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I received my DNA/ethnicity results today and most of it seemed right. But one thing I cannot understand is how I am 25% Western European when my father is 9% and my mother is 0%. How is that possible?
The rest of the DNA results seemed accurate but my family has barely any western european, yet I somehow have a large percentage. Any insight would be useful! Or is it possible my test was "tainted"?
Oh and yes, I can confirm they are my biological parents.
Not be rude, but did the DNA test itself confirm they are both your parents?
Which company did you use? If it is Ancestry.com, it could be them, not you. My anecdotal observation is that their test has a tough time separating their "Europe West" region from Great Britain.
Have you tried GEDmatch yet? You can upload your test results from other companies there, and run dozens of different ethnicity tests. If you have samples for yourself and both your parents, you can compare all three and see if the strange blip is duplicated, or was the function of one test company. They also have a widget to check for possible errors in the DNA upload, in case that is the problem.
I received my DNA/ethnicity results today and most of it seemed right. But one thing I cannot understand is how I am 25% Western European when my father is 9% and my mother is 0%. How is that possible?
The rest of the DNA results seemed accurate but my family has barely any western european, yet I somehow have a large percentage. Any insight would be useful! Or is it possible my test was "tainted"?
Oh and yes, I can confirm they are my biological parents.
Thank you,
NH
Sounds very weird.
I suspect your dad is not your biological dad. It happens. (not offense, of course)
It never fails-- an unexpected DNA result, and people immediately start doubting your parentage, instead of understanding that these tests can be very inaccurate. Even when you said you confirmed they are your parents!
And no, it doesn't mean your test was "tainted."
Which company did you use? I've done four different ones and they all came out with major differences. What you describe is not unusual at all. What is your actual ancestry?
The ethnicity percentages are merely estimates and should always be taken with a grain of salt. If you tested with AncestryDNA, expand the details of the region category, you'll see they actually provide a possible percentage range, showing how it's just an estimate and could vary greatly from the initial hard number they gave you. The range is representative of the fact that Ancestry.com run 40 different analyses and then average them out - the average is the final percentage they give you but the range shows the lowest and highest percentage you had in that category during the 40 different analyses. If you compare your ranges with your parents, you will probably see some overlap, but ultimately it's simply not a precise science. While other companies don't include a range, their processes will be similar.
Neighboring regions often share too much DNA to always be able to accurately tell them apart. It's very normal for people to get results in neighboring regions of the areas their ancestry is from. The ethnicity report is fairly accurate on a continental level, but on a sub-continental level, not so much.
Sounds very weird.
I suspect your dad is not your biological dad. It happens. (not offense, of course)
Complete and utter nonsense. It's just a result of the ethnicity report being nothing more than an estimate and it happens frequently. You should NEVER make assumptions about paternity based solely on the ethnicity report - it's simply not reliable enough. Please don't mislead people like this on such a sensitive issue.
Reading the opening post prompted me to look at the OP’s post count yesterday. It was as I suspected. I mentally made a prediction i.e. the OP wouldn’t post again.
I suggest that arguments wait until such time as I’m proved wrong.
I just wanted to add that a birth certificate is not proof that your parents are your biological parents. In my ancestry search I found that when someone is adopted a new birth certificate is issued, with the adoptive parents names now listed as the birth parents. The biological parents are basically wiped out, legally. Laws do vary from state to state, but this has been my findings in my situation. DNA is your proof, not a piece of paper.
and in regards to DNA matches, always check the amount of centimorgans you match with people. This will also give clues as to how close they really are. Just relying on Ancestry's category breakdown is insufficient. As an example I have 2 half cousins (sisters-we share one paternal grandparent, not two) one matched as my lowest first cousin, the other the highest second cousin. You can find a chart online that gives a range for the possible relationships in regards to the amount of centimorgans you have in common.
Last edited by fvncresident04; 11-18-2017 at 07:08 AM..
I just wanted to add that a birth certificate is not proof that your parents are your biological parents.
The OP never said that's what they were basing this on.
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