My husband and I decided to get our DNA tests. We chose ancestry.com to do the test because they do autosomal testing and also because I’m been a member of their website since 1999 and have my Family Tree posted on the site.
I had hoped that the test would help me through a ‘Brick Wall’ and, while that hasn’t happened yet, a few things have happened. DNA results rely on the test itself and accompanying genealogy records. I found that the majority of my DNA came from the British Isles, which my research over the years has proven, but the surprising part was the 22% Scandinavian ancestry the test revealed.
I’ve been contacted by a number of people who share my DNA and are close cousins. Because I’m a Genealogist, I’ve been able to help a couple of them find out exactly how we connect and been able to help them with their research.
Then, a couple of days ago, I was contacted by a ‘new’ distant cousin who asked a couple of questions, and then mentioned that she lives in Ivins, Utah – about 3 miles from where I live in Santa Clara. We met for lunch and had a wonderful time getting to know each other. We found that we have a lot in common. We found we are both members of DAR [Daughters of the American Revolution] and attend the same DAR Meetings, but would never have made a connection to each other without the test. She is also a member of Mayflower Association. We are now working together our Mayflower lines.
There are several places to have your DNA test done by sending in a sample of your saliva. Besides Ancestry, the major places are MyHeritage, FamilyTree DNA, and 23andMe. Some sites allow you to upload your results to your family tree on another site. For example, I also have my family tree on MyHeritage and was able to upload my results to that site. DNA can be the gift that keeps giving and hopefully it may prove to break my ‘Brick Wall”
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