Continuing from Monday we have more of the best, or maybe they're the worst, comments from Ancestry.com's DNA threads on their Facebook page. Of course the uninformed comments are not limited to Facebook. Elsewhere people have asked why they can't upload their DNA to a match's tree so the computer can find the link or they've complained because the test couldn't tell them the exact county in Ireland their great-great-grandfather came from.
As always the comments are cut and pasted. My comments are in red and most should be read with a heavy dose of sarcasm. We'll start with those that are fast becoming my biggest pet peeve. No, not those with private trees. Those complaining about private trees.
PRIVATE EYES
✿ I am also perturbed by all the dang private people. Why the heck get your DNA done if you are not going to share? I find it selfish.
✿ "They won't share with ME. Everyone should do the test for the same reasons as ME." They are selfish? Pot, meet kettle.
✿ Frustrated because so many of the matches are private trees and can't get responses back. It ends up a waste of money when you can't find out anything.
✿ I may have to do a post titled "Seeing private trees will solve everything" because all the whiners seem to think that private tree owners hold the secrets of the universe.
✿ I don't get why some people take the test but make their family tree private.
✿ I only wish that the people who get the DNA test would not have their tree private. I have alot of moderate matches but can't see the tree, it's disappointing. I know you can ask to see their tree but most of them don't answer, so why do the DNA test if you don't want to complete your tree?
✿ They didn't take the test for you. To the latter comment..."Complete"?!!?
✿ I am thoroughly pleased. The one thing I would gripe about is that many others took the test, yet their tree is kept private or it is a tree with only 1-15 or so people. I assume these people expected a magically filled family tree to pop up as a direct result of their DNA results explaining to them who their ancestors are, really?
✿ I've covered private trees in an earlier post but yes, some people actually expect a "magically filled family tree." I find that those people usually have a public tree though. A friend of mine was contacted by a match and asked for a copy of her GEDCOM. The match had no idea which line he matched on but that didn't seem to matter.
✿ I have had good results, but we need more options for people to share private trees. Why not have the option to share only with other DNA participants? How about having an "Unlock Your Tree Day" so that we can at least check for matches. The percentage of people who have responded to my requests to see their trees is low, but the interaction with those who have has been great. Still, I'm stunned when someone doesn't respond even when you have the leaf hint that says you have a match. I still have at least one major roadblock and wonder if one of those locked trees would solve it. If your tree if private to protect someone's innocence, I can understand that. But I don't care if a tree might have errors. It's my responsibility to check to see if the information is valid, and sometimes getting the DNA match helps verify a relationship. It just seems selfish to me to be in the DNA program, to take advantage of checking results in all the public trees, and then not to allow other people the same courtesy. Sorry if that is harsh, but I don't agree with some of the reasons people give for not sharing what they do have.
✿ Well since YOU don't agree let's just change it. Obviously your way is correct and perfect and no one will have a problem with it.
✿ I don't want people who won't share their tree to be able to benefit from my hard work and research that can be found in my tree. I am willing to share and help others, but only those who are also as generous. It is very frustrating to find a tree that might be of great help....only to be denied. I am tired of those that make their trees private benefiting from others yet the rest of us are shut out. I respect the right to make your tree private....you just should have restrictions for doing so... it's only fair. I am serious about this too Ancestry.com...I pay a lot of money yearly on your site and I want to be able to share what I have with others that do the same. I want an option to click to make my tree unavailable to those that have private trees. Please make that happen.
✿ What a brilliant idea! If your request is granted (it won't be) then private tree owners could just create a tree with 3 people on it, all living. Heck, they could have a tree with 50 living people on it. They could view your tree and you would still see nothing on theirs but they would have a public tree. Really, good going. What a wonderful, well thought out solution.
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN
✿ Somewhat disappointed with the results. I know my ancestry back to the countries of origin and the results have been subpar. Also, no help with the Native American side of the genetics.
✿ "Countries of origin"? So you know where your family started thousands of years ago? As to the latter comment I'm guessing this is yet another person who thought DNA could assign you to a tribe.
✿ The more I think about it, the more I don't believe it. I am supposedly 84% Central European and 11% Scandanvian. At least 80% of my heritage is from the British Isles. My Dad's people came over with the Pilgrims and Puritans, and my Mother's were 100% Irish. I can't believe there is no British Isles in my DNA. And the matches are ludicrous -- names like Smith and Miller. And none that match any of the names in my extensive tree. It has been a total waste for me. More I think about it, angrier I get.
✿ Me too! The state of the American education system is a pathetic and the fact that we have adults who have no knowledge of history, no ability to apply logic is,...oh, that's not what you're angry about.
✿ Would like more detailed breakdown of WHERE and WHEN, ie what part of British is English vs colonial American English vs Irish vs Scottish, what part of Scandinavian is recently from Scandinavian countries or the result of Viking raids some thousand years ago. If "unknown" can't be specifically categorized can it at least point to a certain part or parts of the world or indicated with probability percentages?
✿ "what part of British is English vs colonial American English" Yeah, doesn't DNA include that biological clock that I'm always hearing about? Can't it tell me when my ancestors came to America and when they lived in certain countries?
✿ I am more than skeptical of my results. My mother's side is 100% German documented back to my great-great grandparents in the early 1800's and there's not a single percentage point of Central Europe in my DNA. My father's side which is Swedish but not documented past my grandparents came through loud and clear with 42% Scandinavian. The mystery is the 55% British Isles. Not a single documented relative from there. This would have had to come from both sides of my tree for the number to be 55%. I don't see it being true even as a remote possibility.
✿ Of course it's not a "remote possibility." No one in the history of the universe ever crossed the English Channel.
✿ I took it and was not happy. I KNEW my Grand parents were from Italy and Italy never came up. I never got any kinda of 'answers' for lack of a better word. I contacted names/emails of people they sent me and never got a responce from anyone. Very disappointed.
✿ And since their grandparents are from Italy that means everyone before them HAD to come from Italy because since the beginning of time there has never been an invasion or a migration.
✿ [name of person who tried to point out the ridiculousness of people wanting an exact country of origin], no need to school us. I'm sure most of us know our history ESP theses of us that we're born in the British Isles. As I said before..... Why any British Isles DNA?.. As you said, we are Saxons, Vikings, Angles, and some Celts, although celts is actually not a group of distinct people. Also, the Romans left very little DNA in Britian.
[same person 3 minutes later]
* those
✿ Glad you added the correction or we would have absolutely no idea what you were trying to say.
✿ So how do we research humanity? My faternal grandfather was mexican, but this is not showing in my brother's DNA.
✿ Paternal? Maternal? Not sure what "faternal" is. Mexican is no more an ethnicity than Canadian is. Mexican ancestry can be Native North American, Native South American, Southern European, Central European, and probably a few others. Of course the poster didn't indicate what did show up in his brother's DNA.
✿ No German in my results and my mother was 100% German......what gives??? Not real excited about the results I received!!!
✿ I was surprise that it did not show my German roots (I have 2 German grandmothers from German parents and one was born in Germany) but I have found some connections on both side of the family. I'm not sure I trust the results for my ethnic results, but I have made some connections
✿ skipped the French side of my family, showed british isles 96%, but I do know for a fact, my Great Grandfather was 100% french, I was a bit disappointed...
✿ What this sounds like to me: My [parent or fairly recent ancestor] was from Connecticut. Why don't I have Connecticut in my results?
✿ Not so good, 5th-9th cousins, really? Haven't found a single connection this way. Have done far better by jousting using Facebook. Bucking for a refund or something, if this doesn't improve. Disappointing at best.
✿ I was very disappointed. It didn't list any British or German ancestry, even though that's where all of my family came from. It showed 23% southern European and 6% Caucasian/Persian even though I couldn't find anybody from those areas. I also don't like the fact that of all the matches I only had one that was 3rd or 4th cousins. I tried to contact them but they didn't reply. Most matches are 5th cousins or more.
✿ Why can't Ancestry force more of my 3rd and 4th cousins to take the test? And why didn't my results match my tree?
✿ I was not happy with mine. It showed everything I already knew and nothing I needed to know.Anyone looking at my tree could have given me the same results.
✿ Things reported on my DNA results could probably been found from reading my family tree. I'm disappointed.
✿ I got nothing except what I gave them on my family tree plus they threw in 33% British Iles although my ancestors never saw that place ever. The 5-8th cousins sent reveal NOTHING. Not even close. I expected some kind of DNA test results not my family tree reguratated badly. This is worthless.
✿ The results didn't tell me anything. I feel like Ancestry.com just pulled information from my existing family tree and told me information I already knew. I wish it was more detailed, instead of just giving me continents as my DNA results.
✿ How dare my results match my research?!!? Will someone who believes Ancestry just used your tree to determine your DNA results please tell me where Ancestry got results for those with no tree?
✿ I was disappointed in the broadness and inaccuracy of the results. My maternal side is almost entirely German, but no indication of this on my results. Honestly seems as though the information was actually taken from my tree.
✿ Your maternal side is missing from your results and the results were taken from your tree. Which is it?
UNCERTAIN
✿ I also didn't like the 3% unknown factor. Unknown? What is that? Am I 3% alien or something?
✿ I was VERY surprised at the results: 49% Scandinavian, 34% British Isles, 14% Eastern European, and 3% "uncertain." Does that mean that 3% of me isn't in your data base? Alien perhaps?
✿ I was no tsurprised at the 60% British Isle, nor the 19% Europe. The 16% Finnish, Volga , Aral was a big surprize....Gotta find that! the 5% undertermined I figured it sthe Native American...bu tone of my daughters said, "Aliens!!! We're five percent Aliens!"" :-)
✿ I'm 2% unknown - not saying it was aliens - but it was aliens
✿ This has become a running joke. Being a BSG fan and a Capricorn I'm gonna go with Caprican. My 9% unknown is Caprican. So say we all!
✿ I wish that when results are shown as uncertain, ancestry.com would tell us what that uncertainty points to. My DNA gave a specific breakdown of four ethnicities. My mother's showed only two, plus an "uncertain." I would love to know if her uncertain matched one of my other ethnicities. The results could say something like, "Your results indicate a possible link to Central Europe, but the sample was not specific enough to say for sure." At least that would help us rule certain things in or out.
✿ Has not helped me at all, 7% unknown will it ever show the 7% unknown.
✿ My husband had 7% "unknown" what in the world does that mean?????
✿ Instead of "DNA will solve everything" now it's "the unknown percentage will solve everything." I'm sure if they had no uncertain percentage they would be completely satisfied with the test. Here's the official Ancestry answer which shows when you hover over "Uncertain" on the full results page:
After the jump: The Native American Dream, Engraved Invitation on a Silver Platter, You Took a Different Test, and Success Stories.
THE NATIVE AMERICAN DREAM
✿ Do the tests show scottish irish and cherokee indian?
✿ No. British Isles and Native American? Yes.
✿ I know that this might sound crazy but I always wanted to do DNA testing to see if my mom and I are really Shawnee Indian, but my dad is a retired cop and he said that they could put my DNA at a crime scene lol. But I WOULD REALLY LOVE to find out if my mom and I are really Shawnee Indian.
✿ It sounds crazy but not for the reason you think. Even if you're over 50% Native American this test will not tell you the tribe.
✿ I had mine done. I am 63 % Centural European, 29% Scandinavian and 8% uncertain....that would be my Native American heritage.
✿ If you are have Native American ancestry, it indicates "Uncertain."
✿ It's so general it's not that helpful. I was looking for some evidence that we had a Native American ancestor, as my family has always said, and the results make it likely we did not. But with a 3% "unknown" group, it's still a possibility, so it didn't necessarily quash the rumor or confirm anything.
✿ Keeping the hope alive.
✿ The portion of my DNA is correct saying Scandanavian and Central European. BUT, why couldn't the test show the portion of my Native American DNA...it just says other. There are true traits of Native American DNA.
✿ Let me guess, high cheek bones and straight black hair?
✿ DNA finally squelched the family story of Native American blood! So interesting to learn more about my ancient ancestry.
✿ Yes I took it. Like many I believed "Family Tradition" that my 3rd Great grandmother born in 1814 was full blood American Indian! My DNA showed no American Indian at all! So I can stop chasing that tale, and work on other mysteries!
✿ My DNA came back as 100% British Isles. This matches my paper trail and confirms that none of my ancestry is native American, disputing claims by most all of my relatives.
✿ It's possible you did not receive any ethnic markers from a great-grandparent. DNA is passed down randomly. In theory you have 12.5% of each great-grandparent's DNA but in reality one great-grandparent may be left out of your mix. Most of those with a rumored Native American in the family should just let it go. They should not be looking for proof of the rumor but instead follow where their research leads them.
ENGRAVED INVITATION ON A SILVER PLATTER
✿ Last year in March I was going to do this for my birthday. But Ancestry was making changes and I signed up to be on there waiting list. Going on a year now. Still waiting.
✿ still waiting for mine, I've been on the waiting list since last summer
✿ not yet but I really want to signed up when it came out never got the invite as yet
✿ I tried to participate but missed the deadline. Cant wait for the next one!
✿ Been waiting to take it for almost a year. Anyone else had this problem?
✿ i wouldn't know....haven't received the email that it was available yet!!!!!!
✿ The waiting list ended in October when the test was released for public purchase (U.S. only). Of course one out of every ten comments is either "Where can I buy this test?" or "How much is it?" For some people Ancestry.com would have to hand deliver a brochure and read it to them. And that's just for the basics of cost and ordering! Those same people don't stand a chance of understanding the test or their results.
✿ I would have but no one asked me.. :-(
✿ See what I mean?
✿ slightly disappointed int he fact that it says I mostly am either, Portuguese, Spanish or Italian. But which?.. It has to get a little more accurate than that. I would do it again, but I wish the results would pin point the locations a little more. It said in the info it can get you to over 700K locations world wide, but then it can't even tell me the countries I come from?
✿ Reading comprehension is never a strong suit with those complaining about the test. Here's part of the help answer to "How does AncestryDNA determine genetic ethnicity?"
✿ I did and I was disappointed...Not because of the results, but Ancestry did not give too much assistance, directions or help as to the connections received. Not worth the money.
✿ YouTube videos (two are embedded here), the support community, message boards, the Ancestry.com Blog,..."If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are willing to learn, no one can stop you." [Anonymous]
✿ The "matching" with other users is next to useless. I don't have time to dig through the family trees of 100s of other possible 4th cousins, to MAYBE find a very distant connection.
✿ Wasted money. It's impossible to track all these 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. Cousins you notify me about. It would be wonderful if you would make the connections for us.
✿ Why can't you tell us HOW all of these cousins are related to uss?? We don't have months to track down how we MIGHT be cousins.
✿ What I read: Didn't my money for the test pay for hundreds of hours of research to be done for us? We're far too lazy to do any research ourselves.
YOU TOOK A DIFFERENT TEST
✿ Took this in 2008. Only showed a general European decent through mother's line, not specific in any way...is there a more specific one now?
✿ This test was not available in 2008. You took the mtDNA test.
✿ I was surprised at the results but have a question. Can you apply it to other branches of the family tree or just the surname that was registered when the test was taken?
✿ There is no surname registration with this test. You took the Y-DNA test.
✿ i took one and i had my uncle take one my uncle being dads brother the results are my ancestors come from the ice age and were the artisans the test i did was too much for me to figure out im confused
✿ I'm confused reading this.
✿ I reserved a test twice, but when I got the message, I could never place the order and gave up. Fixing this problem could maybe get more participants.
✿ How do you "reserve" a test? You either order it or you don't.
✿ My grandson and I took the test--no matches to either of us!! How effective is this test? I took the Maternal line test and haven't gotten any good results.
✿ I was very disappointed in my results. I took the Maternal DNA test and my grandson took the regular DNA test and it didn't even mention the relation, and I am at a loss to get any productive information from this test.
✿ It didn't mention a relationship between the two of you because you took different tests. The databases are separate.
✿ i took the DNA test and found that i was 56% Irish when i should have been mathematically 25% Irish. i also found that i was Finnish/Volga which might explain why i was fascinated with Russia. So I did learn things about my Biological make up i didn't expect.. who knew 1 grandparent made up more that half my DNA.
✿ That's great! Which test did you take to get an Irish result because it sure wasn't this one?
✿ I share the same disappointment as many others have indicated.
I think this " test" was a major ripoff taking advantage of genealogy- addicted ( and I guess now i'll add the word gullible) people like myself.
Both our sins are adopted and we have very limited, unsubstantiated information of their ancestry.
In my family tree I have not shown their pre-adoption surname, or possible relatives.
We did the test on our 16 year old eldest son as we are starting to talk about heritage.
The results show western European and Mexican ancestry..... gee what a COINCIDENCE ..... since my family is Austrian/ Irish and my husbands Mexican.
Guatemalan? Nope.... and their pre-adoptive surname and what little birthparent information we have is supposed to be first generation.....
Has anyone been successful in getting their money back?
[next comment by same person]
Haha! Both our SONS!!!!!
✿ What I read: How dare our adopted sons have ancestry similar to us?!!?
Oh and they took a different test. "Mexican" is not a result on AncestryDNA. In fact it wouldn't be a result on any DNA test anymore than Canadian would be.
✿ My son-in-law's mother ordered the AncestryDNA test for him. Many possible cousins were listed on her tree page. Why was there no Haplagroup Number or markers and values like shown on my tree page for the test taken by my cousin?
✿ There is no "Haplagroup" number for this test. The markers are supposed to be released soon. If your son-in-law has markers and a haplogroup indication it's because he took a different test.
✿ Like most of the reviews, I'm not liking the results. I had my father take a dna test and he and I don't match.Seems HIS family originated in France, although hundreds of years of traceable German history. I don't seem to have either German or French - how is that possible? Both of my parents mothers were from long lines of Irish, yet I am only 12%, None of my Dutch relatives were represented in the results even though I have 10 generations, but I was told I am 63% Sandinavian. My father has none. I am not adopted. I feel screwed out of my money for both tests and Ancestry is ignoring my requests for explanation. Don't they realize that eventually word will get around that they are fleecing people? Don't waste your money!!!
[After someone asked, "Did they correctly predict a parent child relationship?"]
I'm not sure what you mean by your last question as there was no mention of my father. Also, I had several 4-6 cousin connections, but not a single person match. I can go back far enough in my trees to see some same names but none were there
✿ If you're going to attempt being a troll you might want to get your story straight. Either you and your father took the test or both of you didn't. And 12% Irish? Irish is not a possible result on Ancestry.com's test. Maybe they're ignoring your requests because you are not their customer.
✿ I thought I was Polish/German. The test said 50% Polish, ~25% German and ~25% British! I'm yet to find the Brits in my tree, but I know there's some scandal with a child born out of wedlock. I wonder if she was adopted.
✿ It was useless to me. I'm a Caucasian red head who was adopted as a baby. I had grand ideas about this test opening up a link for me to my past. Instead the results said "100% European" and that's the end of it...
✿ I was not surprised to find that I was mostly British in origin, then next Germanic but surprised to see a sixteenth Italian and Swedish. Take the test, you will discover new things about your heritage.
✿ Notta nothing is what we got. One match in India with a MRCA 800 years or so with unknown haplogroup. Hesitate to do it again.
✿ Yes, and learned that my mitochondrial DNA is J. I had my brother take it and his DNA is I1. We got maps showing how our ancestors moved out of Africa and we got a list of people who were matching (or nearly matching) our DNA. I contacted several women who were on the list - one a geneticist from Australia and another who lives in Ireland. It was interesting but I'd really like more detailed information.
✿ I came up E1b1b which is consistent with an eastern Mediterranean ancestry and my paternal Sicilian roots. To date, the closest match is with "[name]" who is a 10 marker match going back 7-10 generations.
✿ The test confirmed most of what I had already discovered which made me happy to know I am on the right path... but a big surprise was that I'm only 7% Italian and 32% British Isles... so now when someone says you are your father's daughter I can say you are absolutely correct!
✿ Polish, German, British, European, Italian, Swedish, India, MRCA 800 years, J, I1, E1b1b...NONE of those results are possible with Ancestry.com's autosomal DNA test. British Isles, Central European, Southern European, Eastern European are possible results. Also, it will be a while before you start matches in other countries since Ancestry.com's test is currently only available in the U.S..
✿ Here's someone who knows they took a different test:
✿ Our family went to 23 and me.com cost is $300. they send DNA tests and they test your DNA.Some of ours are King Louie 16th ,Marie Antoinette queen of France 1774-1793,Ben Franklin,tells us we come from northern Europe,also what medical conditions we could have.Their are 100s' more,too many to list.PBS has a show on Sunday nights. This is for real !
✿ I know nothing about the 23andme test(s) but from just this testimonial it sounds like they're catering to clickophiles.
SUCCESS STORIES
✿ Full disclosure, I received a free AncestryDNA test before they were available to purchase. Since then I have purchased two more. I am not being paid for spreading the following endorsements of the test. I just thought it would be nice after all the negativity above.
✿ I was luke warm about my results at first but then just recently i watched one of the ancestry training videos and learned how to use it correctly. now i'm finding a lot more interesting connections. found a second cousin i had not seen in years.
✿ I had a bit of a cynical attitude regarding the "matches". All of my matches were "possible" 4-6 cousins and rarely did these "possibles" even share a common surname in their trees. Then, two weeks ago, I was contacted by a woman who really WAS a close match - a second cousin! We have exchanged emails and family photos and research info and it's been a rewarding experience. When I opened a package she sent me yesterday, I looked at my great grandfather's face for the very first time. It was a wonderful moment and well worth the DNA mis-matches!
✿ I used the DNA test to prove who my grandfather was. My maternal grandparents were not married and I have known about it since the 60's. My grandfather's family never knew that my mother or any of us existed. I finally found a tree on Ancestry.com that included my grandfather. I found a great grandson and he agreed to do the DNA test for me. WELL, he turned out to be the first match on my list of DNA matches and I was the first on his. I have been searching for this family for 30 years and with out Ancestry.com DNA I would not have been able to prove that I was indeed related. Of course, my 1st cousins are not so thriled to know all this, but the next generation is ok with it. My grandfather was a married man who had an affair with his neighbor, my grandmother. It is a hundred year old secret that has been exposed using Ancestry.com DNA. Thank you very much. I am thrilled to have found my missing 25% of me.
✿ We thought that my Great Great Grand Father ran away from home in Sweden, but found that his uncle had emigrated to the Americas some 20 years before so he probably ran away to hook up with him but never found him as he landed in Massachusetts where his uncle landed in Virginia. His brother then came about 5 years later and settled in New York. We never would have known if it was not for the DNA test.
✿ Have been receiving suggested names for several weeks. Just last week connected with a REAL distant relative, and she shared family pictures that I had never seen before. Great experience. I recommend the DNA test for all.
✿ I had a great experience. We had a rumored name change over 200 years ago. And what do you know? My DNA matched up will a bunch of others from the family we suspected we came from. For me, it was like something you only hear about.
✿ I have been very pleased with my results. I have a very large family that were here before the Revolutionary War. I have 66 pages of matches [There are 50 matches per page] and have confirmed around 50 matches. I have been able to confirm several lines I was unsure of. I'm still getting 30-50 new matches a week.
✿ When my grandfather was a child his mother passed away. My great g'pa married again and had 4 more children. That was in Indiana. My g'pa went to Alaska in the military and stayed there the rest of his life. He never passed on his family info so I've had to piece most of it together on my own. I had found that my gg'pa had more children but I couldn't be 100% sure of this info but thanks to my DNA I've been in contact with one of my g'pa's half sisters family. I'm so grateful!
✿ I have a match with a woman who descends from the man who supposedly fathered my illegitimate great grandfather, so I'm pleased with the additional supporting evidence that I have the right man (or at least right family line).
✿ Last year I found a half sister who I never knew existed. I found her through records from my father's first wedding. We drove to upper Michigan last summer to meet her. A few weeks ago she took the DNA test and she came back as close family. The test works!
✿ I had already done Family Tree DNA and was curious how the comparison would be---right on! Bonus was actually breaking through some walls that Family Tree DNA couldn't do. I am very happy---Christa Cowan's tutorials helped me a lot.
✿ I personally am pleased with my results and the connections I have made. I've met a few relatives who are closer than 4th cousin and even found a potential 2nd cousin who's mother had been adopted. We are still working to solve the riddle but this person is a 96-98% connection. Exciting things can happen folks!
✿ Last week I met a "DNA" cousin who lives a couple of miles from me. Amazing how much we have in common and how closely we're related! Otherwise would never have known her.
✿ I took the DNA test, and was surprised at one of the areas that showed up. But, more importantly, because of the fact that names of possible matches are listed, we actually discovered a cousin we didn't know we had. She was given up at birth, and through Ancestry, we have now connnected with her and her family.
✿ The results from the test differed from the Ancestry by DNA test I did a couple of years ago. HOWEVER, I was matched up on your test with a second cousin I didn't know existed. We exchanged information and she was able to break down a brick wall to my immigrant gr. gr. grandparents that took me back several generations. All sourced. It was great to meet her through the DNA test and I couldn't have done it without you. It was that obscure.
My brother took your Y-DNA test a few years back. We revisited his results and are learning that our family surname may be the result of what they call a 'non-parental event.' In other words, a single mom who used her surname for our male ancestor. Our Y-DNA matches almost perfectly with a completely different last name - one that has been well-sourced and documented. Just wish I could learn more. To answer your question, I couldn't have been more pleased with the new DNA test.
✿ Confirmed some of what I knew and totally surprised me with new info. It helped meconnect with a second cousin I haven't seen in 15 years. She sent me pics that they just came across of my paternal grandparents and my dad/uncles as children. I had never seen pics of them less than 17 years old. I cried! I was so wonderful. Thank you!
This was posted directly to the Ancestry.com Facebook wall and I think it's the best one so far :-)
✿ I'm adopted and received my Ancestry DNA results on Friday around 3pm. With the help of what turned out to be a 3rd cousin who was at the top of my relatives list, by 9pm I was on the phone with my birth mom!!! My 17 year search is now over!
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As always the comments are cut and pasted. My comments are in red and most should be read with a heavy dose of sarcasm. We'll start with those that are fast becoming my biggest pet peeve. No, not those with private trees. Those complaining about private trees.
PRIVATE EYES
✿ I am also perturbed by all the dang private people. Why the heck get your DNA done if you are not going to share? I find it selfish.
✿ "They won't share with ME. Everyone should do the test for the same reasons as ME." They are selfish? Pot, meet kettle.
✿ Frustrated because so many of the matches are private trees and can't get responses back. It ends up a waste of money when you can't find out anything.
✿ I may have to do a post titled "Seeing private trees will solve everything" because all the whiners seem to think that private tree owners hold the secrets of the universe.
✿ I don't get why some people take the test but make their family tree private.
✿ I only wish that the people who get the DNA test would not have their tree private. I have alot of moderate matches but can't see the tree, it's disappointing. I know you can ask to see their tree but most of them don't answer, so why do the DNA test if you don't want to complete your tree?
✿ They didn't take the test for you. To the latter comment..."Complete"?!!?
✿ I am thoroughly pleased. The one thing I would gripe about is that many others took the test, yet their tree is kept private or it is a tree with only 1-15 or so people. I assume these people expected a magically filled family tree to pop up as a direct result of their DNA results explaining to them who their ancestors are, really?
✿ I've covered private trees in an earlier post but yes, some people actually expect a "magically filled family tree." I find that those people usually have a public tree though. A friend of mine was contacted by a match and asked for a copy of her GEDCOM. The match had no idea which line he matched on but that didn't seem to matter.
✿ I have had good results, but we need more options for people to share private trees. Why not have the option to share only with other DNA participants? How about having an "Unlock Your Tree Day" so that we can at least check for matches. The percentage of people who have responded to my requests to see their trees is low, but the interaction with those who have has been great. Still, I'm stunned when someone doesn't respond even when you have the leaf hint that says you have a match. I still have at least one major roadblock and wonder if one of those locked trees would solve it. If your tree if private to protect someone's innocence, I can understand that. But I don't care if a tree might have errors. It's my responsibility to check to see if the information is valid, and sometimes getting the DNA match helps verify a relationship. It just seems selfish to me to be in the DNA program, to take advantage of checking results in all the public trees, and then not to allow other people the same courtesy. Sorry if that is harsh, but I don't agree with some of the reasons people give for not sharing what they do have.
✿ Well since YOU don't agree let's just change it. Obviously your way is correct and perfect and no one will have a problem with it.
✿ I don't want people who won't share their tree to be able to benefit from my hard work and research that can be found in my tree. I am willing to share and help others, but only those who are also as generous. It is very frustrating to find a tree that might be of great help....only to be denied. I am tired of those that make their trees private benefiting from others yet the rest of us are shut out. I respect the right to make your tree private....you just should have restrictions for doing so... it's only fair. I am serious about this too Ancestry.com...I pay a lot of money yearly on your site and I want to be able to share what I have with others that do the same. I want an option to click to make my tree unavailable to those that have private trees. Please make that happen.
✿ What a brilliant idea! If your request is granted (it won't be) then private tree owners could just create a tree with 3 people on it, all living. Heck, they could have a tree with 50 living people on it. They could view your tree and you would still see nothing on theirs but they would have a public tree. Really, good going. What a wonderful, well thought out solution.
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN
✿ Somewhat disappointed with the results. I know my ancestry back to the countries of origin and the results have been subpar. Also, no help with the Native American side of the genetics.
✿ "Countries of origin"? So you know where your family started thousands of years ago? As to the latter comment I'm guessing this is yet another person who thought DNA could assign you to a tribe.
✿ The more I think about it, the more I don't believe it. I am supposedly 84% Central European and 11% Scandanvian. At least 80% of my heritage is from the British Isles. My Dad's people came over with the Pilgrims and Puritans, and my Mother's were 100% Irish. I can't believe there is no British Isles in my DNA. And the matches are ludicrous -- names like Smith and Miller. And none that match any of the names in my extensive tree. It has been a total waste for me. More I think about it, angrier I get.
✿ Me too! The state of the American education system is a pathetic and the fact that we have adults who have no knowledge of history, no ability to apply logic is,...oh, that's not what you're angry about.
✿ Would like more detailed breakdown of WHERE and WHEN, ie what part of British is English vs colonial American English vs Irish vs Scottish, what part of Scandinavian is recently from Scandinavian countries or the result of Viking raids some thousand years ago. If "unknown" can't be specifically categorized can it at least point to a certain part or parts of the world or indicated with probability percentages?
✿ "what part of British is English vs colonial American English" Yeah, doesn't DNA include that biological clock that I'm always hearing about? Can't it tell me when my ancestors came to America and when they lived in certain countries?
✿ I am more than skeptical of my results. My mother's side is 100% German documented back to my great-great grandparents in the early 1800's and there's not a single percentage point of Central Europe in my DNA. My father's side which is Swedish but not documented past my grandparents came through loud and clear with 42% Scandinavian. The mystery is the 55% British Isles. Not a single documented relative from there. This would have had to come from both sides of my tree for the number to be 55%. I don't see it being true even as a remote possibility.
✿ Of course it's not a "remote possibility." No one in the history of the universe ever crossed the English Channel.
✿ I took it and was not happy. I KNEW my Grand parents were from Italy and Italy never came up. I never got any kinda of 'answers' for lack of a better word. I contacted names/emails of people they sent me and never got a responce from anyone. Very disappointed.
✿ And since their grandparents are from Italy that means everyone before them HAD to come from Italy because since the beginning of time there has never been an invasion or a migration.
✿ [name of person who tried to point out the ridiculousness of people wanting an exact country of origin], no need to school us. I'm sure most of us know our history ESP theses of us that we're born in the British Isles. As I said before..... Why any British Isles DNA?.. As you said, we are Saxons, Vikings, Angles, and some Celts, although celts is actually not a group of distinct people. Also, the Romans left very little DNA in Britian.
[same person 3 minutes later]
* those
✿ Glad you added the correction or we would have absolutely no idea what you were trying to say.
✿ So how do we research humanity? My faternal grandfather was mexican, but this is not showing in my brother's DNA.
✿ Paternal? Maternal? Not sure what "faternal" is. Mexican is no more an ethnicity than Canadian is. Mexican ancestry can be Native North American, Native South American, Southern European, Central European, and probably a few others. Of course the poster didn't indicate what did show up in his brother's DNA.
✿ No German in my results and my mother was 100% German......what gives??? Not real excited about the results I received!!!
✿ I was surprise that it did not show my German roots (I have 2 German grandmothers from German parents and one was born in Germany) but I have found some connections on both side of the family. I'm not sure I trust the results for my ethnic results, but I have made some connections
✿ skipped the French side of my family, showed british isles 96%, but I do know for a fact, my Great Grandfather was 100% french, I was a bit disappointed...
✿ What this sounds like to me: My [parent or fairly recent ancestor] was from Connecticut. Why don't I have Connecticut in my results?
✿ Not so good, 5th-9th cousins, really? Haven't found a single connection this way. Have done far better by jousting using Facebook. Bucking for a refund or something, if this doesn't improve. Disappointing at best.
✿ I was very disappointed. It didn't list any British or German ancestry, even though that's where all of my family came from. It showed 23% southern European and 6% Caucasian/Persian even though I couldn't find anybody from those areas. I also don't like the fact that of all the matches I only had one that was 3rd or 4th cousins. I tried to contact them but they didn't reply. Most matches are 5th cousins or more.
✿ Why can't Ancestry force more of my 3rd and 4th cousins to take the test? And why didn't my results match my tree?
✿ I was not happy with mine. It showed everything I already knew and nothing I needed to know.Anyone looking at my tree could have given me the same results.
✿ Things reported on my DNA results could probably been found from reading my family tree. I'm disappointed.
✿ I got nothing except what I gave them on my family tree plus they threw in 33% British Iles although my ancestors never saw that place ever. The 5-8th cousins sent reveal NOTHING. Not even close. I expected some kind of DNA test results not my family tree reguratated badly. This is worthless.
✿ The results didn't tell me anything. I feel like Ancestry.com just pulled information from my existing family tree and told me information I already knew. I wish it was more detailed, instead of just giving me continents as my DNA results.
✿ How dare my results match my research?!!? Will someone who believes Ancestry just used your tree to determine your DNA results please tell me where Ancestry got results for those with no tree?
✿ I was disappointed in the broadness and inaccuracy of the results. My maternal side is almost entirely German, but no indication of this on my results. Honestly seems as though the information was actually taken from my tree.
✿ Your maternal side is missing from your results and the results were taken from your tree. Which is it?
UNCERTAIN
✿ I also didn't like the 3% unknown factor. Unknown? What is that? Am I 3% alien or something?
✿ I was VERY surprised at the results: 49% Scandinavian, 34% British Isles, 14% Eastern European, and 3% "uncertain." Does that mean that 3% of me isn't in your data base? Alien perhaps?
✿ I was no tsurprised at the 60% British Isle, nor the 19% Europe. The 16% Finnish, Volga , Aral was a big surprize....Gotta find that! the 5% undertermined I figured it sthe Native American...bu tone of my daughters said, "Aliens!!! We're five percent Aliens!"" :-)
✿ I'm 2% unknown - not saying it was aliens - but it was aliens
✿ This has become a running joke. Being a BSG fan and a Capricorn I'm gonna go with Caprican. My 9% unknown is Caprican. So say we all!
✿ I wish that when results are shown as uncertain, ancestry.com would tell us what that uncertainty points to. My DNA gave a specific breakdown of four ethnicities. My mother's showed only two, plus an "uncertain." I would love to know if her uncertain matched one of my other ethnicities. The results could say something like, "Your results indicate a possible link to Central Europe, but the sample was not specific enough to say for sure." At least that would help us rule certain things in or out.
✿ Has not helped me at all, 7% unknown will it ever show the 7% unknown.
✿ My husband had 7% "unknown" what in the world does that mean?????
✿ Instead of "DNA will solve everything" now it's "the unknown percentage will solve everything." I'm sure if they had no uncertain percentage they would be completely satisfied with the test. Here's the official Ancestry answer which shows when you hover over "Uncertain" on the full results page:
If you have "Uncertain" in your genetic ethnicity results, this means that small traces of a specific genetic population may have been found in your DNA, but the probability levels were too low to pinpoint it to a specific ethnicity. This is not uncommon, and as more genetic signatures are discovered with a higher confidence level, we may be able to update this "uncertain" percentage of your ethnicity over time.
After the jump: The Native American Dream, Engraved Invitation on a Silver Platter, You Took a Different Test, and Success Stories.
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THE NATIVE AMERICAN DREAM
✿ Do the tests show scottish irish and cherokee indian?
✿ No. British Isles and Native American? Yes.
✿ I know that this might sound crazy but I always wanted to do DNA testing to see if my mom and I are really Shawnee Indian, but my dad is a retired cop and he said that they could put my DNA at a crime scene lol. But I WOULD REALLY LOVE to find out if my mom and I are really Shawnee Indian.
✿ It sounds crazy but not for the reason you think. Even if you're over 50% Native American this test will not tell you the tribe.
✿ I had mine done. I am 63 % Centural European, 29% Scandinavian and 8% uncertain....that would be my Native American heritage.
✿ If you are have Native American ancestry, it indicates "Uncertain."
✿ It's so general it's not that helpful. I was looking for some evidence that we had a Native American ancestor, as my family has always said, and the results make it likely we did not. But with a 3% "unknown" group, it's still a possibility, so it didn't necessarily quash the rumor or confirm anything.
✿ Keeping the hope alive.
✿ The portion of my DNA is correct saying Scandanavian and Central European. BUT, why couldn't the test show the portion of my Native American DNA...it just says other. There are true traits of Native American DNA.
✿ Let me guess, high cheek bones and straight black hair?
✿ DNA finally squelched the family story of Native American blood! So interesting to learn more about my ancient ancestry.
✿ Yes I took it. Like many I believed "Family Tradition" that my 3rd Great grandmother born in 1814 was full blood American Indian! My DNA showed no American Indian at all! So I can stop chasing that tale, and work on other mysteries!
✿ My DNA came back as 100% British Isles. This matches my paper trail and confirms that none of my ancestry is native American, disputing claims by most all of my relatives.
✿ It's possible you did not receive any ethnic markers from a great-grandparent. DNA is passed down randomly. In theory you have 12.5% of each great-grandparent's DNA but in reality one great-grandparent may be left out of your mix. Most of those with a rumored Native American in the family should just let it go. They should not be looking for proof of the rumor but instead follow where their research leads them.
ENGRAVED INVITATION ON A SILVER PLATTER
✿ Last year in March I was going to do this for my birthday. But Ancestry was making changes and I signed up to be on there waiting list. Going on a year now. Still waiting.
✿ still waiting for mine, I've been on the waiting list since last summer
✿ not yet but I really want to signed up when it came out never got the invite as yet
✿ I tried to participate but missed the deadline. Cant wait for the next one!
✿ Been waiting to take it for almost a year. Anyone else had this problem?
✿ i wouldn't know....haven't received the email that it was available yet!!!!!!
✿ The waiting list ended in October when the test was released for public purchase (U.S. only). Of course one out of every ten comments is either "Where can I buy this test?" or "How much is it?" For some people Ancestry.com would have to hand deliver a brochure and read it to them. And that's just for the basics of cost and ordering! Those same people don't stand a chance of understanding the test or their results.
✿ I would have but no one asked me.. :-(
✿ See what I mean?
✿ slightly disappointed int he fact that it says I mostly am either, Portuguese, Spanish or Italian. But which?.. It has to get a little more accurate than that. I would do it again, but I wish the results would pin point the locations a little more. It said in the info it can get you to over 700K locations world wide, but then it can't even tell me the countries I come from?
✿ Reading comprehension is never a strong suit with those complaining about the test. Here's part of the help answer to "How does AncestryDNA determine genetic ethnicity?"
In this context "locations" are not land based, global locations.Our lab’s analysis uses some of the most advanced equipment and techniques to measure and analyze your entire genome at over 700,000 locations or ‘markers’.
✿ I did and I was disappointed...Not because of the results, but Ancestry did not give too much assistance, directions or help as to the connections received. Not worth the money.
✿ YouTube videos (two are embedded here), the support community, message boards, the Ancestry.com Blog,..."If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are willing to learn, no one can stop you." [Anonymous]
✿ The "matching" with other users is next to useless. I don't have time to dig through the family trees of 100s of other possible 4th cousins, to MAYBE find a very distant connection.
✿ Wasted money. It's impossible to track all these 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. Cousins you notify me about. It would be wonderful if you would make the connections for us.
✿ Why can't you tell us HOW all of these cousins are related to uss?? We don't have months to track down how we MIGHT be cousins.
✿ What I read: Didn't my money for the test pay for hundreds of hours of research to be done for us? We're far too lazy to do any research ourselves.
YOU TOOK A DIFFERENT TEST
✿ Took this in 2008. Only showed a general European decent through mother's line, not specific in any way...is there a more specific one now?
✿ This test was not available in 2008. You took the mtDNA test.
✿ I was surprised at the results but have a question. Can you apply it to other branches of the family tree or just the surname that was registered when the test was taken?
✿ There is no surname registration with this test. You took the Y-DNA test.
✿ i took one and i had my uncle take one my uncle being dads brother the results are my ancestors come from the ice age and were the artisans the test i did was too much for me to figure out im confused
✿ I'm confused reading this.
✿ I reserved a test twice, but when I got the message, I could never place the order and gave up. Fixing this problem could maybe get more participants.
✿ How do you "reserve" a test? You either order it or you don't.
✿ My grandson and I took the test--no matches to either of us!! How effective is this test? I took the Maternal line test and haven't gotten any good results.
✿ I was very disappointed in my results. I took the Maternal DNA test and my grandson took the regular DNA test and it didn't even mention the relation, and I am at a loss to get any productive information from this test.
✿ It didn't mention a relationship between the two of you because you took different tests. The databases are separate.
✿ i took the DNA test and found that i was 56% Irish when i should have been mathematically 25% Irish. i also found that i was Finnish/Volga which might explain why i was fascinated with Russia. So I did learn things about my Biological make up i didn't expect.. who knew 1 grandparent made up more that half my DNA.
✿ That's great! Which test did you take to get an Irish result because it sure wasn't this one?
✿ I share the same disappointment as many others have indicated.
I think this " test" was a major ripoff taking advantage of genealogy- addicted ( and I guess now i'll add the word gullible) people like myself.
Both our sins are adopted and we have very limited, unsubstantiated information of their ancestry.
In my family tree I have not shown their pre-adoption surname, or possible relatives.
We did the test on our 16 year old eldest son as we are starting to talk about heritage.
The results show western European and Mexican ancestry..... gee what a COINCIDENCE ..... since my family is Austrian/ Irish and my husbands Mexican.
Guatemalan? Nope.... and their pre-adoptive surname and what little birthparent information we have is supposed to be first generation.....
Has anyone been successful in getting their money back?
[next comment by same person]
Haha! Both our SONS!!!!!
✿ What I read: How dare our adopted sons have ancestry similar to us?!!?
Oh and they took a different test. "Mexican" is not a result on AncestryDNA. In fact it wouldn't be a result on any DNA test anymore than Canadian would be.
✿ My son-in-law's mother ordered the AncestryDNA test for him. Many possible cousins were listed on her tree page. Why was there no Haplagroup Number or markers and values like shown on my tree page for the test taken by my cousin?
✿ There is no "Haplagroup" number for this test. The markers are supposed to be released soon. If your son-in-law has markers and a haplogroup indication it's because he took a different test.
✿ Like most of the reviews, I'm not liking the results. I had my father take a dna test and he and I don't match.Seems HIS family originated in France, although hundreds of years of traceable German history. I don't seem to have either German or French - how is that possible? Both of my parents mothers were from long lines of Irish, yet I am only 12%, None of my Dutch relatives were represented in the results even though I have 10 generations, but I was told I am 63% Sandinavian. My father has none. I am not adopted. I feel screwed out of my money for both tests and Ancestry is ignoring my requests for explanation. Don't they realize that eventually word will get around that they are fleecing people? Don't waste your money!!!
[After someone asked, "Did they correctly predict a parent child relationship?"]
I'm not sure what you mean by your last question as there was no mention of my father. Also, I had several 4-6 cousin connections, but not a single person match. I can go back far enough in my trees to see some same names but none were there
✿ If you're going to attempt being a troll you might want to get your story straight. Either you and your father took the test or both of you didn't. And 12% Irish? Irish is not a possible result on Ancestry.com's test. Maybe they're ignoring your requests because you are not their customer.
✿ I thought I was Polish/German. The test said 50% Polish, ~25% German and ~25% British! I'm yet to find the Brits in my tree, but I know there's some scandal with a child born out of wedlock. I wonder if she was adopted.
✿ It was useless to me. I'm a Caucasian red head who was adopted as a baby. I had grand ideas about this test opening up a link for me to my past. Instead the results said "100% European" and that's the end of it...
✿ I was not surprised to find that I was mostly British in origin, then next Germanic but surprised to see a sixteenth Italian and Swedish. Take the test, you will discover new things about your heritage.
✿ Notta nothing is what we got. One match in India with a MRCA 800 years or so with unknown haplogroup. Hesitate to do it again.
✿ Yes, and learned that my mitochondrial DNA is J. I had my brother take it and his DNA is I1. We got maps showing how our ancestors moved out of Africa and we got a list of people who were matching (or nearly matching) our DNA. I contacted several women who were on the list - one a geneticist from Australia and another who lives in Ireland. It was interesting but I'd really like more detailed information.
✿ I came up E1b1b which is consistent with an eastern Mediterranean ancestry and my paternal Sicilian roots. To date, the closest match is with "[name]" who is a 10 marker match going back 7-10 generations.
✿ The test confirmed most of what I had already discovered which made me happy to know I am on the right path... but a big surprise was that I'm only 7% Italian and 32% British Isles... so now when someone says you are your father's daughter I can say you are absolutely correct!
✿ Polish, German, British, European, Italian, Swedish, India, MRCA 800 years, J, I1, E1b1b...NONE of those results are possible with Ancestry.com's autosomal DNA test. British Isles, Central European, Southern European, Eastern European are possible results. Also, it will be a while before you start matches in other countries since Ancestry.com's test is currently only available in the U.S..
✿ Here's someone who knows they took a different test:
✿ Our family went to 23 and me.com cost is $300. they send DNA tests and they test your DNA.Some of ours are King Louie 16th ,Marie Antoinette queen of France 1774-1793,Ben Franklin,tells us we come from northern Europe,also what medical conditions we could have.Their are 100s' more,too many to list.PBS has a show on Sunday nights. This is for real !
✿ I know nothing about the 23andme test(s) but from just this testimonial it sounds like they're catering to clickophiles.
SUCCESS STORIES
✿ Full disclosure, I received a free AncestryDNA test before they were available to purchase. Since then I have purchased two more. I am not being paid for spreading the following endorsements of the test. I just thought it would be nice after all the negativity above.
✿ I was luke warm about my results at first but then just recently i watched one of the ancestry training videos and learned how to use it correctly. now i'm finding a lot more interesting connections. found a second cousin i had not seen in years.
✿ I had a bit of a cynical attitude regarding the "matches". All of my matches were "possible" 4-6 cousins and rarely did these "possibles" even share a common surname in their trees. Then, two weeks ago, I was contacted by a woman who really WAS a close match - a second cousin! We have exchanged emails and family photos and research info and it's been a rewarding experience. When I opened a package she sent me yesterday, I looked at my great grandfather's face for the very first time. It was a wonderful moment and well worth the DNA mis-matches!
✿ I used the DNA test to prove who my grandfather was. My maternal grandparents were not married and I have known about it since the 60's. My grandfather's family never knew that my mother or any of us existed. I finally found a tree on Ancestry.com that included my grandfather. I found a great grandson and he agreed to do the DNA test for me. WELL, he turned out to be the first match on my list of DNA matches and I was the first on his. I have been searching for this family for 30 years and with out Ancestry.com DNA I would not have been able to prove that I was indeed related. Of course, my 1st cousins are not so thriled to know all this, but the next generation is ok with it. My grandfather was a married man who had an affair with his neighbor, my grandmother. It is a hundred year old secret that has been exposed using Ancestry.com DNA. Thank you very much. I am thrilled to have found my missing 25% of me.
✿ We thought that my Great Great Grand Father ran away from home in Sweden, but found that his uncle had emigrated to the Americas some 20 years before so he probably ran away to hook up with him but never found him as he landed in Massachusetts where his uncle landed in Virginia. His brother then came about 5 years later and settled in New York. We never would have known if it was not for the DNA test.
✿ Have been receiving suggested names for several weeks. Just last week connected with a REAL distant relative, and she shared family pictures that I had never seen before. Great experience. I recommend the DNA test for all.
✿ I had a great experience. We had a rumored name change over 200 years ago. And what do you know? My DNA matched up will a bunch of others from the family we suspected we came from. For me, it was like something you only hear about.
✿ I have been very pleased with my results. I have a very large family that were here before the Revolutionary War. I have 66 pages of matches [There are 50 matches per page] and have confirmed around 50 matches. I have been able to confirm several lines I was unsure of. I'm still getting 30-50 new matches a week.
✿ When my grandfather was a child his mother passed away. My great g'pa married again and had 4 more children. That was in Indiana. My g'pa went to Alaska in the military and stayed there the rest of his life. He never passed on his family info so I've had to piece most of it together on my own. I had found that my gg'pa had more children but I couldn't be 100% sure of this info but thanks to my DNA I've been in contact with one of my g'pa's half sisters family. I'm so grateful!
✿ I have a match with a woman who descends from the man who supposedly fathered my illegitimate great grandfather, so I'm pleased with the additional supporting evidence that I have the right man (or at least right family line).
✿ Last year I found a half sister who I never knew existed. I found her through records from my father's first wedding. We drove to upper Michigan last summer to meet her. A few weeks ago she took the DNA test and she came back as close family. The test works!
✿ I had already done Family Tree DNA and was curious how the comparison would be---right on! Bonus was actually breaking through some walls that Family Tree DNA couldn't do. I am very happy---Christa Cowan's tutorials helped me a lot.
✿ I personally am pleased with my results and the connections I have made. I've met a few relatives who are closer than 4th cousin and even found a potential 2nd cousin who's mother had been adopted. We are still working to solve the riddle but this person is a 96-98% connection. Exciting things can happen folks!
✿ Last week I met a "DNA" cousin who lives a couple of miles from me. Amazing how much we have in common and how closely we're related! Otherwise would never have known her.
✿ I took the DNA test, and was surprised at one of the areas that showed up. But, more importantly, because of the fact that names of possible matches are listed, we actually discovered a cousin we didn't know we had. She was given up at birth, and through Ancestry, we have now connnected with her and her family.
✿ The results from the test differed from the Ancestry by DNA test I did a couple of years ago. HOWEVER, I was matched up on your test with a second cousin I didn't know existed. We exchanged information and she was able to break down a brick wall to my immigrant gr. gr. grandparents that took me back several generations. All sourced. It was great to meet her through the DNA test and I couldn't have done it without you. It was that obscure.
My brother took your Y-DNA test a few years back. We revisited his results and are learning that our family surname may be the result of what they call a 'non-parental event.' In other words, a single mom who used her surname for our male ancestor. Our Y-DNA matches almost perfectly with a completely different last name - one that has been well-sourced and documented. Just wish I could learn more. To answer your question, I couldn't have been more pleased with the new DNA test.
✿ Confirmed some of what I knew and totally surprised me with new info. It helped meconnect with a second cousin I haven't seen in 15 years. She sent me pics that they just came across of my paternal grandparents and my dad/uncles as children. I had never seen pics of them less than 17 years old. I cried! I was so wonderful. Thank you!
This was posted directly to the Ancestry.com Facebook wall and I think it's the best one so far :-)
✿ I'm adopted and received my Ancestry DNA results on Friday around 3pm. With the help of what turned out to be a 3rd cousin who was at the top of my relatives list, by 9pm I was on the phone with my birth mom!!! My 17 year search is now over!
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Absolutely one of my favorites so far! Thank you for putting this together!
ReplyDeleteThis is very revealing and please remeber most of these individuals are voting. Nothing like a well informed majority
ReplyDelete