Ancestory DNA testing

[PerfessorZ]

My wife asked for a DNA kit from Ancestry for her birthday last year. She'd been adopted in a state with strict closed-adoption laws and she had no clue as to who her biological parents were. Her adoptive parents had passed away and her remaining adoptive relatives knew nothing about the biological family from where she came.

After the test results came back, I poured over the hits from 2nd and 3rd cousins to piece together where she might fit in the family tree, and to our great surprise and joy, we eventually discovered who her biological parents had been. We approached both families carefully, as to not be the unknown and undesired step-siblings or children. Unfortunately (and oddly coincidental as ), both her bio parents had passed away only a year before, but the rest of the families have welcomed her with open arms.

I agree with previous posters here that the ethnicity percentages are somewhat broad estimations, but that doesn't mean the tests themselves can yield some interesting and even amazing results.

 

[wendow]

@PerfessorZ , thanks for sharing that. I am in a bit of a similar spot (bio-father) and considering doing one of these type of test so I am reading this thread with interest. Your wife's story is encouraging!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I've done Autosomal DNA with Ancestry and Family Tree. I've also done the Full Sequence mtDNA and Y-DNA111 but haven't had time to take a deep dive into results yet. While I waited for DNA results at Ancestry I did take a deep dive into filling out my family tree. So far I have over 19,000 relatives ID'd and have corroborated relations to Anne Boleyn, Scottish royalty as well as JFK.

I like the tools better at Ancestry but have found I need to be careful following other people's lines - too many try too hard to be related to famous people

The heritage part is what first interested me and I was surprised but I found solving little mysteries totally fascinating! With all the records of the last 100 years scanned and indexed I've spent countless hours searching for information on my great-grandparents whom I never met.

But I must say, it's not just the DNA cost. The monthly fees can add up. Ancestry basic is $19.99/month and if you follow a trail into Europe that will cost another $15. Want newspapers and military records? That's another $10. I'll probably take another 6 months or so to finish up what I can, transfer to my desktop software then take a break for a while to save cost.

It's a lot cheaper to just buy your Ancestry membership a year at a time.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

@PerfessorZ , thanks for sharing that. I am in a bit of a similar spot (bio-father) and considering doing one of these type of test so I am reading this thread with interest. Your wife's story is encouraging!

I've heard several rather hopeful stories of people piecing together family this way. When I get the time and patience together, I am going to attempt to piece out the identity of a co-worker's grandfather's birth parents in this manner.

 

[BuzzLiteyear]

I've done ancestry and FamilyTreeDNA. I really like what FamilyTreeDNA offers, but ancestry has the corner on the market so I've tested multiple family members on ancestry. That being said, I've uploaded all results to Gedmatch. I didn't read the majority of the replies, but consider getting older members of the family tested too. I wanted to get all my aunts tested and one of them passed away last year before I could get her tested. Enjoy!