mikestock
Vestavia Hills, AL, USA
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Joined: 12/01/2002
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I decided I wanted to get a DNA test so I did a search and found countless sources. What puzzles me is that they all want you to sign up for a 3-month membership. I don't know what could be gained by agreeing to a membership. I would think that data gained from a first DNA test would never change. I am primarily interested in the history of my fraternal grandmother who was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma and was very likely Cherokee or Shawnee. I never found any information relating to her past.
I would like to hear from anyone who has dealt with these companies, which one is most reputable and why I would care to renew a membership every 3 months.
I would very much like to hear about your experiences with DNA testing
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way2roll
Wilmington NC
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Joined: 10/05/2018
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My sister was interested in doing a DNA test for reasons similar to yours. I did a lot of research on the subject and determined I wasn't going to do it. Lots of reasons but I think this excerpt from an article in Consumer reports articulates the core of it:
"although a given gene variant may be more common among one group of people, it can also appear in others. So finding a particular variation in your genetic code doesn’t definitively place you in any one regional, ethnic, or racial group. What all this means for consumers, according to Mwenza Blell, PhD, a biosocial medical anthropologist at Newcastle University in the U.K., is that genetic ancestry tests are closer to palm reading than science.
Because country-of-origin labels closely overlap with commonly used ethnic and racial labels, the test can reinforce the mistaken idea that your ethnicity or race is encoded in your genes.
In reality, the mapping of the human genome demonstrated that all people are more than 99 percent the same genetically, regardless of race or ethnicity."
I had lots and lots of articles but here is another one that explains the generality of these tests and obvious error rates. I like the part about how twins had very different regional results and further, had every different results across different companies.
article
* This post was
edited 12/29/21 09:51am by way2roll *
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winnietrey
seattle
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Joined: 03/26/2005
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I used ancestry dot com. I agree with way2roll, results have a big error margin.
But to answer your question, reason for the membership is for access to their records. Birth, death, immigration. I found them pretty cool. Found my grandfather's immigration records from Ireland.
But research does take time but can be kind of fun. And if any of your relatives are in the system, them will send you notifications of possible cousins and such
* This post was
edited 12/29/21 10:25am by winnietrey *
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steveh27
Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
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Joined: 08/21/2004
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I used Family Tree DNA for the Y-DNA. That is passed down the male line. There are sites for family names to join with your results to see where you relate.
This is my site for Hamilton:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/g/a/gah4/HamDNA/H1.html
I'm not sure how to find other family name sites.
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jetboater454
Camping or home
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Joined: 07/21/2009
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Significant others' son used ancestry,com. Got the 1 year membership at a great discount. So far he has found over 20 related people. About 5 he has actually corresponded with. He likes it.
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lawnspecialties
Garner, NC
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My sister did Ancestry awhile back. Then about four months ago, she got a match and we found out our mother has a half-sister we never knew. The half-sister and my mom did the more extensive DNA test locally and it was over a 99% probability they had the same father.
It was a fun Christmas at Mom's this year with a new aunt and new cousins we never knew existed.
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jkwilson
Indiana
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Joined: 06/14/2010
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Unless you are a member of something like Ancestry.com, the information from such a test is of very little use. The biggest benefit is the matches you get to other members. The ethnicity is better than it used to be, but none a very good for Native American ancestry.
Just a heads up:
I’ve been doing genealogy for 25 years, and getting paid for 12 or 15 years. I’ve done searches for dozens of families, and at least half swear they have Native American ancestry, but not a single one did. It was often used as “cover” for ancestry that was less exotic and subject to discrimination. I’ve found Jewish, Romani, African, Turkish and Pakistani heritage in families who claimed Native American.
I also find numerous illegitimate children in almost every family. Siblings that aren’t. Parents that aren’t. Neighbors who are inexplicably close relatives etc..Virtually every family has a closet full of skeletons.
Don’t do it if you aren’t prepared to find out things like that.
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Fizz
Ottawa, Canada
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Joined: 07/28/2003
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![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/Otu2Zs8l.jpg)
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mikestock
Vestavia Hills, AL, USA
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Joined: 12/01/2002
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I'm not trying to do an in-depth search. I have had s a cousin who did some of that and found out some information and the likelihood that my fraternal grandmother was native American. As I have said, she was born in Shawnee, OK but she never answered any questions about it. I think she was embarrassed about her past. My grandfather died before I was born and when I asked her questions she would always say, "you're Scotch Irish like all good little boys.". I am sure she was derivative of Cherokee or Shawnee, but she would not talk about it. Being native American may have been something she didn't want to be a part of.
I'm not looking for any other great revelations in my past like being a cousin to Davy Crocket or Jessie James. I am only interested in my DNA.
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BCSnob
Middletown, MD
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Joined: 02/23/2002
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Like all tools there are the intended uses and the unintended consequences. Examples of unintended consequences for this tool are the elimination of “anonymous” sperm and egg donation and closed adoptions.
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