Has Anyone Done A Test To Find Out Their 'identity'?

[Jennykenny]

I'm pretty sure that my DNA is Irish back to the nth degree, but am also curious.
Has anyone paid for a test for their background and how did it work out?

[Old_Geezer]

Think I'm too wary of having my DNA details analysed and "out there" ready for some cracker to purloin. Way too personal.

[Jennykenny]

Interesting thought.
Although if anyone was interested enough to single a person out, I think it would be easy? Thrown away chewing gum, cigeratte, half finished food or drink? I don't know; could these be used as samples?

[woofgang]

I am me.....that’s all I need to know

[jno]

yes. It turned out (much as I expected) that I have ancestors from four continents in the last 200 years, so I'm by no means the first migrant in my family. There are all sorts of different tests you can do, though - to tell you where your clan mother was living after the Ice Age, whether you have Neanderthal DNA and so on.

[Old_Geezer]

If there is a data record willingly given then one doesn't need to track each individual separately and grab their data from gum etc. You crack into a database and steal records by the millions. Valuable stuff. Especially to health insurance folk.

[wired]

Old Geezer, this is to check the origins of you DNA, not family health problems, quite different. My oh had the DNA check, to fill in some genealogy guesswork and it proved our suspicions, definitely alien

[Jennykenny]

Jno, how and where did you have it done and how much did it cost.
Many thanks.

[jno]

it was this one, jennykenny

https://www.familytreedna.com/family-finder-compare.aspx

They do have special offers from time to time. I have to say it wasn't perfect - they don't distinguish between, say- Anglo-Saxon and Celtic, though they do give you different strains fo some Europeans. They tell you how much of your DNA is from certain regions (you have to allow for the fact that some people will have moved around) but I found that although they got the regions I expected, some of the percentages were impossible because I already knew where most of them came from and the figures just didn't add up.

So really, it helps if you know some things before you start, and it helps if you have specific questioned you want to try answering. If not, be prepared to take some of the figures with a grain of salt.

Also, men get more detailed results than women do - women can only trace their maternal line; so it helps if you have a father or brother who can also take a test.

This one takes a longer view - telling you when your ancestors migrated out of Africa, whether you're a Neanderthal etc

http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/genographic-2.0-kits/geno-2.0-next-generation-genographic-project-participation-and-dna-ancestry-kit

There are lots of other tests covering different aspects of DNA, but I haven't tried them.

https://dnatestingchoice.com/ancestry/provider/the-genealogist/216

[Marshwarble]

I'm 3rd generation Irish.

[johnk]

jno, it often happens that some children aren't the biological child of the father unbeknownst to him so maybe the results are more accurate than you think. Not trying to insult your ancestors but reasoning why your results wern't as expected.

[clairson59]

I had mine done. I was curious because people often say I look foreign and I tan really well for a Brit even though both parents were born in England to English parents, grandparents etc. Turns out I am 45% British, 21% Scandinavian, 20% Irish and 6% Western European with a bit of East Europe, Russia and Jewish thrown in for good measure. My friends would agree I'm a mongrel...woof! My family tree matches from what I have been able to trace.