To trace your lineage? My beautiful wife is thinking of doing some research and was wondering which of the many resources are worth the $$?

Ancestry.com?

23 and me?

A combination of things such as DNA research and other sites?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pyker,

No, They will sell it to God only know's who. And that is just for starters.

Really dumb idea.

And yes I know the genie is long sense out of the bottle. But I have no interest.

I’m just here for the posts stating what a dumb idea Ancestry is and how ‘they’ will sell your info to the Govt…etc.


ETA:

Looks like ORC beat me to the prediction segment!

Yeah, I was waiting for all the 'helpful' asses to turn up and answer the question that wasn't asked.


Man. they're predictable.

Anyone got some actual experiences?

I'm opposed to it for myself, but Mrs. Flash just had to do it. She always thought she was half Portuguese and 1/4 Hawaiian and 1/4 French because her Mom and Dad and other relatives told her so.

She did the 23 and me and guess what?

She's 1/2 Portugese and 1/4 Pacific Islander and 1/4 French.

Who'd a thunk it?

quote:

Originally posted by Pyker:
Yeah, I was waiting for all the 'helpful' asses to turn up and answer the question that wasn't asked.


Man. they're predictable.

Anyone got some actual experiences?

My wife did both tests. 23 seems to break it down more further on ethnicity percentages, while Ancestry is more broad.

She also knew that she had some Native American in her beforehand, but didn't realize that she was almost 50% Native American.

I haven't but I have been curious. On the other hand, I have a pretty good handle on my family history, so I wouldn't expect many surprises. I am mostly German, and those Krauts got to the U.S. in the early and middle 19th century. The rest of my forebears are British, and the English ones got here earlier, some even back to the 17th century. There is one Johnny-come-lately Welshman, and we even have some kin still in Wales we are in contact with. They came in the late 19th century.

I am pure, unadulterated WASP. But I may still send in a sample some day. Maybe I am a cousin of Jennifer Lawrence or something fun.

My fear is if I send in my DNA, they'll clone me and then I'll have to deal with those assholes.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pyker:
Yeah, I was waiting for all the 'helpful' asses to turn up and answer the question that wasn't asked.



Well, you are a "pyker" after all

Sorry you expect better.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
My fear is if I send in my DNA, they'll clone me and then I'll have to deal with those assholes.

The extra YOUs or the people making them? HA


OP, my grandmother had traced our line to the Magna Carta. She left a few branches unfollowed (turns out they were Scots)

My mom did the ancestry dna thing and it told us what we already knew…basically mutts…England and all they were composed of.

My dads family is Italian and his fathers family was Jewish from just north east of Italy.

So I don’t need to send in my spit to know what I know.

Tin foil hat is firmly in place.

Thus far there has been no laws in place that address the control of genetic material.

Think about this..... Your genetic material is screened for Disease X, Y or Z. You are not currently having any issues. But the perceived, possible presence of Disease X, Y, or Z now precludes you from any and all insurance products (medical or actuarial). Thus you are now uninsurable. Or they make it cost prohibitive to obtain.

Never mind that in your lifetime, you never get the disease. But are pre-judged by a genetic screening test.

Now granted, we leave genetic material lying around everywhere/every day. But, I'm not so curious as to willingly give over material for the equivalent of "parlor trick information". Who really cares what the ancestory is.

Insurances job is to predict and weigh the odds of an event happening. So if they can find an edge to better predict who will get what disease process - they will certainly look to avoid paying out. That's their #1 job. The medical world is now genetically screening for the patients predicted response to certain medicines and making decisions on what they can and cannot have. And as you might have guessed... it's not always accurate.

Andrew

I did Ancestry. I was against it but decided, well whatever they find so what if the govt has it.

Anyhow I had questions. I did one that added "traits". That was a waste of money. Told me I couldn't be a pro athlete based on my DNA.

The DNA told me little I didn't know. Lots of 3rd and 4th cousins but no one close that I wanted to connect with.

But the interesting thing I found was my family tree based on historical documents.

I knew nothing of my grandfather's side. I found out my great grandfather came here from Portugal, Azores to be exact and his last name was Rodrigues, changed to Rogers when he got here. So I'm a Rodrigues apparently. Does that make me a minority?

I was adopted and all records were sealed until recently. I was extremely lucky with the adopted parents who took me in at age 2. I always thought I was of German heritage. But out of curiosity I did the 23 and Me thing. Well, I have discovered that I have 23, that's right twenty three, half siblings. And a 747 full of cousins. I have made contact with a few of them and they are nice folks and one of them could be my twin. My biological father was a prolific SOB. I also discovered that I am of Irish extraction rather than German and my ancestors arrived in America in the 1600's. That explains a lot. This whole thing is interesting but for us has not been disruptive. It is important for our kids and grandkids to know from whence they came.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pyker:
Yeah, I was waiting for all the 'helpful' asses to turn up and answer the question that wasn't asked.



Well, you are a "pyker" after all

Sorry you expect better.

Touche' (I'm a Pyker, tho, not a Piker haha)

I thought about it but don't want them cross-referencing my DNA to that crime scene where I took a piss.

yeah, My Heritage. My brother did a test from another company, Ancestry? Not sure. Interesting that both tests produced remarkably similar results (we were consciously checking to see if two different companies produced comparable results). Funny thing is we have a family name that sounds Basque, possibly Eastern European, or Jewish. We’re mostly Irish (my mother was 100%), almost 60%, then English, about 38%, and the remainder “Iberian” and “Eastern European,” but totaling less than 3%. Iberian could be Basque and we heard the posibilite of Czech (Bohemian as kids), but it’s not clear to me why such a small percentage should be carried forth as a family name.

Pyker,
I and my wife have done Ancestry & 23 & me. Ancestry is the best for learning about your family. With ancestry I have traced directly back to the first Burton that came to Virginia in 1630 on my father's side. The tracing was easy because the family was wealthy. My Mothers Italian side has been impossible. I just know the towns my Italian Grandparents came from. My wife thought she was 3/4 Armenian & 1/4 Russian, but has no Russian, 1/8 Ashkenazi Jewish, 1/8 Persian.

Well, you are a "pyker" after all

Sorry you expect better.[/QUOTE]


Touche' (I'm a Pyker, tho, not a Piker haha)[/QUOTE]

got me, all good brother.

All kidding aside. I would not do it myself as I said.

But many have and found the results to be satisfying and or fascinating. Which I can understand.

I would never send in my DNA, but I did use Ancestry to trace my family as far back as Ireland. It was fun to do and neat to discover parts of the family that I didn't know existed.

I was adopted, and was steered to both Ancestry and 23andMe to find my biological roots.
Turns out I am a hippie. Kind of weird as I grew up a gun toting farm kid.
Positive experience overall
OZ