A while ago, we tried Ancestry.com. Art wasn't interested, but I insisted that many bloggers had tried it and were able to identify a lot of fun roots.
I ordered the packet for Art. He had to send in some of his saliva. I couldn't wait to see the results. Would his ancestors come from Mongolia or China or Korea or who knows?
He was rather skeptical.
We waited for a couple of months and got a request for another saliva sample because something went wrong.
A couple more months passed and we got the results. We discovered he was 100% Asian. That's it. Nothing to specify Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan, etc. Just Asian.
Ummmm.... It cost about $90, I think it was, to find out he is Asian?!? OK, that was a supreme waste of money.
POSTSCRIPT:
I'm sorry. I need to really clarify my post. I know Ancestry.com does very well with European origin DNA. My sister-in-law and other bloggers have told me they've gotten a lot of wonderful information. It's just Asian people that don't get anything worthwhile. I think. All I know is what we got which was next to nothing.
He was rather skeptical.
We waited for a couple of months and got a request for another saliva sample because something went wrong.
A couple more months passed and we got the results. We discovered he was 100% Asian. That's it. Nothing to specify Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan, etc. Just Asian.
Ummmm.... It cost about $90, I think it was, to find out he is Asian?!? OK, that was a supreme waste of money.
POSTSCRIPT:
I'm sorry. I need to really clarify my post. I know Ancestry.com does very well with European origin DNA. My sister-in-law and other bloggers have told me they've gotten a lot of wonderful information. It's just Asian people that don't get anything worthwhile. I think. All I know is what we got which was next to nothing.
My son did that and even though my grandmother always told us we were Cherokee Indian because her grandmother was full blooded Cherokee, it didn't show up in his DNA. Weird!
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me LOL at 6 in the morning.
ReplyDeleteWell that settles my curiosity.
ReplyDeleteP.S. did you have to include a photo with the saliva sample?
ReplyDeleteI sent one in before, no photo needed
DeleteMy brother took the 23&me test and found that he is mostly European ancestry. No surprise there for us, either. It sounds a little bit like a scam to me. :-)
ReplyDeleteEuropean? Ummm.... That's like Asian.
DeleteWow. You warned me off.
ReplyDeleteAhaha, how come you didn't do yours?
ReplyDeleteThat is a waste. it should go into more intricate depth. Over time maybe we will have more information.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't have a better result. I wonder if they do not have enough Asian samples to be more specific....I am adopted and twenty years ago learned about my birth mother and her family but had hit a dead end about my father. Through the Ancestry DNA test I learned much more and identified a first cousin from whom I found out a lot about my father's family. For me, it was well worth while.
ReplyDeleteI am on Ancestry.com to research Dan's ancestors. We haven't done the DNA test. Not interested in that part.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Thickethouse. There's probably not enough Asian samples to be specific. I did mine and found out quite a bit. My ancestors come from approx. 10 different countries/regions. It confirmed a lot of what was thought by my Mom.There were actually a few surprises a well. I'm also on Ancestor.com and found cousins I've never met but have heard of. So far, I've been able to go back 4 generations on my (Dad) Irish side and 3 generations on (Mom) European.
ReplyDeleteThat's what Art said about Ancestry.com. He originally preferred going with the National Geographic one and (ummmm) I was the one to convince him to go with Ancestry.com. Oops.
DeleteIt sounds like a scam!
ReplyDeleteThat's strange! My father-in-law had his DNA tested with National Geographic several years ago and they gave him a whole lot more information. Gregg joined Ancestry.com for his genealogy search, which he thoroughly enjoys. I think I'd tell him to avoid this one though.
ReplyDeleteWhat? I ain't getting one for Daisy then
ReplyDeleteSounds like 23andMe would be MUCH better. This is the first time I've heard of it.
DeleteThey ought to post a disclaimer about the Asian lack of info before taking your money. So sorry that was a bust.
ReplyDeleteAny way to protest the lack of detail and ask for a refund? You didn't need that test to know Art is Asian. Bummer.
ReplyDeleteLOL - that Art is Asian! You got $90 of LOL from posting this on your blog. I think I'll save my money and just continue to believe that I am 100% Asian too.
ReplyDeleteHow underwhelming!! 23 and Me yielded some interesting results for several friends. I'm hoping to try this soon with the hope of setting some alleged family skeletons free! I enjoy learning about my family history, warts and all.
ReplyDeleteI did 23 and me and the results were very interesting. I am pure Japanese, born there of a Japanese mom and Nisei father. Here is my results: 100.0% Japanese
ReplyDelete87.0%, Korean 11.1%, Chinese 0.6%, Broadly East Asian 1.3%
Broadly East Asian & Native American < 0.1%
I guess none of us Asians can claim to be 'pure' cuz our ancestors came from Mongolia and made their slow immigration to whatever country they settled and in that move mixed with whatever local population there was.I THINK there are Japanese who are more 'pure' cuz of where they lived, they did not mate with those who lived closer to the migration "bridges".
Here is info from 23 and me:
The peoples of East Asia and the Americas have a shared genetic history. Their common ancestors left the Near East as early as 80,000 years ago, migrating across Asia. The ancestors of Native Americans began to cross into the Americas 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. I think you can see this tutorial: https://you.23andme.com/tutorials/ancestry/?return_path=/reports/ancestry_composition/&return_text=View%20Report
I have so far about 269 ppl that I'm 'related' to. One 2nd or 3rd cousin in Cali, I think his side of the family came from my dad's sister whom we lost contact with, but I've not heard from him. Then I got a zillion cousins removed Xtimes too....we have a common ancestors X-generations ago and not all are Japanese. A few are haoles too! BTW I share more of my DNA with Koreans. (You'd think I like Korean food but I don't) -BB
Wow! 23 and Me is a TON better than Ancestry.com!!!
DeleteSigh...
I don't think Art would want to do this again though...
Art just read what you wrote and said, "Heeeey... Hers is much, much better!"
DeleteI think cuz 23 and me was originally started as more of a medical site to show any kind of inherited diseases. But just when I submitted my swab, the gov't shut them down. But they've since rec'd the go-ahead but with diseases I have never heard of. I think the original idea was to help warn ppl if they had a better chance of getting diabetes, the more common stuff. As their implies there are more into the DNA rather than the genealogy so it's pretty extensive in that way. I learned a lot about migrations and how we came into being as humans and civilizations. Their whole site is about where we originated from, which I find fascinating. I also have a higher % of Neatherndal genes! Super cool. BB
DeleteI have never been interested in these ancestry things. I figure I don't want to know too much about my ancestors as I'm sure there were some horse thieves in the mix. Probably slave owners, too. So, I'm just happy with going forward and hoping the next generation will be a good one.
ReplyDeleteI think ancestry is fascinating to study from a mitochondrial perspective, you can actually trace the movement of humans across the planet that way, and count the waves as they left Africa, and plot their movements across the continents. The Japanese came from Korea, mostly, in 2 large waves... I remember the furor it caused when that news came out, lots of Japanese were furious as and didn't want to believe it. I myself don't see why anyone should be upset, its just where people came from... but I think its tied into whether your ancestors really had a mandate from God or what have you; it has more to do with traditional values and origin stories than geneology. But Koreans came from the Chinese, I think... so we're pretty much all Mongoloid, lumped together with the Native Americans and Inuit. For what its worth, I am 100% Japanese but LOVE love love love kimchee!
ReplyDeletewalt
I would love to see how much Korean I've got because mom says our family history goes back to Korean royalty. I'm sure it's like lots of European descendants might think they're descended from Queen Elizabeth or whatever. Aha! That's why you like kimchee!
DeleteMy husband's dna study came back with mostly European ancestors-no surprise but with a tiny bit of asian which we think came from possible Cherokee ancestors. It was interesting but not detailed enough to help much. Then I had a man contact me to tell me my mother was his mother who had given him up for adoption. I had a hard time convincing him that I was an only child and would know if my mom had had another child plus my dad died when I was five. He was very upset and disappointed...so it's a strange world out there...lol!
ReplyDeleteEven tho' I've put together several trees on Ancestry.com I've never been interested in the DNA test they offer (at a price). I assume mine would be (from reasearch done) a mix of Irish with a tiny bit of Scot and maybe some european (german from Irish migration) but I'll just leave it awhile. Have had unknown rellies approach me and The Golfer which has been nice
ReplyDeleteI've explored Ancestry.ca just to find out some dates. THing is, I'm adopted and I met my birth mother. I don't really care where she came from. She was horrid. My adoptive parents were amazing. I was chosen! I'm not sure DNA really matters.
ReplyDeleteI am also adopted. My adoptive parents were wonderful, but for me it was important to know my background, too. That said, both my parents were deceased when I found out who they were so I didn't have to deal with any problems of relationships there. But I know lots of my ancestry and background and I'm really happy that I do.
DeleteI bought a book - The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy by Bettinger. I'm just beginning to read it. It compares different things ones can learn from DNA and the different companies that offer DNA testing and their focus, what they are good for. Perhaps you can get it through your library. Also, As Ancestry gets more samples from Asian people they will probably have more information to offer. I am sorry what you did gave you so little of what you had hoped to find.
ReplyDeleteWe did it too. Found out I'm 49% Asia East (mom) and Western & Eastern Europe, Ireland, Finland/Russia. It was fun. My dad's family are from Europe. It did say "Africa Trace Region 1%" and "America Trace Region 1%".
ReplyDeleteWe did it too. Found out I'm 49% Asia East (mom) and Western & Eastern Europe, Ireland, Finland/Russia. It was fun. My dad's family are from Europe. It did say "Africa Trace Region 1%" and "America Trace Region 1%".
ReplyDeleteYou can actually trace your roots without paying somebody for "canned" responses. It has been a while since I did mine--I am 82 now and did mine when our 5 kids were still all living at home. You can do it online or I did. What it did was call up or show people who have already done their history and then you look for that common ancestor, and go there to that ancestor and plus your material in and go from there. Since I am related to President Lincoln, mine was easy since I didn't have to go father back then him and his line and that is where I plugged by ancestry in. Mine fills two complete notebooks with ancestors going back to the Roman Troop that invaded England at a place called Lind Coln (pool or pond of water in the area -- so you would be John Lindcoln, or John from the place where there is a pond or pool of water. The Roman group was named LINCOLN. The name became a popular one and there are many cities in England that incorporates Lincoln as in Lincolnshire.
ReplyDelete