Twins get 'mystifying' DNA ancestry test results (Marketplace)

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[elliottmanning]

My Kids cried when they found out that they were NOT adopted...

[felicitymc]

Just don’t tell me the neanderthal profiling is wrong cause I’ve already bought the cave and taken up grunting

[tomearnest]

I was adopted at Birth. At the age of 68 I was given a DNA kit as a gift. At the age of 70 I decided to use it. Didn't figure I would find out much of anything. Boy was I wrong. Not only was my ethnicity different than what I had been told but I found five full siblings, a half-brother and 35 or 40 first cousins.

[garshtoshteles]

Short version for those who feel impatient:
DNA tests do not test against ancestors but rather against the contemporary populations whose DNA has been collected and analysed by the companies. Therefore this is rather statistical analysis of the DNA and isn't certain, but rather uses confidence intervals to make it seem more certain than it is. Maternal haplogroup helps to add some certainty in some cases, but it's limited.

Second point: The twins have DNA that the kits assert are either mostly Eastern European, Balkan/Greek, or Italian (they have some Spanish in some of them, too). This is extremely reasonable to have this distribution, as admixture among these populations was actually very common, especially via maritime trade and movement on the Mediterranean.

[maryphillips]

My mum found her long lost sister through a DNA test, who found other relatives. It may not be accurate, but it's useful to pull broken families back together

[gjscomputerstuff]

My Mom has always told me I'm from another planet, so I've never bothered to get tested.

[McGregor]

If you would like to find your lost relatives, just announce on the network that you hit the Lotto 🧐😉😂😂😂

[Zelig_G]

My friend discovered her mother had an affair and who she thought was dad, wasn’t. Her mother tearfully fessed up.

[Mia_M]

I think why most people are surprised is because they don't take into account the patterns of human migration throughout human history. So many people have moved, been conquered, have conquered, and as a result there's a lot of mixing in the overall population.

[icturner]

They seem really clueless about Sicilian history. It has been a melting pot for people from all of the Mediterranean (i.e. including Iberia and the Middle East) for thousands of years.

[DoubleDogDare]

I took the Ancestry test. If it was accurate, based on my oral family history, it would be very specific - both sides of my family came from Friesland, in The Netherlands. It was one small spot in Europe, nothing else would fit what I was told. And Ancestry nailed it. It zeroed in on Friesland like a laser beam. In my case I can vouch for Ancestry. Did not try the others.

[Sampson]

I really appreciate this story. Good on you and your sister for doing this, thank you!

[flexingingodspeace]

Your DNA doesn't change, the way that they analyze the information does.

[cricketkiser]

My sister found our long lost aunt who was given up for adoption.... I think it's worth it ❤

[wagygirl]

Many site’s specifically say, siblings can have different results, even twins.

[kctn]

Speaking as a genealogist, along with being a long time user of Ancestry, Gedmatch, My Heritage DNA. The ethnicity results may not be fully accurate. However, your DNA matches are 100% spot on and that is the most important information that you can have.

[sinisacirovski]

Don't know why these Sicilian sisters are suprised they have Balkan/Greek genes when Greece colonized a lot of Sicily.

[Sam-eyns]

Lol, my sister got one of these for my parents and it caused mad drama. First my mom's results came back telling her she was 0% Italian when her grandparents immigrated from there and there is still a whole village of people in N Italy with her maiden name. It said she was French. Since talking to the extended family, I think the test is just confused by the Northern Italians. Then my dad found out that his mom lied to him his whole life about who his real dad was... So, they should really have a disclaimer that says something like, "We are not responsible for the secrets of your slutty grandparents!"

[mygirldarby]

My family on both sides kept ancestry records that were detailed and went back four generations. I did 23andMe and didn't know what to expect. I was not surprised by any of the results. It was exactly the percentages I had been told. I was expecting maybe a surprise or two, but nope. I was even given the same percentages of German, French and Irish from 23andMe that I had calculated from records. So there you go...my husband also got the results he expected.

[charlottebezuidenhout]

What a brilliant and informative content… thank you so much