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I am completely new at the whole Ancestry DNA thing. I just sent in my spit sample now am waiting...I know it says 6-8 weeks, but what has been your experience in how fast or slow it was to get your results? Does it take longer certain times of the year?
Also, what has been your experience with finding more family members and ancestors with the DNA results? Were you able to get in touch with cousins? What kind of information were they able to give you? Was your DNA able to confirm a lot of facts and debunk myths?
Basically asking for your experiences. Can't wait to get mine back!
Hey, there!
My AncestryDNA results arrived in about 3.5 weeks. Much faster than I had anticipated.
I'm not interested in finding cousins...I did it solely to put to rest a disagreement with a sibling about Northern Italy/Southern Italy. Turns out, we're Southern Italy. (I knew it all along!)
There was a surprise: 10% Great Britain for me. What the hell!
This same sibling got his results about a week ago. Along with the expected percentage of Western Europe like mine, His results show the Caucasus region (!) and Ireland/Wales. Oh, that is the last thing he/we anticipated!
We both went into it expecting nothing but Western Europe with a focus on Italy. The tiny slice of Scandinavia we both got was a complete surprise.
Just call me "Inga!"
I've submitted 3 for my family. I don't recall any of them taking 6-8 weeks, but the results seemed to be slower when Ancestry ran big sales as they have recently done. I suspect it also slows after Christmas, assuming many kits are given as gifts.
IMO, the ethnicity estimate is an amusement, at best. I imagine there are people who have benefited from this part, but when you take time to study the ranges around their estimates, it paints a different picture. The ethnicity estimate between my sister and I varied widely.
The matching ancestors portion has proven to be a huge benefit to my family. For that to be worthwhile, you need to link your DNA results to an Ancestry tree. For maximum benefit, the tree should be public. It has allowed me to make contact with 3rd cousins I never knew existed, and re-establish contact with first cousins with whom I had lost contact. As a result, I now have a library of ancestors' photos I would have never had otherwise. It also allowed me to add multiple generations to my tree. Perhaps the most benefit came in confirming suspicions that previously lacked source documentation.
I've been fortunate, but I also worked hard at contacting other users with matching DNA. Many, many of them never responded. Many of them had no interest in family trees, only in the ethnicity estimates. But enough of them responded and were generous enough to provide a wealth of information, to make this test worth its weight in gold to me. Good luck with yours.
Mine came back faster than I expected, in an email one day.
It put to rest the old tale about Native American ancestry (none!). One thing I did not anticipate was being contacted by someone who was listed a a potential 1st or 2nd cousin. She was very polite and not at all intrusive about it.
After some investigation on my part, we figured out that her father and my grandfather are brothers. But ... she was the product of a one-night stand and given up for adoption. My DNA test enabled her to put together one whole side of her family that she thought was lost to her.
So ... just understand that you never know what you will find when you connect your results to your online tree.
Mine came back faster than I expected, in an email one day.
It put to rest the old tale about Native American ancestry (none!). One thing I did not anticipate was being contacted by someone who was listed a a potential 1st or 2nd cousin. She was very polite and not at all intrusive about it.
After some investigation on my part, we figured out that her father and my grandfather are brothers. But ... she was the product of a one-night stand and given up for adoption. My DNA test enabled her to put together one whole side of her family that she thought was lost to her.
So ... just understand that you never know what you will find when you connect your results to your online tree.
My results put that Native American ancestry tale to rest too! I was told by all my elders that I was definitely Native American. Huh uh. Less than 1%. But I'm 37% Scandanavian. Who knew? Also a good bit Italian and Irish and some Great Britain. It was very interesting.
Received my results in about 3 weeks, by email.
Don't forget to ask for your "raw data", you can upload this raw data at many free websites later on, for further analysis of your heritage, and medical condition too.
I found several italian cousins in New Jersey, we are planning to meet eventually. We have been sharing our family tree and other information since last year, very interesting, even their kids are showing up as my cousins at Ancestry too.
Keep in mind, you have a genetic history and a genealogical history. You get a random 50% of DNA from each parent. In my case, I had a great grandmother who was Native American yet, I am about 1% Native American. Some of my closest DNA matches in Ancestry, though,are about 25% Native American and we had the same great grandmother.
Keep in mind, you have a genetic history and a genealogical history. You get a random 50% of DNA from each parent. In my case, I had a great grandmother who was Native American yet, I am about 1% Native American. Some of my closest DNA matches in Ancestry, though,are about 25% Native American and we had the same great grandmother.
I am 25% Native American too. At MyHeritage.Com I am 40% Native American, kind of weird.
One of my great grand mother in native american.
My MtDNA is C1 (native american) while my Y-DNA is R1b1b2a1a2f (irish)
I am considering ordering my Ancestry DNA test but I have a question. Do you have to pay a yearly fee to have access to the data? I read somewhere that Ancestry used to be free but now they charge.
You get access to your DNA information free on an ongoing basis, but if you click on DNA relatives, you need a subscription to get very far if you are researching. It will block you from going further without a subscription. This is the way it has been and I assume it still works this way, unless they changed it this past year. I have a subscription. I tend to use it more in the winter months and let it lapse in the Spring/Summer months.
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