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Ever since DNA kits have become popular, I’ve been interested in purchasing one and trying it out. Most us, I’m sure, have been told about our ancestors and where they came from and that was the case for me. However, I wanted to know for sure. I wanted to know what exactly my DNA contained. So, during Ancestry.com’s Father’s Day sale, I purchased their DNA kit and thus began the journey of discovering who I am and where my family came from. Here’s what I discovered from AncestryDNA.
The Process
First, let me explain as best I can, the process of purchasing and conducting the DNA test. When you decide to purchase a DNA kit from Ancestry.com, I would suggest seeing if they are having a sale. I just happened to see a sponsored ad from Ancestry.com for their Father’s Day sale and purchased the DNA kit for about 40% off.
After you find a sale or coupon, you’ll need to make an account with Ancestry.com. This is free and easy to do. Plus, you need one in order to activate your kit once it arrives. So after you make your account, you’ll then purchase the DNA kit on the Ancestry.com website. The kit should arrive in the mail fairly quickly (no more than 10 business days, I believe). If you don’t want to wait that long, Ancestry.com’s DNA kit can also be purchased on Amazon!
Once the DNA kit arrives in the mail, you’ll need to activate it. There is a number in your kit that you’ll use to activate the kit online and will be associated with your Ancestry.com account. You must activate your kit in order form them to process your DNA and give you your results. After activation, just follow the instructions within the DNA kit and then mail off your DNA. The wait time varies and it can be up to 6 – 8 weeks to get your results however, I believe mine only took around two weeks. Ancestry lets you track the progress of your DNA testing on their site though, so you can see about how long it should take to get the results.
Your results will be delivered online by email and also available on your Ancestry.com account once the processing is complete. I was thrilled when I randomly opened up my inbox one night about two weeks after sending off my DNA and found the email with my results! I quickly opened the email and finally found out what my DNA contained.
My Results
What I discovered from my AncestryDNA kit was that my ethnicity estimate is:
- 79% England, Wales, and Northwestern European
- 15% Ireland and Scotland
- 6% Germanic Europe
Now, I’m a Caucasian female so I knew that my results would contain mostly European regions, and I was correct. However, I wanted to see more specific regions in Europe and what percentage of each my DNA contained. AncestryDNA was able to show me that, which I found fascinating!
The Pros about AncestryDNA
What I like about AncestryDNA’s results is that it does break down the ethnicity results and shows your percentage of each. It also gives a brief history and some information of the regions, which is interesting to learn about. It also shares other profiles on Ancestry.com that have close or potential DNA matches with yours. So if you are trying to find family members, then Ancestry.com’s DNA kit is definitely the kit to choose. I had lots of potential matches and it was interesting to see who could be possible family members.
The Cons about AncestryDNA
However, I was looking more for details about my background and the regions my ancestors were from, not potential family members. I wanted to know specifically, what regions of Ireland or Scotland or Wales that my ancestors were from. I even called Ancestry.com’s customer service to see if there were any other specific locations that my results could show as I had seen more detailed results from other people. The representative told me that they are constantly updating information and that over time, my results may change or have additional information added. It’s been about two months since I received my DNA results and I have no new details about my DNA.
*UPDATE!* (November 21, 2019)
I just got an email from Ancestry.com that let me know that my DNA results had been updated! It’s been almost five months since I received my first results. I’m not sure how often they update results but this was such a cool surprise to find in my inbox. Anyways, this is now what my results are:
- England, Wales and Northwestern European: 85%
- Ireland and Scotland: 7%
- Germanic Europe: 6%
- Norway: 2%
So you see, as more information is obtained in their database, the more specific your results may be and may even change. Now, I know that I am also 2% Norwegian!
*UPDATE!* (September 14, 2020)
I’ve received another update from Ancestry.com! They have updated their database and the results are even more precise. Here’s my most recent DNA results:
- England & Northwestern Europe: 62%
- Scotland: 22%
- Norway: 9%
- Wales: 5%
- Ireland: 2%
You can see in these results, that my DNA results are becoming more precise. They’ve even narrowed it down to specific communities that I am connected to!
After finding out my basic ethnicity estimate, which I did find very interesting, Ancestry.com offered me something else shortly after I received my DNA results that I obsessed over for a month straight.
An Unexpected Bonus!
Ancestry.com offered me a 30-day free trial of their subscription to their U.S. genealogical database. I accepted their offer and boy, did I take advantage of it! Almost every day for 30 days, I was on Ancestry.com researching and forming my family tree. It consisted of my mother and father’s sides and though it took a long time to create, it was so intriguing that I could research for hours!
My goal for each “branch”, I guess you can call it, was to go back to before the person/family came to the colonies. I was able to go back that far for most of my ancestors on both sides and I was thrilled to find that kind of information! I went back that far because I wanted to make sure that my DNA and the information I was getting from Ancestry.com was matching up. And it did! I discovered that indeed, a lot of my ancestors came from Scotland and Ireland as well as England and Germany. I also uncovered more specific locations in each country that my ancestors were from which was one of the discoveries I got most excited over.
The trial of Ancestry.com’s subscription was honestly as intriguing as the DNA kit/results experience. I think that their DNA kits should automatically come with a membership to their database, even if only for a limited time, but more than 30 days. Using both the free 30 day membership and my DNA results, I was able to find my ancestors and find more precise regions of the countries they came from. I even discovered where they lived once they were here in North America and their jobs and was able to compare all of that information with my DNA results.
So, you might be wondering, should I purchase an AncestryDNA kit?
My answer to you is this:
Purchase Ancestry.com’s DNA kit if you want a basic understanding of your ethnicity and to find potential family members. They have a massive database so your chances of finding a family member may be greater than with some other DNA services. Purchase it if you also want the chance to have a free trial of their subscription. I don’t know if it’s a guaranteed offer for everyone, but I would say that it probably is.
If you’re looking for more in depth results, then I would suggest going with another DNA service like, 23 and Me. Or, you could purchase both AncestryDNA and 23 and Me kits, compare the results, and really get a thorough estimate of your results, potential family members, and find tons of information about your ancestry. I plan to also purchase a DNA kit from 23 and Me because I want more detailed information about my DNA.
This whole AncestryDNA experience has sparked a big interest in genealogy for me.
Now I want to know more. I want to know more about my ethnicity, my ancestors, the places they lived, and any other information I can dig up! I’m especially interested in my Irish and Scottish descent. I even went as far as attending Scottish Highland Games recently in North Carolina. There, I was able to even find what Scottish clans I can potentially belong to! How cool?! The games were an incredible experience and I share all about it in this blog post so be sure to give it a read as well.
Have you ever completed a DNA kit to find out your ethnicity and what your specific DNA holds? If so, which kit did you purchase and were the results what you expected? I’d love to know so if you like, just leave a comment in the comment section below!
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