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In reply to the discussion: Have you had your DNA tested to determine your ancestry? [View all]Greybnk48
(10,182 posts)11. Yes. And yes I got a surprise.
All of my life I had been told that my great-grandmother on my mother's side was Native American. Choctaw or Chickasaw. The family is from Holly Springs, Mississippi; most of them or their kids are still there, my mother being one of the only one's to leave. My great grandmother had very dark hair, dark brown eyes and high cheekbones, as did her son, my great-uncle.
I took the test and...not a speck of Native American blood. Nothing. Myth-busted!
I'm 100% Western European with 49% Irish. Half of my family came here from Belfast in 1910 to Philadelphia so I already knew all of that. I also knew I had some Dutch blood. I was surprised to see connections to France, Spain and Italy.
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No, but my mom has been doing it for years and years as a fact finding hobby.
BigmanPigman
Aug 2017
#2
That would be researching genealogy, determining who fills out your ancestry tree.
L. Coyote
Aug 2017
#19
It also might be that the tests aren't super accurate, especially at picking up DNA
pnwmom
Aug 2017
#73
Good explanation. Some people don't understand that DNA doesn't get passed down the generations
pnwmom
Aug 2017
#74
That's true. That can happen. But more often the results are different simply because
pnwmom
Aug 2017
#153
Good lord, my husband and I knew this woman decades ago thru all of us having worked at UC...
Hekate
Aug 2017
#93
There must be a conspiracy about this DNA testing. Black helicopters, shadow corporations, satan.
IADEMO2004
Aug 2017
#21
I have no interest. I know that I am racially mixed through my maternal grandmom. nt
Blue_true
Aug 2017
#23
Yep, and the myth that I'd been told all my life about being mostly Irish was busted.
Different Drummer
Aug 2017
#24
I'm still mostly Irish, Eng, Scottish but I'm also Spanish. I have always loved Spanish culture and
Squinch
Aug 2017
#34
Is it paranoid to be concerned that these firms are not bound by any HIPAA constraints?
TheBlackAdder
Aug 2017
#98
I am planning to do the test soon...sure hope I pop up somewhere in your family tree! 😄
MLAA
Aug 2017
#50
Several family members are deeply involved in genealogy, and have been for decades.
Binkie The Clown
Aug 2017
#43
Siblings often have somewhat different results because DNA doesn't get transmitted uniformly.
pnwmom
Aug 2017
#88
They ought to explain what they mean by their groups of "Irish", "Scandinavian" and so on
muriel_volestrangler
Aug 2017
#94
I don't know that they had a Scottish grouping. I"ll spend more time on genealogy after I retire.
SharonClark
Aug 2017
#151
Yes but mainly because I have a genetic disease found among those of northern European ancestry
misanthrope
Aug 2017
#147