Community Chat

[Yardlie]

@World Traveler ... I used 23andme also. Like you, I paid for the health information part. The "probably" (of course) means "more likely than not." It usually gives you a percentage that you are more likely than not to have a specific characteristic. It told me that I probably did not have freckles or red hair. I am a highly freckled redhead (Scotch-Irish). That part was inaccurate. Many other parts were right on. I also submitted my data (anonymously) to Promethease.com, and for something like $5 they send you a ton of additional information about your health. They do it so that they have a huge database for research purposes. Not all of that information was accurate. Again, they estimate your chances of having or carrying a feature or gene. They told me that I most likely would develop breast cancer due to the BRCA 1 gene. My doctor had run a more specific test for just that gene, and it came back negative for my developing breast cancer.

Also, with 23andme (as you probably) already know, they continue to send you new health information as they do more research. My two sisters had Ancestry done, and their results were almost identical to mine.

[ALRATIBA]

We've used Family Tree DNA for all our testing. 

Back in 2005, my local genealogy society hosted a Genetic Genealogy Seminar featuring that company.  So - we had our first mtDNA and Y-DNA testing done by them in 2005.

Subsequently, we did upgrades to the initial testing and just a few months ago added Family Finder testing. 

I don't know how one would gauge the accuracy of DNA testing.  It is what it is.  We already knew where our ancestors came from going back several hundred years.  What we were interested in our "ancient ancestry."  

At first glance we were surprised with the results ... but when you stop for a moment and recall the movement of people out of Africa ... into Europe and then across Europe .. it all makes sense.  By looking at the mix - you can start to work out your own particular family's journey.  

Two books worth reading are The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes (Oxford Univ.) and The Journey of Man by Spencer Wells.  

[Ainhisg]

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?

[Sooner]

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

[quietly7]

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. 

[dragonflyveb]

@Ainhisg

I did the full 23andme testing. Waiting on results. I was just curious to see how accurate it would be.

one thing to be careful of is who can access your data, such as insurance or long term care companies.  I think there are some limitations, but just be aware. Read the privacy notices. For example, 23&me has an option for chances of developing Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. You just never know what will be asked in the future on medical or insurance forms. 

[SXMGirl]

I did both Ancestry and My Heritage, results of which were almost identical and quite surprising.  Because of the surprise, I am now planning on trying 23andme for the health aspects.  As far as finding relatives, none of the matches were more than 1.1 percent, so I have no worries that anyone will be contacting me.

[Suziepeach]

We are waiting for our results from Ancestry.

[NycVixen]

I highly recommend 23andme. My ancestry and health reports were very detailed. I learned things about my ancestry that I never knew and connected with a family member. My friend did Ancestry.com and he was very disappointed since he got hardly no detailed information. He was amazed at my report and so was my father. Now, he wants to do 23andme as well.

[NycVixen]

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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. 

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In my case, 23andme confirmed my suspicions regarding Native American heritage from my grandfather. I still have a significant amount though it's not obvious looking at me whatsoever since I'm mostly European. Therefore, I don't think it would of diluted out from parent to child but from great great grandparents perhaps.