Hello Wonderful People!
I pray that all is well with you and your family.
My wife and I have begun a journey to find out about us. We completed a DNA test through 23 and Me to find out about our genetic composition. After a long wait, we finally received the test results back and we are ready to share them. For more information about why we took the test, click here!
J and T
From the results that we received, there were a few surprises, a few inaccuracies in our family’s oral histories and few unanswered questions. Let’s get to the results.
First of all, my overall results were
Jay’s overall DNA results!
Not a big surprise there. It is inline with what I was thinking it would be. However, when the European data was broken down into more specific regions of the continent, I was hit with our first surprise.
According to the results, I am only 64.6% French/German. Forever, my family has claimed to be 100% German, with no other ethnicities in the mix. But according to this, I am also 10.5% Scandinavian, 8.4% British/Irish; and 1.8% Eastern European. But what does this mean?? According to 23 and Me, it means that most likely I had a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent who was 100% French/German and lived between the time period of 1880 and 1940. That part I knew. In the genealogical research that I had done previously, I found that my great-great grandparents were born in Germany. Further, 23 and Me stated that I most likely had a 2nd, 3rd or 4th great-grandparent from Britain/Ireland and Scandinavia, in the time period of 1760 to 1850. And a 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th great-grandparent who was born in Eastern Europe, which could be the Ukraine, Russia, Poland and Hungary. I had not completed the genealogical search prior to 1840, so it is possible that with further research I will be able uncover who these non-German family members would have been.
Please note that the way that the test is set up, 23 and Me places French and German DNA into the same category because that area of Europe is same geographical location. 23 and Me is advancing its scientific testing, so in the coming months there will be more specific geographic locations in my test results. When those results are released, we will let you know.
And now for my wife. We could not wait to receive her results because we had not completed her genealogical research, so we did not know what to expect. Her overall results stated the following.
JT’s overall results
With 73.8% West African, it means most likely a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent was born in West Africa between 1880 and 1940. This would make sense and there is no doubt about that information. Now for the surprises that we found. My wife was told that one of her great-grandparents on her mother’s side was of European descent. Based on the results of 22% European and specifically 7.2% British/Irish, there is good possibility she had a grandparent, great-grandparent or 2nd great-grandparent born in Britain/Ireland between 1850 and 1910. That would verify the family’s claim; but it is now time to start that research to see if we can find that person. The family also stated that she had a great-grandmother who was a Native American. However, according to 23 and Me, it is a likely the Native American ancestor was a 3rd, 4th or 5th great-grandparent born between 1700 and 1820; which would have been much earlier than the family had suggested. The test results further suggest that there is also a 3rd, 4th or 5th great-grandparent from Scandinavia who was born between 1700 and 1820. And a 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th great grand-parent who came from Southeast Asia, Iberia, Central/South Africa, France/Germany, and Oceania. My wife was surprised to learned that she had a such a diverse DNA background. This was all new information that she had not heard from her family. We With the enhanced results that are coming, it will be good to get a more specific location to these broad areas and to learn more about where her family lived at.
23 and Me provides you with so much more information that just these statistics. We are going through all the information now and processing what it all means. We will share more about the specifics as we understand them more fully. Also, we share our own personal thoughts about what these means to us. Stay tuned!
Well Jason, your results closely reflect the ones I received from Ancestry. I had my son and 1 grandson done also. Theirs look very much the same. We may lean a little more heavily to the central European locale. I was hoping we might see some Native American, because my husband’s Mom was thought to be some Native American, but her Mother died, I think when giving birth, and she was raised by an older half sister. Don’t know what happened to the Dad. I am not working very hard on researching further, but maybe someday. I have a lot of blanks in my knowledge of my ancestors, and no real stories to go along with them.
As you know, doing genealogy research can be a chore. It is not as easy as they portray it on TV. I have a lot of blanks to fill in as well. Having Ancestry at work has helped a whole lot to do this additional searching.