Community Chat

[NycVixen]

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@Ainhisgwrote:

For those of you who have used 23andme--I looked on Amazon and there are two kits...a $79 kit and a $159 kit.  Which one should I get?

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@AinhisgI would get the $159. That one most likely includes ancestry and health information. The best part, 23andme add new features and you get access to more information without paying more. I did mine in 2013 and only paid $99. I still get all the new features without added cost.

[SilleeMee]

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@Soonerwrote:

Is anyone but me NOT enthusiastic about finding unknown family members?  

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I'm not in the least bit interested in finding members I don't know exist. I had a couple of 'DNA-matched' individuals contact me through Ancestry. They left messages asking me about my family. I replied back what I knew, which wasn't much, and wished them well. Then I got more messages from them telling me that I was part of their 'tree'. I told them 'good'  and asked not to contact me again because I was not interested in anyone's tree. It was kind of creepy. @Sooner

[Tuppermore]

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@Soonerwrote:

Is anyone but me NOT enthusiastic about finding unknown family members?  

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I had a first cousin show up in my DNA testing.  I know enough about my adoption to know that I do not want to pursue any family ties.  My birth would most likely cause embarassment for my birth mother.  I'm not even sure that my birth father knows that I exist.  I would never want to hurt other people. 

My son has a friend who is adopted and was given a DNA kit by his adoptive parents.  He found out about his heritage and contacted the family members that he had DNA in common with.  It was a fiasco.  Now, he can't get rid of them.  Some things are better left alone. 

[Noel7]

What were your surprises?

I am 100% European, mostly British, but I had two surprises: Finnish and Sardinia.  That's fun to know, now I am looking into the history, food, dress, etc. of both of those countries.

[Noel7]

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@quietly7wrote:

I've been doing genealogy research for fifteen years, and my Ancestry DNA test results correlated well with what I already knew about my family history. I also gifted Ancestry DNA kits to eight other family members, and their results were accurate, too.

In addition to confirming family histories, DNA results can also dispel them.

My father-in-law was told that his grandmother's family were actually Russian Jews, despite the fact that they had baptismal and marriage certificates from the Catholic Church. We tested both him and my husband, and they had zero percent European Jewish ancestry.

My mother-in-law (deceased) often spoke of her Native American heritage; her grandmother was thought to be Cherokee. My husband and his sister, as well as some of their cousins, tested, and all came back without any Native American ancestry. It is possible there was Native American DNA at one time and it “diluted out”. 

I think these kits make a very unique gift and may spark an interest in finding out more about one’s family history. 

@quietly7

Not regarding your husband, but just an FYI: A lot of Jewish people converted to Catholicism to save their lives during the Inquisition.  Many of those families went on and never knew they had Jewish roots.  They were called Conversos.

23&Me is now able to trace some Jewish heritage from their testing: Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardic Jews.  My husband and daughter came up with Ashkenazi genetic heritage.

[jannabelle1]

I haven't purchased/used any of the DNA test kits, so I can't respond to that. But, you mentioned that you're thinking of giving one as a gift. I know they are popular now, and maybe your friend will enjoy it. But - maybe not. I'm sure that I'm in the minority, but I don't feel comfortable sending my DNA sample off to any for-profit company for analysis, and I'd never do it. If your friend likes the concept then it would be a good gift, but if she doesn't then it wouldn't be so great. JMO.

[jannabelle1]

@Sooner- I'm with you, but for a different reason. I don't share my social security number with anyone I don't have to, and the same goes for my DNA. I don't trust it being in any company's database.

[World Traveler]

@jannabelle1 With my friend to whom I gifted Ancestry.com, I knew they wanted it. They had heard about my results and said something like, "Wow, I want to do that sometime." So I said, "Hey, could I get it for you as your Christmas gift?" They were so excited. I gave them the information on the three I tried and let them choose which company to go with. They said Ancestry.com, and that is what I got them. I got it thru Amazon.com at a special that was around $67, plus I'm a Prime Member, so there was no shipping cost.

[World Traveler]

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@Ainhisgwrote:

For those of you who have used 23andme--I looked on Amazon and there are two kits...a $79 kit and a $159 kit.  Which one should I get?

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@Ainhisg The $79 kit is just DNA, but you get a lot of information or sources you may pursue with that kit. Trust me, you will continue to receive emails of added information you may be interested in, and further ways to purchase something if you want to go deeper.

The $159 is the DNA and your health. I really value the health information, so I would suggest you do that if the cost is in line with your budget. There are so many links to additional things on the health side of the testing. I started going deep into the information and finally, said, "Okay, I will have to do that when I retire!" ha! It can take up a lot of your time. So one of these days, when I have the time, I will go even deeper than the initial report they gave me, which I thought was quite thorough.

I failed to mention in my last post that another relative of mine did 23andMe, and was really surprised at how detailed his information was. He IS retired, so he has the time to open up the various "further reading" links and has learned a lot about himself. Every once in a while he will say "well, now I know why......" whatever it is that he has discovered.

[Ainhisg]

@World Travelerthank you so much for your detailed response!  If I get the $79 kit, would I get the option to purchase the health portion later if I want it?