I thought, though, that different traits passed along family lines in different patterns. Thus I and my sister may have inherited different portions of the family line. So, I may be 30% Irish and she 20% or something along those lines.

That may be why some of you aren't seeing the native american descent within the results....Your pale ass just didn't get those genes, haha. For any experts out there, am I anywhere close to correct here?

 

[StSimonsIslandTiger]

Apparently Native Americans have declined to participate in DNA testing, giving ancestry very little to use for reference sampling for North American Native Americans. Unless things have changed, that could be the problem. My Grandpa's Granddad was 100% Cherokee and I did not receive any percentage in my DNA. I could trace my family all the way back to him, but then it goes cold. It could just be a coincidence as well though.

They have plenty of Native American DNA samples. Interestingly, the entirety of North and South American native people are derived from a single gene pool.

 

[TheClemsonJaguar]

They have plenty of Native American DNA samples. Interestingly, the entirety of North and South American native people are derived from a single gene pool.

Interesting. So, it's like Tuscaloosa.

 

[ChiefTiger]

The entire western hemisphere is a single gene pool in regards to Native Americans.

True, sort of. It's mainly because Native Americans are VERY resistant to DNA testing (has to do with the chance that they'll lose money they get paid already). So it has to be one group for them. If they had more testing results, it could be narrowed down much further to geographic regions and tribes.

The natives in the Falkland Islands of Argentina and the Eskimo peoples of the Arctic and Alaska and all in between have very similar DNA.

Most South American "natives" are more genetically similar to Polynesians than they are to most North American "natives". This has led to the belief that the "land bridge theory" is probably not correct. They came on boats. Easter Island is a key component to this as well.

 

[ChiefTiger]

Apparently Native Americans have declined to participate in DNA testing, giving ancestry very little to use for reference sampling for North American Native Americans. Unless things have changed, that could be the problem. My Grandpa's Granddad was 100% Cherokee and I did not receive any percentage in my DNA. I could trace my family all the way back to him, but then it goes cold. It could just be a coincidence as well though.

This is correct. They don't want to stand the chance to lose money that they are currently given. I don't exactly blame them.

 

[PainClinic]

Apparently Native Americans have declined to participate in DNA testing, giving ancestry very little to use for reference sampling for North American Native Americans. Unless things have changed, that could be the problem. My Grandpa's Granddad was 100% Cherokee and I did not receive any percentage in my DNA. I could trace my family all the way back to him, but then it goes cold. It could just be a coincidence as well though.

I found your grandpa's grandad's cousins sister.

 

[Will4Clemson]

I've donated DNA samples to others thousands of times in my life.

But only once to a government database. In that case I had no choice.

 

[PainClinic]

If you have a sibling, send them the DNA kit as a gift. Their results will be the same as yours, but their DNA profile will be out there and not yours. LOL

The DNA would not be the exact same but percentages of ancestry would be "almost" exact.

 

[ChiefTiger]

Just sent mine in. What have your experiences been like?

I'm more interested in my genetic/ethnic makeup then connecting with distant family members.

Anyone find out they had a closely related family member they didn't know about?

I did 23andme for myself, and AncestryDNA for my mother, father, wife, mother-in-law, and father-in-law. I also participate in some online DNA and genetics forums. 23andme's ancestry portion is extremely unreliable. In fact, they will erroneously cite Togo/Benin for some DNA that is not even from the continent of Africa. But 23andme is great for medical DNA testing. That's what I used it for. 23andme uses 1 heritage test, and AncestryDNA uses 3. So AncestryDNA is the best thing going, and you chose correctly.

Keep in mind that as more data and information comes in, the results will evolve. Some are already quite refined (mostly Western and Northern Europe, and some parts of Eastern Asia). But even they will get more specific and better.

It's really fascinating stuff. I've now met 2 cousins I had no idea existed. One of them has developed her family tree to the point that it has over 1,000 entries. I also found out significant portions of my heritage that we didn't know existed. It has also filled in a blank on my mother's side of the family with regard to a significant portion of family lineage.