Anyone have an interesting story to share about DNA testing (results) for ethnic

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   savvydatingposted 8 years ago

   Anyone have an interesting story to share about DNA testing (results) for ethnicity and Genealogy?
   
   I am receiving a DNA kit for Christmas (my brother spilled the beans) and I am giving one to another family member. So, I'd be interested to hear your stories about the fun, fascinating, surprising, dismal, and/or fabulous discoveries your DNA test revealed about you and your family, if you care to share!
   
   

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   Larry Slawsonposted 8 years ago

   My father ordered a DNA kit about a year ago.  For years, we had always assumed that we were Native American, but the test proved that we were of Eastern European descent instead haha. 
   
   One really cool thing happened with his kit as well.  He ordered it through Ancestry.com, and as a part of the fee you pay for the kit, the site allows you to message individuals that share your heritage (those it deems as family members and distant cousins).  For my father's kit, it connected him with a man on there that he had served in combat with nearly 40 years ago.  They were in the same unit and were good friends during the Vietnam War.  Well, as it turns out, they were cousins and never knew anything about it at the time!  Pretty crazy!  Haha!
   
   So you can definitely have some interesting things happen with these DNA kits.  The results might be very surprising for you!

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      savvydatingposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Lol. From Native American to Eastern European. That's quite a difference! I imagine it's kind of awesome to find out your real ethnicity so that you can learn more about a whole different culture. I loved your story about your dad. Very cool!!

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      fpherj48posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Larry. U have me extremely curious how U could "assume" U were Nat. Amer. UR family's ancestors surely would KNOW if they were indigenous 4 generations rather than immigrants from E Europe!! R U saying U found U have ZERO N.A. DNA?? Strange.

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      Larry Slawsonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      @Paula I should have clarified more.  My family was always told that we were partially Native American.  It was believed that one of my Great Great ancestors was of Native American descent.  But we were proved wrong haha.

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      savvydatingposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      That clarifies things, Larry. I didn't quite "get it" either.
      Thanks for asking , Paula.

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   Aime Fposted 8 years ago

   I did one back in September and it's one of the coolest things I've ever done.
   
   I don't know my biological father so I've always had half of my "indentity" missing (at least the parts determined by DNA) so some of it was a surprise.
   
   My mom's family traces back to the UK and Scandinavia mostly, and the DNA test has me at mostly Irish which makes sense. 
   
   I look like a pretty typical Irish/Western European girl so was surprised when I found I had significant amounts of Turkish DNA as well as East Asian and North African.  My mom is now getting a DNA test done as well as we're both curious where those came from!
   
   I would highly recommend plugging your raw data into GEDmatch.com after you get your results, you can do a bunch of other tests using different samples to give you a better idea of where DNA comes from (I found the areas on ancestry.com were extremely vague).  It also gives you matches not only through the company you test through, but for anyone who has uploaded to the site.  So for example, I tested through ancestry and I get my ancestry matches on there.  But on GEDmatch I get my matches from ancestry, 23andme, Family Tree, etc.  Really broadens your results!
   
   I was disappointed to not get any close matches that I could track to my biological father's side (lots of 4th cousins and I assume some have to be from that side but it's been VERY hard to narrow down), but I'm still really glad I did it!

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      savvydatingposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Awesome information, Aime. I have heard that FamilyTree is pretty thorough, but I did not know about GEDmatch. Is that so crazy that you have Turkish ancestry or what? It's funny that you only resemble your mom's side. Lol. Thank you for the tips!

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      fpherj48posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Yves... I am so intrigued by all of this and fully intend to go for it. You must be excited to be having it done! Do U ever watch "Who Do U Think U R?" onTV? Very fascinating. If U haven't seen it, U should check it out!

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      savvydatingposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Paula, I've not seen that show. I'll definitely see if my directv has it. Yes, I am very curious about the test. My grandmother was adopted....and I wonder... I hope you come back and share your findings, even if it's months from now. Yay!

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   cmoneyspinner1tfposted 8 years ago

   Never had the test.  Someone I knew said they had the test done and found out they were descended from Askenazi Jews.  I feigned surprise and amazement.  But the truth is:  I have no clue what an Askenazi Jew is.  I don't even know if I'm spelling right.  (O.o)

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      savvydatingposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Eeek! I hope he was not referring to the holocaust.... As in "ask a n___i." You never know with some people.

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      Aime Fposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Haha nooo it's Ashkenazi.  Most Jewish people are actually Ashkenazi Jews.

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      savvydatingposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Lol. What a relief. I have to laugh at myself. I don't know how I would have reacted in that instance. Probably, Threathy had the better response than I. I would have said, "What are you saying?" Ha! Thanks for clearing things up, Aime. Whew!

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