As I grow older, I find myself wanting to learn more about my family’s history. When I was growing up, I never thought much about it. I knew my grandparents and my great-grandma Mac (short for McGlamery). She lived to be 99 and I pray I inherited her long-life genes! These days, I want to know as much as I can about my heritage. That’s why I’m excited to learn the results of my DNA test.
When I found out my aunt Jane (the family historian) had done the MyHeritage.com DNA test, I made up my mind to do it too.
Do you know that siblings have been reunited with each other and their parents through this test? Thankfully, I know who my siblings and parents are, but I want to get more focused on where my family came from.
How to Take a DNA Test
First, I went to myheritage.com and filled out a little info including my address and a few days later, I received the DNA kit in the mail. It’s pretty straightforward. You just swab the inside of both cheeks and follow the instructions. Drop the sample in the mail and the waiting begins. It takes a while – about six weeks. They don’t provide return postage (bummer) and my kit was $99.00.
The Results of the DNA Test
I’ve always been told that I’m part Irish, part Scottish with a little Native American on the side. What did I find out?
Drum roll, please . . . (I see you making drum roll noises with your mouth)
According to my results, I’m only 9% Irish, Scottish and Welsh. What? I’m 22% Scandinavian and 69% English. I see no Native Indian whatsoever! Hmmm . . .
Are these Ancestry DNA tests accurate?
When it comes to the accuracy of these ancestry tests, there are mixed reviews. Most of them are “fairly accurate,” meaning kinda, sorta, maybe.
As to the Native American, I found this statement and breathed a big sigh of relief, “Finding small percentages of unexpected ethnicities may prove to be inaccurate upon further examination. NOT finding traces of a certain group, such as Native American, may not necessarily prove that you do not have ancestors from that region or group.”
Take that, DNA test! I know that my great grandaddy on my mama’s side is half Cherokee and I will continue to claim it.
I’m a little bit country, a little bit rock n’ roll with a little bit of Motown in my soul. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Oh . . . and a little bit Native American!
Have you had your Ancestry DNA tested? Were the results surprising?
22 comments
I’ve never done a dna test. I know a couple of people that did that were happy, some with expected results and some unexpected.
I did a DNA test a few months ago and I was REALLY surprised by my results, too. I guess you just never really know until you take one of these tests.
I have one coming to me and I’m super excited about it. I know that I am a bit of everything. It’s so cool!
This is so interesting and exciting! I have a friend in NJ that just recently done this and posted on Facebook but your explanation is far more interesting and detailed too. WOW, I wonder if I should try it too one day soon.
How cool! I’ve been wanting to try this out. My Dad did it and it showed Native American and I believe British? I’ll have to ask for the paper. It was interesting!
I would love to have my mom take a DNA test. As far as she knows, she is the only living relative on either side of the family. It would be great if she could find someone she doesn’t know about.
This was our gift to each other last year for christmas. We couldn’t wait for our results. Such fun when they arrived.
Haha, I think I used this site before to do a project for anthropology about my family tree but I never thought about the informations that you can find here. I need to check this back as I am curious what is the result for myself.
I have not ever tried this. I always thought it was interesting and would like to do this but then I read that they are not that accurate.
I have never had my Ancestry DNA tested but now I am totally intrigued. I would love to find out more about my heritage. Sounds like an easy process to find out, too!
I took a DNA test not to long back and it really surprised me as I am very English according to it, with very little European in me, I thought I would be more Eastern European. I do find it interesting to see what they come up with, how right they are? Well who knows?
My uncle checked out our family history through Ancestry DNA so I know one side. I should do it to learn about that other side. Super interesting.
My aunt was really into genealogy for a while so I know a lot about that side of the family. I know a lot of people doing these genetic tests lately.
How exciting. I can’t wait to take mine. You had some interesting results.
It’s pretty cool that you can get the percentages and everything. I do wonder how accurate they are because I’d want to know if my DNA can be traced to places I didn’t know about.
This is so cool! I’ve wanted to do one of these DNA tests for quite some time. I am very curious about my background. My dad (he’s passed away now) always said he was hillbilly. So, as you can imagine, I’m very curious about that side of me!
We love watching the “Long Lost Family” show which I believe uses Ancestry.com. It would be nice to try this.
This would be interesting. I have always wanted to know where my ancestors came from. My grandfather used to say he was part Portuguese but he never spoke one single word of it. It would be cool to find out about my ancestry!
I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. It gets me super excited every time it comes up.
Wow… I would like to try this for myself. My husband wants to try this, too. We both are very curious where our families are coming from. Thank you for sharing this 🙂
Huh. How much Native American do you think you are? Did your grandparents talk about any Native American in their families? Do you know which tribe?
According to my grandfather, his grandfather was 1/2 Cherokee. My grandfather was born and raised in the mountains of north Georgia. That’s about all I know. I wish I had asked more questions when my grandfather was alive.