Jewish DNA says 100% European but I am 50% Sephardic

[Anonymous]

DNA test results came out. It says 100% European Jew. That makes sense on my dad's side.

But I know my mom's family came through Spain/Morocco due to strong Sephardic traditions and pronunciations that they kept in her ultra-Orthodox family growing up. Her last name is Levy, which is even a Sephardic last name, and she looks Spanish with olive skin and dark hair, so it even makes sense. They did live in Europe when they escaped the Holocaust but they were a small handful of Sephardic Jews living in Europe.

So why doesn't my DNA say Spanish/Northern Africa or ANYTHING that I would expect?

Or is this a sign that my mom isn't my mom?

I just am trying to digest this information and I cannot find anything helpful on a google search.

Please help.

[Anonymous]

My DNA results have changed over the years, I guess based on advancements. Also, the results really only go back a few hundred years. Maybe the company you used does not go far back enough?

[Anonymous]

Which company are you testing with? Make sure that Sephardic Jews are actually included as an ethnic group in the test results. They aren’t in some of the companies’ databases.

[Anonymous]

I’m confused. Spain is in Europe.

[Anonymous]

Also, mistakes do happen and you could always retest or try a different company?

[Anonymous]

Are you a man? I think results are better for men on the oatrilineal side.

[Anonymous]

You need to test your mom, aren't some tests only testing one side?

[Anonymous]

Why do you think you should have African DNA? What nonsense. This is what happens when people have no idea what the tests actually show!
Nobody is going around digging out bodies buried 1000 years ago, they are comparing you to the present day population.

[Anonymous]

Sephardic Jews from Spain are European too...they are not Eastern European like Ashkenazi Jews. But neither are Sephardic Jews in Spain and Northern Africa of African descent. Do you consider white South Africans to be African for ethnic purposes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DNA test results came out. It says 100% European Jew. That makes sense on my dad's side.

But I know my mom's family came through Spain/Morocco due to strong Sephardic traditions and pronunciations that they kept in her ultra-Orthodox family growing up. Her last name is Levy, which is even a Sephardic last name, and she looks Spanish with olive skin and dark hair, so it even makes sense. They did live in Europe when they escaped the Holocaust but they were a small handful of Sephardic Jews living in Europe.

So why doesn't my DNA say Spanish/Northern Africa or ANYTHING that I would expect?

Or is this a sign that my mom isn't my mom?

I just am trying to digest this information and I cannot find anything helpful on a google search.

Please help.

Keep in mind that during the Spanish inquisition, some of the Jews there fled to Morocco, then came back to Spain later. That is -- they went from Spain to Africa, not vice versa. The Sephardic Jews are European, not African. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews

[Anonymous]

This is what happens with ethnic groups that are under-represented in DNA databases, OP--they get clumped together. What company did you go with.

I have West African and South Asian DNA. Initially they were only able to say "west African," but with more people being added to the database, they were able to be more specific to certain regions. Same with South Asian--as more people have been added and their methods have been refined, I now see that my "South Asian" DNA is mostly northern Indian.

[Anonymous]

My Jewish results have changed over the years, but I think as of right now Ancestry is only identifying “European Jewish.”

[Anonymous]

Your mom is your mom. Deep breath. These labs are unregulated and highly questionable.

https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2020/10/23/skepticism-led-woman-to-send-dog-dna-to-orig3n/114467076/

[Anonymous]

Identical twins have gotten different results.

[Anonymous]

OP back.

Thank you for your time and responses. It has been a bit unnerving and reading these responses have been helpful.

I am a woman, so maybe that is the issue. Or maybe the test was inaccurate. Or maybe I just need to ask my mom to take the test.

It was an Ancestry DNA test. It says "100% European" and says "100% European Jewish". And then it has my ancestry as all being from Western and Central and Eastern Europe all mixed in (I don't get percentages for that).

I guess I knew this wasn't accurate on my dad's side either, because he is 100% Russian (and yes, looks Russian and that's how I look, so I know my dad is my dad -- we look like twins) and is from much farther east in Russia than Ancestry stated, but it was close enough.

But, it is quite clear from Ancestry that England, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece etc are all excluded from "European" because they actually give you a picture of the area. So, yes, Spain/Northern Africa/Middle East -- all the areas that I was expecting for 50% -- were all missing.

I don't know how to explain how the test results are displayed unless you take a test.

I'm 100% willing to take another test -- 23andme is the only big one I know but obviously that is unlikely to be different. Is there a DNA test for Sephardim? Is there at least a DNA test for Jews who want to learn their history. We have no records at all so it would be helpful and it cannot be that far in my history based upon the Sephardic last names in my recent family tree -- and I only have a recent tree due to WW2.