Ancestry DNA

nanna8 I have made my Ancestry trees private but a note there to encourage anyone related to get in touch. I would have been happy for them to be public trees but had a horrible experience with a very nasty person, not related but had all my family on her massive tree. I felt my trees needed protecting from her as she was so nasty.
There are people like her on Ancestry building ridiculously large trees, not even related, and they take information from other trees without checking. I don't want those people using my information.

When I go on ancestry I often find photos of close family members that I put up, on someone’s site. I don’t mind but it would have been nice to be asked first. I don’t put anymore on the public site these days, just my own online site where people have to be invited. That way at least you know they are genuine relatives.

Chestnut It is a really awful thing to give information out without that persons consent,
I really didn't want this person to know where I was,and my name had changed from when I knew them
My brothers daughter gave them my new name, where I had worked and about my children,all grown up now,of course long ago
It made me a nervous wreck, had to go to the Drs, panic attacks etc through stress
I was furious,and the best part about it its I have never met this new niece but she was in touch with my brothers other children through DNA and so got information off them,
I had no contact with them for years either,
I have blocked them all now

blondenana there are always people who pass photos or information without asking which is completely wrong. I think they just don't realise what they're doing or what the consequences are. I had one of my private family photos put online without my permission, which was then taken by others and posted, people who are not even related. I was the owner and didn't want it put online, but I had shared it with someone many years ago before Ancestry even existed.

A member of my late brothers family delved into it.and was asked by someone if she knew me .someone I didn't want to find me.I was furious as she told them all my details..so.please remember before you pass anything on about anyone they might not wasn't there whereabouts to be known
I have broken off with this person now.as I think she should have got my permission first it caused me a lot of distress.

I like finding out all the old surnames in the family when you do ancestry research. When you come across someone with the same one you wonder if,way back, you were related.

I know nanna8 that's why I said it was magic! My daughter and my sister were identified but each with a slightly different ethnic make-up which is what I would expect.

My daughter did it and they identified her as my daughter even though she hadn’t mentioned me. Made me think there is at least some accuracy there. Also my first cousin was identified. All very interesting and it’s kind of nice to know your background.

Ancestry maps out where your ancestors originated. It then gives percentages, doesn't differentiate between parents. It then gives matches to people who are on the site in terms of relationship. It's around £69, you can get the odd discount code. It's interesting and worth doing if you have an interest. I have found it accurate but it does change when they update.

I did tests on two sites which were very similar with different details eg one had Scandinavian and one broke it down to Swedish which I knew, and Finnish which was a surprise! That site also found a 1% West African and a 1% North African link also which I cannot explain, though I did discover there was some migration from North Africa as far as Northern Europe when I started researching. I have hundreds of relatives around the world, most of which are 3rd to 5th cousins but have recently been contacted by the son of one of my uncles, a cousin of my mother in Canada and a direct descendant of my great grandfather. We have shared lots of information and photos. I also had a medical one which pretty much put me at a 50% chance of having most serious disorders but a high chance of the one I actually have. My brother has just found that he has it too so I am prepared to trust this one.
My son also tried it and was correctly identified as my son or father. Thinking of surprises though, I am just a little worried about the possibilities of him being contacted by some of his father's unknown children.

I found a distant cousin here in Australia and we met and got on really well. She lives over 1,000 kms away,unfortunately,so we won’t be seeing each other very often. We knew where the links come from because we both use the same ancestry site.

Romaroot, I suspect we may be related!

I'm like you romaroot. It's a hobby which I enjoy. It is undemanding and you can help others as well as discovering interesting and intriguing things.
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Crikey, with my family i wouldn't dare !

I wasn't interested in the health genes, more the family connections.
I have found my family going back centuries and many are well documented in literature.
Queen Victoria wrote in her diary of my direct ancestors.
I'm so glad I did it, my dc bought it for a birthday present a few years ago. They pay for my ancestry account too.

I spend far too long though, it can eat away at your time.

mrsmopp The commonly advertised tests are autosomal tests. They cover both the male and female lines.
There are also Y DNA tests for the male line only and mt DNA tests for the female line both of which go back much further than than the autosomal test.
The test will tell you the estimated connection between you and other people who have tested on the same site.
On 23 and me they give you medical information, for example I know now I do not carry the breast cancer gene, or the Alzheimer gene.
If you are serious about genealogy it is well worthwhile.

Autosomal DNA tests are extremely accurate when it comes to genealogy back to about 5 generations. It allows you to break down brick walls that you almost inevitably encounter with written records.
What they are not good at is ethnicity. This can be quite inaccurate as it depends on their database. I don’t understand why they are promoting using it for ethnicity.

Ancestry is best I was 91 % Scottish and they even got the part of Scotland correct. I loved that I got in touch with the grand daughters of a relative who had gone from working class to being offered a knighthood twice. I knew him and did extensive research on him so to share all this with those ladies who had never known him was lovely for them and for me .

I used 23 and me and I've discovered loads of second cousins etc. around the world.

I'm in contact with some of them. It's filled in a few blanks on the family tree.

The health information and details about where ancestors came from is really fascinating.

I'm emailed updates as new relatives join the site.

Grammaretto I have one elusive family where I can't find a cousin through DNA. But I know there are only a handful of people who might connect with me, and if none of them have a test then I'm stuffed. I keep hoping. As for people replying, don't expect any joy there. I have written to dozens of people on Ancestry and very few even bother to reply. Sometimes it's through DNA and sometimes because they share my tree. It's very disheartening when you get no reply at all.

Maybe I'm easily thrilled but I was delighted that a tiny sample of my spit was enough for me and my cousins, some of whom I already know, to be linked! Magic
Also something I had guessed was confirmed.
I have met a few distant cousins but that side has been disappointing for me. I write to loads of people but very few reply. I use Ancestry.co.uk and pay a subscription because I enjoy researching.

There are various DNA tests and some are more detailed and can even tell you what percentage Neaderthal you are! Plus medical conditions etc. But these are more expensive. The one on Ancestry is a simple percentage of nationalities, although they seem to have got mine spot on.

I’ve done a lot of research on my family tree already and I wondered what further info I would find from a DNA result. What actual info did you learn from the DNA? And does the info you get cover paternal as well as maternal sides of the family?

Ancestry told me they had identified a cousin of mine. Cousin? It turned out to be my granddaughter!

I was pleased to find my origins.. My 146 shared dna people on ancestry site were a disappointment though in that very few had family trees on the site!...... only two cousins I knew already..