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Has anyone used My Heritage to do DNA test.

(34 Posts)
Juicylucy Sat 10-Apr-21 13:11:47

I have recently received my DNA results after doing the test from My Heritage based in USA. It has shown up some very surprising results which has left me upset and bewildered. Getting any answers for questions I have also seems impossible. However before I did the test and received my results I had a few friends and family that said I should take the results with a pinch of salt as they’ve been proven to be not very accurate, with some people proving this by tracing there family trees. My question is has anyone used this means of DNA testing and have they found them to be accurate or would you recommend I do another one from a testing company here in England. I’m feeling very uneasy and confused and don’t know where to turn.

luckyrose62 Wed 14-Apr-21 07:53:43

We bought ourselves my heritage for a present for each other one Christmas. I used to joke with my husband about his heritage. He is tall dark tans easily brown eyes. So I expected roots going back to Africa. He is 100% English. Where I have green eyes burn easily with mousey hair. My results started in the Middle East northern Spain france England and Celtic. It did solve a family rumour that we were hugeonots which was confirmed by a cousin twice removed who I didn’t know. A bit of fun. We did our grown up children the year after English but one had 1.8% Italian ?

Juicylucy Wed 14-Apr-21 11:15:15

Silver lining I have 1st cousins showing as 2.4% then loads of 5th ones at .01%. However I doubt my heritage is accurate it’s very unbelievable so I’m intending doing another one from Ancestry based in the UK.

Chestnut Wed 14-Apr-21 11:54:02

luckyrose62 and others who are relying on My Heritage - don't! As I've said, I don't recognise their results as being accurate. I don't believe they have enough data to work from because not enough people have been tested.

Distant cousins - if your grandparents came from large families then you should be finding some 3rd-4th cousins on Ancestry. But if the family was small then there may be very few living people around, and they may not have been tested.

Ancestry - if lots of people tested have ancestral roots in a country or county (very true of the UK) it becomes easier to analyse the data down to specific areas. So they can tell which part of England your ancestors originated for instance. In other countries very few people may have been tested, so they cannot be as precise for the area.

Floradora9 Wed 14-Apr-21 21:56:11

go with Ancestry it is the most comprehensive and you can put it in Myheritage after you get the rresults.

Kali2 Fri 07-Jan-22 13:04:51

We were given tests this Christmas and did ours and sent them early this week.

Can't wait- our families on both sides, but particularly on OH's- are VERY mixed.

mokryna Fri 07-Jan-22 13:23:48

Living in France it is against the law to do DNA testing. Government suggests it could upset family life. However, on my last trip to the UK I did an Ancestry DNA.
I was fostered and later adopted but I knew my parents.
I found the results to be absolutely true on my mother’s side. Half sister and family in the USA. One distant cousin from Australia got in contact and I contacted another, in the UK, both tallied with the information I already knew. That being said my Father’s side is impossible at the moment because it an old USSR state and does not have that information.

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 07-Jan-22 13:38:26

I have only taken an Ancestry test. Reassuringly it showed that my son, who also took a test with them, was either my child or my parent! It also showed some first and second cousins that I knew. I would recommend taking a test with Ancestry silver as so many people use them you are more likely to find closer relatives who have done so.

JillyJosie2 Fri 07-Jan-22 14:07:51

I took a My Heritage DNA and it was pretty much as I expected apart from 3% Eastern European which, at a stretch, I can imagine might relate to my father's side of the family.

However, my husband who knows his family history back to the 17th century took their test and got a rubbish result. He was so cross that he took the time to argue with them. In particular, he is French Huguenot on his mother's side and eventually, My Heritage admitted to him that they didn't have access to any French data because, as posted above, the French won't allow DNA testing. So the answer to the original question is, I suppose, be very suspicious. I'm very doubtful of suggestions of linkage that quote 0.5% and so on.

I originally did my family history 25 years ago when it wasn't possible to use the internet. I've noticed that the proliferation of researchers and databases now means that mistakes creep in very easily. I recently came across an American family tree where they'd seized upon an uncle of mine and inserted him in their tree which was a complete fallacy, they had just grabbed a suitable looking date and name and added him!!