Differing DNA results, My Heritage & Ancestry.

I think all of these tests should be taken with a huge pinch of salt ! They are supposed to be a bit of fun not necessarily an exact science ! Why are you so worried ?? Does it indicate something awful ??

As I said before it cannot be an exact science but Ancestry really does match you with blood relatives. This has nothing to do with any tree you've put online because I didn't have an online tree! If it helps you connect with other people from one of your families and this helps you unfold your story then that's good enough.
The main problem is that most people don't reply when you try to contact them! ?

I have heard that these DNA tests can be very inaccurate, and I think you’ve proved it.

I would send a copy of both results to My Heritage and ask them to account for the difference.

Add that you now regret having had the test as the result you received from them caused considerable distress to you and your family.

The relative sizes of the dna databases that the companies have will affect the results. Ancestry is bigger and compares you to more people than My Heritage, hence you getting more info

I have had an Ancestry subscription for many years and did their DNA test last year. I think it was pretty accurate although at the time my closest relatives were 5th or 6th cousins but could work out the connection. Recently a 3rd or 4th cousin has appeared on my relative list but has no tree as is often the case.

I tried to find several close relatives on Ancestry but nothing was on their site. I knew enough information about them so was really surprised there was no mention. I've e had better results from Friends Reunited in the past.

Oops I was wrong about Ancestry it was Find My Past that didn't have results

suppose it is like other tests, I have had allergy testing done by the NHS and it agreed with the ones I already knew and picked up a few others that 3 yrs later I now have issues with.
Did allergy tests with one of these online companies that do them through the post, as I have a blog and they asked me to, and they did not pick up on any of my allergies, so if I had had only theirs done and not NHS ones I would still be getting symptoms and using my epi pens more.

@Cossy
I think you have the wrong idea about genetic testing. It isn't meant to be a bit of fun. It is a way of discovering your family tree, put you in touch with people who share common ancestors and let you know what genes you have inherited and therefore allow you to make informed decisions about your health.
My late husband died of prostate cancer. I now know I don't carry that gene so my sons are not high risk of suffering the same fate. Similarly it reassures me that I am low risk for breast cancer.
Medical advances continue to improve the accuracy of genetic testing but "just a bit of fun" it certainly is not.

I have had memberships to Ancestry and Find my Past for years. I find Ancestry has been brilliant for me building both my husband's and my own family trees.
We have both recently done Ancestry DNA but many matches are from USA and Australia. The matches are mostly 4+ generations back and it is difficult to find the link. By the time we are looking at 4x greats, there are 64 'grandparents' (not to mention all the aunts and uncles) I think some people are disappointed when they receive DNA results as they imagine it is going to give them lots of family matches, but obviously that is only the case if the fmily members have also taken the test!
There are some excellent groups on Facebook which help with DNA questions and problems. There are also some brilliant Facebook sites which help with breaking down Family tree 'brick walls.

michelleblane - weirdly, you find one family where lots of people are researching, and other families where you can find no-one. It must be genetic! I get my family history gene from one family on my mother's side in particular, but have one family on my father's which is good too. But there are several families where I'd love to find relatives but there is not a single researcher. ?

I was amazed by the accuracy of my Ancestry test. Nothing they told me could have been known from my family tree alone.
I gave DH a kit and he did his. If accurate he has a different gt gt grandfather from the one on his tree.
Fascinating.
I've connected to a few distant cousins too which is fun.

I have been absorbed by genealogy for over forty-five years. When I first indulged, I received some excellent advice from an elderly long-term member of the “Genealogist Society”. His first point, I follow without fail “if you cannot prove it, you cannot claim it”; the next “skeletons in the cupboard everyone has and needs to be accepted before you begin”. I subscribe to Ancestry as an aid to tracing original source evidence which remains the guiding principle. Would I take any thing on Ancestry Public Trees as substantiation certainly not, too many are without research merit and incorrect with finds simply made to fit?

This BBC podcast, broadcast on 24th March, explains it all.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csz1vh

The trouble with DNA tests is peoples misunderstanding of what they are. There is no gene for being Irish, Scottish or any other nationality. What they are showing is what current population groups share that gene currently. The reason different tests produce different 8is is that they test for different SNPs within the DNA sequence

Different results that should be!

As I understand it, Ancestry has the biggest database of dna results as it is the most popular. As more people have their dna tested the database gets bigger. The results change to reflect the more recent data results. When I first joined Ancestry in 2017, I was shown as 92% Irish but also had Finnish/Russian, Northern Europe, and Polynesian. As the results have been updated, the Ancestry DNA people can pinpoint with greater accuracy to certain areas and the older or more ancient DNA vanishes up the list. My Ancestry results now show me as 98% Irish Scottish with a smattering of Welsh and English, which shows that although people in Britain can claim certain blood lines most of us are a mix of many. My Heritage has me as 98.5% Irish and a dash of the Levant, which is the Middle East. DNA testing with the known and larger companies is generally correct. However, DNA can prove that sometimes a supposedly known relation, is not a genetic relation and that can be a shock. I am an adoptee and found my birth father's family and a half brother through Ancestry. I would never have found my brother or my birth father's family without the DNA test.

I forgot to say - If you have an Ancestry DNA test once you get your results through you can access your raw DNA data file and download it to your PC/laptop. There are a number of free DNA sites which allow you to upload the raw data file and this then gives you a chance of finding more relatives on other sites.