Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few of my friends have used these to learn their genetic makeup, so my mom, DH, and I are going to give them a try too.

I'm just excited and want to hear about others' experiences. Have you discovered anything unexpected?

Well, I found out that my "Cherokee" heritage that the family talks about turned out to be African

I think this "we're part Indian" thing is a widespread American myth.

I will tell you that the doctor I went to for genetic cancer screening said 23 and me is NOT reliable for genetic health screening.

The rest of it, I dont know.

The country percentages are sort of bs/useless. My mother did these kits several years ago and almost every year they send her an email “updating” (changing) the percentages.

It’s good they admit mistakes as the science gets more accurate but it means you can’t really count on the country findings.

I've done both Ancestry and 23 and Me. I work on my family's genealogy so Ancestry was the most useful for that. I was able to solve some "brick walls" because of someone matching me as a third cousin. The last name was one that my grandfather had mentioned. I was able to uncover a whole side of my family because of DNA matches and their tree information (which I verified myself too).

It's also interesting that I have matched with people who share something like a sixth-great-grandparent--colonial American ancestors, which I had traced already. That amazes me.

DNA on Ancestry was a game-changer for my genealogy research, but it's something I've been into for years, and I know it's not that interesting to a lot of people. Also, people do uncover secrets; it's pretty common.

23 and Me is not really useful for genealogy for me. I did see some health information but it was confirmation of what I knew rather than anything new. I know two adoptees who have used both and found birth parents and families.

I think it depends on what you are searching for.

I hate that there are sinister implications with this, but I guess that was inevitable.

Unknown older half aunt.

(Grandfather apparently fathered a child with the neighbor lady. Whee!)

Unknown older half sibling.

All four of my grandparents came from the same country. My siblings have done the DNA and gotten 99.999999999th percentile on that same heritage, so I'll just assume that is me, too. I'm fine with that.

Beware if there is a chance you have some Jewish DNA. I am mostly Jewish and did 23 and me. My data is now most likely on the dark web somewhere and I am just hoping some loon isn't plotting to come get me. There was a breach at 23 and me of Jewish and possibly Chinese data. Given the current climate, it's not a good time to have Jewish DNA. I was warned by the older generation not to do one of these DNA kits and I though they were paranoid. That was before my data was stollen and the rise in antisemitism. Oops.

Anonymous wrote:A few of my friends have used these to learn their genetic makeup, so my mom, DH, and I are going to give them a try too.

I'm just excited and want to hear about others' experiences. Have you discovered anything unexpected?

These tests are showing that incest is way more common than anyone ever realized.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/03/dna-tests-incest/677791/?gift=hDOx4INV5B_NOlO3eptyI8Dk6NYq3DlaVym2Xfu6ntY

I sent in my ancestry dna in January and have not received
any thing from them

I work in insurance and I would suggest people not ignore the warnings about data being sold. The dna provided impacts your children as well for generations. A child can be linked to a parent that did a kit quite easily. In addition, even if the actual data isn’t bought services already exist to buy risk scores based on the data, which is essentially enough anyway for you to be

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2017/02/15/the-privacy-delusions-of-genetic-testing/amp/

Anonymous wrote:Are these DNA tests useful for 1st-gen Americans? I'm a complete mutt and my parents are from two different small countries--so not sure if there would be any hits.

Why wouldn't they be?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few of my friends have used these to learn their genetic makeup, so my mom, DH, and I are going to give them a try too.

I'm just excited and want to hear about others' experiences. Have you discovered anything unexpected?

Well, I found out that my "Cherokee" heritage that the family talks about turned out to be African

My family, too. That's pretty common. It's acceptable in the US to be a little bit Native American, but until recently it was never acceptable to be a little bit black.

My husband did 23 and Me and his mom did Ancestry. His mom said that they always talked about being part Native American, which I doubted since I was working on their family tree. The test showed only European-based results, and nothing listed under trace amounts. In the end though, it was useful for us to see where most of his genetics come from since his dad's family has been in the US since the 1600s while his mom's side was more in the early 1800s.

I took the Ancestry test last year and didn't expect much of a surprise. As far as I can go back, my family has always been from the same small region in a European country, and we didn't leave until my parents and I immigrated here. My results reflected that fact immediately.

which do you think is better? 23 and me or ancestry? I'm only interested in doing this to find out ancestry not connect with relatives or find out health info. Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:Are these DNA tests useful for 1st-gen Americans? I'm a complete mutt and my parents are from two different small countries--so not sure if there would be any hits.

Yes, it will give a region like south pacific islander etc.. with shaded area of most likely set of islands

Are these DNA tests useful for 1st-gen Americans? I'm a complete mutt and my parents are from two different small countries--so not sure if there would be any hits.