Has anyone done the Ancestry DNA test?

[smirkymonkey]

If so, what did you think? Were you surprised? What were the results? I just ordered a kit out of curiosity. My Dad and step-Mother just did it and it was very interesting. My stepmother was no surprise at about 72% English and 23% Scandinavian with a few other things thrown in. My Dad was a surprise. Both his parents came from Italy but he came back as almost 65% Greek, 20% Italian, and a little bit of the following: Ashkenazi Jewish, North African, Middle Eastern and Northern European. He thought he was 100% Italian.

My mother died when I was young and as far as I know she was English and Dutch, but it will be interesting to see what the test comes back with.

Anybody care to share their results?

[RKP5637]

1. I did it, was not surprised by the result, GB and Scandinavian. And on closest match, it matched me

to my cousins.

[MFM008]

2. It's so cool

I got my son a kit for Christmas.
He got it out the next mail day.
We're still waiting for results.
We're assuming there was a post Christmas
Bottleneck.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. I got one for Xmas, and results came back a couple of weeks ago. Bet

his come in soon!

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I bought the kit during their sale before Christmas. Haven't done it yet as I

have limited saliva as a result of cancer treatment. Says not to drink for like 30 minutes before, which means I'll have even less saliva! Don't think I can do it in one try.

[LeftInTX]

42. I did mine with Family Tree DNA

It uses swabs.
I had to do mine first thing in the morning. I decided to moisten my mouth with a tiny bit of water before hand. My mouth was so dry, that I was afraid the swab wouldn't work.

I have Sojren's Syndrome.

The test worked.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. I did it. Not surprised by the high British and moderate Hungarian, but

was surprised at how little Irish/Scottish showed up, and that no German genes made it to me at all, apparently.

[smirkymonkey]

8. That is what is so interesting. We all think we know our ethnic background, but as it turns out,

sometimes we can be way off the mark, as it was in my Dad's case.

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. I was hoping for some surprise ethnicities, but this was just a case of

me just not getting those genes from my maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother. Would love for my bro to do it too, just to see what his percentages turn out to be.

[onlyadream]

31. Wait...you mean that you dont see your entire ethnic background

And it’s a toss of the genetic gene pool? So siblings can get a different results?

[GreenPartyVoter]

38. Yep! It's in the faq at Ancestry. :)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

45. Unless your sibling is your identical twin, your DNA results won't be

exactly the same as theirs. That's because while you get half of your DNA from your mother and half from your father, you won't get exactly the same half from each, and your siblings will get a different half from each. Here's a better explanation: http://genetics.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/same-parents-different-ancestry

[hlthe2b]

5. I knew that I was Irish/German on my Father's side but my late Mom was adopted & we knew nothing...

turns out she was Scandinavian, so my sister and I like to joke that that makes us Vikings warriors (like Lagertha on the History Channel show)--LOL

I did a lot of exploration via Ancestry.com of historical records but also through the Mormon site: Familysearch.org

[smirkymonkey]

9. So you pretty much got what you expected with the exception of your Mom?

I am just interested in how many people are surprised by their results. I don't think my Dad was so thrilled by the North African and Middle Eastern make up. He is a nice guy, but kind of a prejudiced old Italian man. He hasn't really commented on it yet.

[hlthe2b]

12. Yes.. and my sister submitted too separately from another state a few months apart.

Ancestry did identify with certainty that we were familial relatives. It also identified some 3rd cousins I was vaguely aware of and a lot more that could be 3rd or 4th cousins. I haven't reached out though as right now, I prefer to not to have a big public presence there. You can remain as private as you want.

[GreenPartyVoter]

19. Hmmm... Given the variety of people included in the Roman Empire, this

makes sense.

[hlthe2b]

23. I have an intense fascination with ancient Egypt so was sort of hoping I'd have an Egyptian, Nubian,

or other Middle Eastern connection. How about Cleopatra? LOL Geez, how cool.... Maybe your Dad can see it like that?

[smirkymonkey]

25. I know, I think it's kind of cool. After all, Italy did colonize a large part of North Africa and

parts of the near East which would explain where that connection could have come from. I think it's cool! I am sure he will get over it soon enough. After all the Greeks aren't really all that different from the Italians. Actually, nobody in the Mediterranean is much different from each other. The skin hue may vary, but they are more alike than different.

[TomSlick]

7. Our son did.

Turns out he is more Scottish/Irish than the majority of people in Scotland and Ireland.

His report listed by initials and town possible second and third cousins. I was able to identify all of them.

[smirkymonkey]

10. I think it's kind of fascinating. I can't wait to find out my results.

Especially from my mother's side.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. I did 23 and me

and my results were entirely unremarkable except for a 0.4% Southern European, 0.3% Sardinian. All four grandparents came from Ireland, so I'm quite fascinated by the Southern European and Sardinian.

Your father's results show far better than mine that where our parents or grandparents came from may not be the entire story.

[smirkymonkey]

14. I think we also need to keep in mind that our roots can go back many generations, so even though our

ancestors may have lived in a particular country for many generations, it's possible that they had mingled with other ethnicities and races centuries before, which would influence your results.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

41. Exactly. And in my case that's

where that fractional percentage of southern European comes in.

A friend of mine did genetic testing with the National Geographic site (and I think I may also do them to see if I get more information). She's Chinese American and lots and lots of other stuff. Among the things that came up in her profile was Turkey, and when she was showing me she told me there was a family story about great grandparents or so going from Turkey to China. I must say I was quite jealous of her ancestry, from so many parts of the world.

Another thing 23 and Me and National Geographic both do that Ancestry does not do (and I don't know about the various other genetic profiling services out there) is that they look for Neanderthal traits. I was personally quite impressed that I have 330 Neanderthal variants, more than 98% of their customers. And my friend also had a decent amount of Neanderthal. I mean, it doesn't get any cooler than that, does it?

All of the services need lots an lots more people to sign up with them, because the more samples they get the better they can refine their results.

[Motley13]

13. Just what I thought I was, Europe 95%

Gr Britain 46%
Ireland 12%
Scandinavia 11%
Finland, NW Russia 7%, that was the only surprise, but those Vikings got around

[smirkymonkey]

15. Interesting mix!

what was the remainder?

[Motley13]

17. it says trace regions 7%, not sure what that is

Iberian Peninsula 4%, I heard about a Spaniard in Denmark
Europe East 3%
Italy, Greece 2 %
West Asia 5%
Caucasus 4%
Middle East 1%

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. I did, and the results were pretty consistent with what we already knew,

except that I turned out to be more than half Norwegian, which I suppose can be explained by the Vikings invading my father's ancestors' country, Scotland. They were able to isolate the results to specific areas of western Norway (Rogaland, Vest-Agder and Sørlandet), which I didn't know was possible, but that's exactly where my known ancestors came from. There was a smattering of Italian was not known but that might be explained by a few Swiss ancestors on my dad's side. They tell you that results are not 100% accurate but more of an approximation based on comparisons to their database, but there weren't any really major surprises.

[smirkymonkey]

21. It's interesting. I looked up the town in Italy where my Grandfather was from.

Barile, Italy. It said "The area was populated in ancient times by a colony of Greeks who later abandoned the place." And then "The town grew from the 14th to the 17th century as a result of migration of four colonies of Greeks and Albanians, who brought with them their customs and religious worship, building churches where they settled." So it would make sense that even though my Grandfather came from Italy that he had Greek blood. I find it really fascinating. However, they had been Italian for centuries, so culturally, they were Italian. Anyway, even if it's not completely accurate, it tells an interesting story.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

20. My DNA results not in yet.....

I will not be surprised if I come back over 50% Eastern European with some Russian somewhere. At least 20% Italian and the Mexican part of me connected to Spain and native meso- American. My Grandpa from Mexico was of Aztec ancestry.

[smirkymonkey]

22. You will have to share them with us when they come in!

I will definitely share my results. For some reason, I think I will be surprised.

[ms liberty]

24. Waiting on my results, like you

mr liberty took the test a couple of years ago and most of it was not a surprise but more of a confirmation.

[Historic NY]

26. Just mailed one out.

[Glorfindel]

27. I did. No surprises.

46% Western European; 39% Great Britain; 7% Ireland/Scotland/Wales; traces of Southern European, Iberian Peninsula, and Scandinavia.

[smirkymonkey]

30. Thanks for sharing that with us!

[GeoWilliam750]

28. Pretty much as expected

Including the Neanderthal

[Eyeball_Kid]

54. I'm jealous. I wanted Neanderthal! No luck.

[shenmue]

29. My Mom is 100% Sicilian, which breaks down into 80% mainland Italian and 20% Greek

[smirkymonkey]

33. Interesting how many Italians have Greek DNA.

I thought we might have a little, but not as much as showed up in my Dad's results. However Sicily was inhabited by Greeks, Normans, Swabians, Moors, French, Spaniards, Germans, North Africans, etc. They are a real melting pot of ethnicities. My last name happens to be very prominent in Sicily.

[shenmue]

35. Cool!

[SHRED]

32. How much does it cost?

[smirkymonkey]

34. It is on sale for $69.00, I just got my tax return back so I decided to splurge.

Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford it. I paid off a bunch of debt, gave some money to DU, replaced a few things and did this frivolous thing. Also put some money away for a rainy day.

[RandomAccess]

36. I did the 23andMe DNA test for health reasons

tho it also gave me some ancestry info and every now and then I get an email telling me I have new relatives.

I'm really glad I did it because it helped me immensely. If anyone is having unusual health issues -- not the standard stuff -- I highly recommend it.

[Farmer-Rick]

37. Just be careful folks

They could tell you anything and you have no way of knowing it is true.

Some unbiased tests with identical twins and triplets got different results from different companies. They should have identical results as they have the same genetic make up.

Anyway, have fun but keep in mind they are frequently inaccurate and you really can't verify most of what they tell you.

[smirkymonkey]

39. Thanks for the heads up. I suppose if I could afford it I would go to two different testers to

see if I got the same results.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

40. The results are an approximation based on the totality of samples

and the total numbers that they have analyzed. Different companies will probably provide somewhat different results because they base their analysis on the samples they have, and the companies have different total numbers and sources of samples. The results I got from Ancestry were quite consistent with what I already knew about my ancestry.

[Rhiannon12866]

43. My brother got it for me for Christmas, but I haven't done it yet, was waylaid by the flu

I'm not expecting any surprises since I pretty much know my heritage, it's relatively recent. My maternal grandparents both emigrated from Poland and my paternal grandfather's parents both emigrated from Ireland. My paternal grandmother's father was Dutch, but that could be interesting since his ancestors arrived in the 1640s - and her mother was said to be of English ancestry, but she died when my grandmother was a child, so we don't know much about her. I'm not expecting anything surprising, but I'd welcome anything unexpected...

[smirkymonkey]

47. Hi Rhiannon!

Hope all is well!

[LeftInTX]

44. My husband is Mexican-American and tested through Ancestry

They noted he was 47% Native American.
He was matched with relatives from both parents in Chihuahua and NE Mexico.
Apparently a bunch of his cousins and distances cousins tested with Ancestry. They've also been doing geneology of their families.

One of his grandfather's origins is still unknown however. This particular grandfather came during the Revolution and they don't know where he was from. He only has six living heirs. Four of them are my husband and his siblings. The other two have disappeared.

[nolabear]

46. I did mine years ago thru 23andMe. Slightly surprising.

My supposed Native American DNA didn’t show though we think we know who the ancestor was and will get cousins checked. We’ve done ancestry research and can trace far, far back except for the ancestor who was supposed to be Choctaw, who dead ends. I’m mostly Scottish, Irish and Welsh with a little Scandinavian (turned out to be a Dutch bookbinder at Oxford in the 1600s) and am a proud 3.1% Neanderthal. Higher than average.

I also got the medical info and it’s pretty surprisingly accurate as to what I know I have tendencies toward.

[smirkymonkey]

48. Do they give you medical info? Like what diseases you are susceptible to?

And 3.1% Neanderthal! I didn't think they went back that far!

[nolabear]

58. They didn't for a while but they do again I understand.

I did mine just prior to the FDA throwing a tantrum, which I understand has since been resolved. I got (and get updates as they update their info) info as to the probabilities that I will have various issues. I'm at higher risk for Deep Vein Thrombosis, which is important for doctors to know if you have surgery or an extended bed stay. I've never had a problem but I know my grandfather and sister have. I have no markers for Alzheimer's, which is a great thing to know, but we have none in the family so I figured that. They also have likelihood of traits, some of which made me laugh. I have low likelihood for the "Irish blush," redding up when you drink, and I have it like crazy.

Yeah, it goes as far back as you do. And there was (may still be; as I said they update the site often) interesting speculation on how you got that way. My ancestors, like everyone's, began in Sub-Saharan Africa, but then went up through "Persia" and I picked up what's now a minuscule bit of Iraq/Iran, came around Southern Europe where the Neanderthals were and clearly interbred, and moved up into the British Isles, picking up a tiny bit of French on the way.

My son has traced some lines back into the 1500s, which can happen if you hook into a royal or military line;they kept records of marriages, transports, etc. so we found a lot to corroborate the genes.

Lots of fun!

[smirkymonkey]

59. I have always been afraid to do a DNA test at the hospital because I felt like my insurance company

could get a hold of the results and refuse to insure me if I was pre-disposed to anything. We have a few minor issues in our family, but no cancer or anything serious or debilitating. Still, I don't trust them.

I'm looking forward to finding out the results! I would like my siblings to get it done to make sure we all match.

[nolabear]

60. They cant do that yet.

I don’t think insurance companies could stay in business if they cut out all genetic propensities. We have lots of cancer and no heart disease but that’s on every doctor’s form you fill out.

As to siblings it should be fun to see what you inherited that they didn’t and so forth. I’d like to get mine to do it too.

[pansypoo53219]

49. yes. my grandmother's mother adopted, so lots of where.

i also heard a DNA explanation on NPR when a woman's test showed no italian when her mom was part italian. its never a 50/50% thing. every egg is unique. i sure thought i would be more german. IBERIAN?

[smirkymonkey]

50. That is what is so interesting. Just because our ancestors immigrated here from a particular

country, it's very possible that their ancestors could have immigrated to their country of origin even earlier - like my Italian father's Greek forebears. I guess that is why I find this so fascinating, we all think we know what we are based upon where our immigrating relatives came from, but the results can show something completely different.

[Squinch]

51. I did. Loved it. I'm a red haired green eyed Irish person.

All my life I was told I was part French. I never felt any affinity to that, and I have always liked to steep myself in Latin cultures.

Turns out I have no French, but I have a little "Iberian Peninsula." It was probably what we call "Armada Spanish" because there's only a little of it. But still, I'm Spanish!

[JenniferJuniper]

52. My uncle found out who is father was

A soldier who died in WWII. And then through dna hits found an entire family who has been looking for him for 7 decades. He went to the family reunion as the guest of honor last year.

[MerryBlooms]

57. Wow, that is so cool.

My sister and I have been talking about doing the test, just haven't gotten around to it yet. This thread is a good reminder.

[Drahthaardogs]

53. He is 100% italian

Greek blood in Italy goes back to the Etruscan Kings. The northern African is from southern Italy.

Italy wasn't a country until the late 1800's. Some of us from the north have Gaul genes from when the Romans conquered them.

[smirkymonkey]

55. That is how he feels. He is completely culturally Italian, regardless of what the test

results say. I was raised with a heavy Italian influence from my relatives and have no knowledge of anything Greek, except for having traveled there. I definitely identify as half Italian.

[snowybirdie]

56. A relative did it

and up popped someone with close dna looking for relatives. Turns out Grandpa had a one night stand years ago and fathered this person! Grandma was not happy! So be careful. They do allow people to search for relatives.

[NightWatcher]

61. My dad got me one for Christmas but I'm not going to do it.

I have privacy concerns, I know my ancestry, and I already have a weird disease that was passed from him to me. I don't need to know where I'm from or what health issues I might face in the future (I'm already there).

Anybody want to buy a sealed ancestry dna kit?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

62. Ancestry doesn't test for diseases - that's 23 and Me.

All you'll get from Ancestry is an estimation of your heritage.

[NightWatcher]

63. There's some other website that you send your results to and they check health for $5

My biggest issue is that my messed up genome will be on file somewhere controlled by Ancestry that might be hacked or misused.