Ancestry DNA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did it, looking for a specific relative - my Dh's birth father. What we found was a huge number of distant relatives, many of whom were also looking for an elusive dad, grandmother, sister. No one could help us in our search and we could not help them. It was kind of tragic. Also a total waste of time.

If you found distant relatives, you can find the birth father. You just have to know how. Go to Search Angels or another genealogy Facebook group and people will help you. If not, just wait and more people will test.

Also, if you do both ancestry and 23and me, you will find more relatives. Look for names in common and cross -check info against what the adoption agency provided.

The birth certificate says "unknown"

This is not uncommon.
The adoption agency will provide non-identifying information such as occupation thar can be useful when researching people on ancestry.
Also, you're looking for patterns in last names, even if you don't know the last name. For example, if the biodad's name is Smith, and his mom's maiden name was Jones, these names will appear more frequently. Ancestry will tell you whether the relatives are on the dad's or mom's side. It will be easier to track grand- and grest-grandparents since through the census. Then, check the family trees of others on Ancestry for matches.

[Anonymous]

I've done both Ancestry and 23andme. I don't regret Ancestry, because I've found the genealogical information interesting, although my heritage is apparently as boring and bland as it can be.
I do regret 23andme, mainly because the health information feels more personal. They're also always asking me to participate in surveys of other types of health or personality traits. I found the information that they did provide about possible genetic conditions to be unhelpful. Discovering that I have a higher risk for heart issues or macular degeneration isn't surprising since I had grandparents/aunts with those issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did it, looking for a specific relative - my Dh's birth father. What we found was a huge number of distant relatives, many of whom were also looking for an elusive dad, grandmother, sister. No one could help us in our search and we could not help them. It was kind of tragic. Also a total waste of time.

If you found distant relatives, you can find the birth father. You just have to know how. Go to Search Angels or another genealogy Facebook group and people will help you. If not, just wait and more people will test.

Also, if you do both ancestry and 23and me, you will find more relatives. Look for names in common and cross -check info against what the adoption agency provided.

The birth certificate says "unknown"

This is not uncommon.
The adoption agency will provide non-identifying information such as occupation thar can be useful when researching people on ancestry.
Also, you're looking for patterns in last names, even if you don't know the last name. For example, if the biodad's name is Smith, and his mom's maiden name was Jones, these names will appear more frequently. Ancestry will tell you whether the relatives are on the dad's or mom's side. It will be easier to track grand- and grest-grandparents since through the census. Then, check the family trees of others on Ancestry for matches.

Not every adoption is done through an "agency", certainly not in Europe pre 1976

[Anonymous]

My nephew, who was the product of a one night stand between my sister and a neighborhood guy, then adopted by the man she married, found out he has a half brother because a guy whose father (he thought) had passed away was given a 23 and me for xmas from the guy's wife (the bio father of my nephew and the other guy was busy that summer--he'd broken up with his fiance and got back together in the fall, so there is another half-sibling there). It was a shock to the guy who did not know his dad was not his biological father, but my nephew got a laugh out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The risk is your DNA privacy. If these firms get sold, the data goes with them and privacy agreements don't necessarily hold. DNA info is commercially useful. It alerts insurers to potentially costly subscribers, etc.

Against the law...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My curiosity has never been enough to overcome my certainty that my information will quickly and permanently become the property of a handful of massive corporations. No thanks.

This. Corporations and foreign governments. But I admit I'm a little paranoid about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The risk is your DNA privacy. If these firms get sold, the data goes with them and privacy agreements don't necessarily hold. DNA info is commercially useful. It alerts insurers to potentially costly subscribers, etc.

23andMe has already been hacked: https://www.calpaktravel.com/products/packing-cubes-5-piece-set/pink-sand?utm_source=partnerize&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=21181&utm_content=2-417278&nb_platform=partnerize&clickId=4737464645&nb_clid=4737464645&nb_subid=21181&nb_creative=2-417278

DNA information is commercially valuable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did it, looking for a specific relative - my Dh's birth father. What we found was a huge number of distant relatives, many of whom were also looking for an elusive dad, grandmother, sister. No one could help us in our search and we could not help them. It was kind of tragic. Also a total waste of time.

There are groups on FB that will help you for free with your search. I’ve helped several people find their birth parent(s) using DNA. Look up Search Angels and DNA Detective.

https://www.facebook.com/TheSearchAngels?mibextid=LQQJ4d

[Anonymous]

If you are looking for family, it’s extremely helpful. Multiple members of my family have tested. We aren’t particularly worried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did it, looking for a specific relative - my Dh's birth father. What we found was a huge number of distant relatives, many of whom were also looking for an elusive dad, grandmother, sister. No one could help us in our search and we could not help them. It was kind of tragic. Also a total waste of time.

If you found distant relatives, you can find the birth father. You just have to know how. Go to Search Angels or another genealogy Facebook group and people will help you. If not, just wait and more people will test.

Also, if you do both ancestry and 23and me, you will find more relatives. Look for names in common and cross -check info against what the adoption agency provided.

The birth certificate says "unknown"

This is not uncommon.
The adoption agency will provide non-identifying information such as occupation thar can be useful when researching people on ancestry.
Also, you're looking for patterns in last names, even if you don't know the last name. For example, if the biodad's name is Smith, and his mom's maiden name was Jones, these names will appear more frequently. Ancestry will tell you whether the relatives are on the dad's or mom's side. It will be easier to track grand- and grest-grandparents since through the census. Then, check the family trees of others on Ancestry for matches.

Not every adoption is done through an "agency", certainly not in Europe pre 1976.

No need to be snarky...obviously, every adoption is different. I was just trying to be helpful, and the adoption i was researching, which did use an agency, was long before 1976. BTW, Ancestry has a "world traveler" option that allows you to search non-US records.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My curiosity has never been enough to overcome my certainty that my information will quickly and permanently become the property of a handful of massive corporations. No thanks.

+1