Among Friends

[NicksmomESQ]

  I have absolutely zero interest in DNA testing.All the people I care about are the ones that have been a part of my life. I know all about past relatives that were important in my life because my parents filled me in.

  I'm not interested in learning about people who I may share a bloodline with & do not know. They say blood is thicker than water.I have some very good friends who are like family.They together with my actual family are all I need.

[Drythe]

@ALRATIBA 

Thanks for mentioning this.  I too find it interesting.  My Dad and I did it about 5 years ago, and again recently.  As you said, the information becomes much more detailed as this evolves.  We were pursuing one of those ‘family stories’ for which there is no paper trail.  It was true!  A minor detail, but interesting to us.

For those who mentioned it, you will not suddenly be contacted by a bunch of relatives as long as you ask not to have your information shared.  I was given the number of people they knew I was related to, but no names, etc.

[Sooner]

---

@Drythe wrote:

@ALRATIBA 

Thanks for mentioning this.  I too find it interesting.  My Dad and I did it about 5 years ago, and again recently.  As you said, the information becomes much more detailed as this evolves.  We were pursuing one of those ‘family stories’ for which there is no paper trail.  It was true!  A minor detail, but interesting to us.

For those who mentioned it, you will not suddenly be contacted by a bunch of relatives as long as you ask not to have your information shared.  I was given the number of people they knew I was related to, but no names, etc.

---

@Drythe If they can get my identity by hacking they can easily get this.  I'd think this might prove to be even more valuable information.

[Drythe]

---

@Sooner wrote:

---

@Drythe wrote:

@ALRATIBA 

Thanks for mentioning this.  I too find it interesting.  My Dad and I did it about 5 years ago, and again recently.  As you said, the information becomes much more detailed as this evolves.  We were pursuing one of those ‘family stories’ for which there is no paper trail.  It was true!  A minor detail, but interesting to us.

For those who mentioned it, you will not suddenly be contacted by a bunch of relatives as long as you ask not to have your information shared.  I was given the number of people they knew I was related to, but no names, etc.

---

@Drythe If they can get my identity by hacking they can easily get this.  I'd think this might prove to be even more valuable information.

---

@Sooner 

Thank your for your concern (?).  I’m not worried.

[cotton4me]

Very interesting!

I enjoy genealogy.  I find it fascinating to learn about different ancestors, countries, and history.  It gives history more meaning when I had ancestors that were part of it.    

[depglass]

I have taken one test with Ancestry and they have updated those results twice.  I thought I was mainly Finnish, and they added Swedish the first time and increased the Swedish percentage the second time.  Now I understand why the family bible says Lindstrom, always a mystery. My whole family is gone, I should have queried grandparents before they died.  My mother was an only child and there is little chance of relatives knocking on my door.  

Do you remember that show with Robert Stack where they look up long lost relatives?  I've often wondered how often that backfired on someone.  

[GoneButNotForgotten]

I got my DNA analyzed, hoping I'd have some exotic people in my background.

But--no. I'm distressingly WHITE (I practicaly glow in the dark), northern European all the way. There's nothing wrong with that but I'd hoped to find something a little more interesting.

[shoesnbags]

---

@GoneButNotForgotten wrote:

I got my DNA analyzed, hoping I'd have some exotic people in my background.

But--no. I'm distressingly WHITE (I practicaly glow in the dark), northern European all the way. There's nothing wrong with that but I'd hoped to find something a little more interesting.

---

That sounds like me, @GoneButNotForgotten .  Maybe we're long lost cousins, ha ha.

I did the Ancestry dot com test because one of my my sons did it first and he was puzzled by the the amount of Irish that showed up in his profile.  I was always told that I was mostly German - 100% on my mom's side and at least 75% on my dad's side.  Just a smidge of French and Irish on Dad's side. My husband's ancestry is French and Spanish. So I was curious about son's results.

Turns out that I have a lot more Irish blood than I ever guessed, in addition to the rest of the British Isles - Scotland, Wales, England. All together as much of that area as German, with some Scandinavian thrown in. (No wonder I have such pale skin!) It was so interesting to see, and they have sent me updates twice since I did it two years ago.

As far as the accuracy of this stuff, what sold me was that on my son's results, his top three matches were first cousins of mine ( from three different aunts, my dad's sisters). Their names are different from my son's name, so no way could Ancestry have matched them up except by their DNA.