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Has anybody done the Ancestry DNA test would be most interested on all thoughts and results on this subject
Angela
No, but I'm considering getting my Dad to do it.
Saves me wondering what will happen to my DNA over the next 30 years or so and Dad's side have the most unanswered questions.
The only thing is that there seem to be several companies besides ancestry that do it and the geographic results vary widely from test to test which makes me wonder if it is worthwhile.
Olde Crone
18-07-17, 12:02
My brother has had one. Complete waste of time and money. So far it has shown up five matches. I was already in contact with three of the matches. The fourth was previously unknown to me but I had already done their part of the tree and they have nothing new to add to my research. The fifth contact has a tree of over 60,000 people and I cannot for the life of me see how we are related. The tree is so full of mistakes that I am really not interested in pursuing this contact.
The geographical stuff has one major flaw in that it does not recognise Scotland. It calls it Ireland, lol. As half my ancestors were from Scotland certainly from the 1600s forward, that is a major flaw as far as I am concerned. Not a problem for me because I know I should be looking in Scotland. Other people may go off on a wild goose chase in Ireland.
So, not worth it as far as I am concerned. However, it does depend what you want from it. My brother's main purpose was to see if we can identify or prove the paternity of our illegitimate ancestors, of whom we have quite a few,lol and something may yet come out of that. We have exhausted conventional research.
OC
If I had the money I would be interested in the geographical info for myself, my OH and our children.
As far as I've got back in my tree, I don't have any ancestors who are not English.
My OH is 1/2 Spanish, 1/4 English, 1/8 Irish and 1/8 Scottish (therefore 1/4 Irish according to Ancestry) and therefore our children are 5/8 English, 1/4 Spanish, 1/16 Irish and 1/16 Scottish (therefore 1/8 Irish according to ancestry).
I would like to compare our results.
kiterunner
18-07-17, 14:00
One of my relatives recently had the ancestry DNA test done and it came back with ethnicity percentages which made no sense given what we know of their tree. They queried it and got a reply saying it was wrong and giving a very different breakdown! So I wouldn't put much credence in it.
Thank you everybody I think I will hold fire for now. Angela
I am thinking of it too. Was still thinking of it when the last ancestry deal came up.
I have loads of born in Ireland c1840's - but if I can connect to other people it might lead me to where in Ireland.
More people are now having their DNA test, especially in the US, so perhaps there is a good chance of a match who might know their roots.
Olde Crone
18-07-17, 19:39
It is my perception - which may be completely wrong, lol - that those who DON'T know anything are more likely to have a DNA test than those who DO know anything!
OC
At the risk of appearing like I know nothing to OC, here's my experience. I've tested myself, my wife and my mother, taking advantage of special offers to keep the costs down.
Some may be interested in the long-range ethnicity stuff (most people don't realise it's circa 1000 years ago) or the newer genetic communities (hundreds of years), but they are not exact sciences and are best treated as a bit of fun.
The real power of the test is in the cousin matches. If you share enough DNA with someone, you ARE related to them, even if you don't know how. I have about 12,000 matches, of which 82 are predicted to be 4th cousins or closer. I have identified around 25 of them and, as a result, I have validated quite a few lines of my paper trail. I'm particularly pleased to have proven a long-held theory about the father of an illegitimate 3G grandfather through DNA.
My wife has slightly less matches and slightly less 4th cousins or better. She was initially rather cynical about the test, but has completely revised her opinion. In addition to proving several lines, she has also had success in breaking down a brick wall or two. I don't use the term lightly, we had been working on one of them 13 years.
Having my mother's test is a godsend as it allows me to tell which matches are on her side. Uploading the results to GEDmatch, gives you access to state-of-the-art techie tools. On there I've phased our results (removing my mother's DNA from my results) to give me a virtual paternal kit to compare against. Unlike Ancestry, the site also has a chromosome browser, which allows you to see exactly which segments of DNA on which chromosomes you match on. You can then triangulate results to prove that three or more people share a common ancestor. It can be quite a steep learning curve, but there is a lot of help available.
By collaborating with my second cousins and one of their daughters, I've also been able to find other relatives of my elusive great grandmother, Margaret Lynch. Although I still don't know precisely who she was, I have several new leads to investigate. I was also able to introduce my second cousin to the granddaughter he knew nothing about. He was surprised - but also very happy.
So for me, the whole thing is a fabulous new research tool to add to the existing ones and I consider it well worth the money.
Just a word of warning.
I was seriously thinking of doing the DNA test, both for family history and to run the raw data through a program to find a medical issue.
Long story short....Grandson has just been diagnosed with a medical condition which can be genetic. I have all the sympotms. Grandson's specialist advised against any gene testing, including family history DNA testing as it can stop him getting insurance later.
I checked with the genetic counselling service at the hospital and found that was correct. In Australia (has been in US for a while, so will probably spread) any life or personal insurance asks if you have had genetic testing. They can then either stop you getting insurance or charge you a lot more if anything shows up.
Even family history testing is considered enough. I decided it wasn't worth the risk for my grandchildren to get mine done.
Olde Crone
18-07-17, 21:45
Libby
Yes, I knew about this and yes, it applies in the UK as well, having a DNA test can affect your insurance.
The other problem with DNA testing is what the testing company can do with your information. I have absolutely no reason to suspect that Ancestry for instance, will do anything wrong with the information, but who knows what can happen in the future. I think Ancestry state that they own your DNA information. My attitude is, just think what Hitler could have done with this database which is growing every day.
As I said upthread, it's been useless for us SO FAR. Maybe all my illegitimate progenitors died out and I will never know who they were. Or maybe tomorrow someone will contact me with all the answers because they are a better researcher than me. In the meantime it has been an expensive validation of my old fashioned paper based research.
OC
I can recommend this FB group for anyone who is interested in having a DNA test with any company, not just Ancestry. You will find lots of information there about privacy concerns, health & insurance and of course how to do genetic genealogy. The admins are very experienced and there are lots of help files for beginners.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AncestryUKDNA/
Just a word of warning.
I was seriously thinking of doing the DNA test, both for family history and to run the raw data through a program to find a medical issue.
Long story short....Grandson has just been diagnosed with a medical condition which can be genetic. I have all the sympotms. Grandson's specialist advised against any gene testing, including family history DNA testing as it can stop him getting insurance later.
I checked with the genetic counselling service at the hospital and found that was correct. In Australia (has been in US for a while, so will probably spread) any life or personal insurance asks if you have had genetic testing. They can then either stop you getting insurance or charge you a lot more if anything shows up.
Even family history testing is considered enough. I decided it wasn't worth the risk for my grandchildren to get mine done.
Does the test ask if anyone has been genetically tested or just if you have been tested? Because if it only asks if you have then I can't see how your test would affect the grandkids.
But this is the reason I have thought about Dad having the test, rather than me as I can truthfully say no if asked.
Does the test ask if anyone has been genetically tested or just if you have been tested? Because if it only asks if you have then I can't see how your test would affect the grandkids.
But this is the reason I have thought about Dad having the test, rather than me as I can truthfully say no if asked.
I don't know the exact question on the forms. I've had insurance long before anyone knew about DNA.
The geneticist said I could affect my grandson's ability to get insurance if I was tested.
At the moment, he has a condition that may or may not be genetic (there are several variations). The treatment is the same for his symptoms whether he has the condition or not. By knowing it is in the family he has to, by law, mention that. It could be something in the small print.
There was also an genetic counsellor on ABC TV a couple of weeks ago saying the same thing.
Unless you really need it for medical reasons, I'd steer well clear.
I was ready to do mine just before I heard all this. :(
I can recommend this FB group for anyone who is interested in having a DNA test with any company, not just Ancestry. You will find lots of information there about privacy concerns, health & insurance and of course how to do genetic genealogy. The admins are very experienced and there are lots of help files for beginners.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AncestryUKDNA/
Thanks for this link, Rick. I’m awaiting my results now. A friend used it and like you, it’s helped her identify and prove connections
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