DNA
testing has revolutionized family research.
There are privacy issues with these tests however, after consideration, I decided to go ahead. In August 2017 I took the Ancestry.com DNA test. Simply spit into the test tube, post it away and wait. The results consist of an ethnicity estimate and, after paying a subscription fee, a long list of other clients you share an ancestor with. The ethnicity estimate represents the period between 500 and 1000 years ago they say.
I braced for unexpected results. There were some small but no large surprises. It mostly confirms the research I have to date. Family members I know topped the list and others below are relatives, some of who I know through my research. Beyond that people appeared the family did no know, and I noticed some branches not appearing at all. Fairly normal I understand. I suspect our ancestors have had our share of undocumented adoptions, shenanigans and unpleasant events.
As of mid 2024 Ancestry.com has tested about 25 million individuals.
Many more distant connections seem to go back to the Irish and Scots diasporas in Australia and North America; generations before reliable records can be found.
Later, curiosity saw me testing with 23andMe, MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA. My understanding is these three companies, along with Ancestry, have most of the DNA market. Each has different and evolving client base and ethnicity algorithms, thus some variations. There were no wild differences. The FamilyTreeDNA test included Y-DNA and mtDNA results. These extra tests provided only ancient and academic information. It would be great if the various databases could be combined thus yeilding more comprenhensive results.
DNA matches going back more than 5 generations (i.e. usually before 1800) show diverse results. Many for these matches show connection to more than one ancestor. It is suggested that small communities saw many first, second and more distant cousins marrying and thus sharing grandparents to some level. This is suggested when a DNA match shares several matching segments. Building or confirming a family tree becomes next to impossible. I am beginning to suspect DNA companies are teasing us with more remote and impossible to verify connections.
There are privacy issues with these tests however, after consideration, I decided to go ahead. In August 2017 I took the Ancestry.com DNA test. Simply spit into the test tube, post it away and wait. The results consist of an ethnicity estimate and, after paying a subscription fee, a long list of other clients you share an ancestor with. The ethnicity estimate represents the period between 500 and 1000 years ago they say.
I braced for unexpected results. There were some small but no large surprises. It mostly confirms the research I have to date. Family members I know topped the list and others below are relatives, some of who I know through my research. Beyond that people appeared the family did no know, and I noticed some branches not appearing at all. Fairly normal I understand. I suspect our ancestors have had our share of undocumented adoptions, shenanigans and unpleasant events.
As of mid 2024 Ancestry.com has tested about 25 million individuals.
Many more distant connections seem to go back to the Irish and Scots diasporas in Australia and North America; generations before reliable records can be found.
Later, curiosity saw me testing with 23andMe, MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA. My understanding is these three companies, along with Ancestry, have most of the DNA market. Each has different and evolving client base and ethnicity algorithms, thus some variations. There were no wild differences. The FamilyTreeDNA test included Y-DNA and mtDNA results. These extra tests provided only ancient and academic information. It would be great if the various databases could be combined thus yeilding more comprenhensive results.
DNA matches going back more than 5 generations (i.e. usually before 1800) show diverse results. Many for these matches show connection to more than one ancestor. It is suggested that small communities saw many first, second and more distant cousins marrying and thus sharing grandparents to some level. This is suggested when a DNA match shares several matching segments. Building or confirming a family tree becomes next to impossible. I am beginning to suspect DNA companies are teasing us with more remote and impossible to verify connections.
