DNA Tests & Results

It is fascinating to me that DNA tests from different companies can provide different results. Why is that I wonder? They say it's because they each use a different algorithm to determine percentages - that may be so but, I wonder how some can be so different.

I am an Ancestry.com girl through and through. It is where I have built my family tree, spend hours reading and researching, and it's where my son and I have taken DNA tests. 

If you familiar with AncestryDNA then you know that once (sometime twice) a year they launch an update with updated percentages and data.

The most recent update came in July 2022.

The previous update, which came in April of 2022, showed slight variations in percentages but listed all the same regions.

Things got even more interested for me when I took a DNA test from MyHeritage. Now, like I said - I am an Ancestry.com girl but, because of a large following I have on a particular social media page, MyHeritage reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in taking their DNA test and making a couple of videos about the process. Of course, I agreed! Who doesn't love a free DNA test?

I was very surprised when I received my results from this test. Not only did the MyHeritage test show that I have ZERO Scottish ancestry (while my AncestryDNA test showed 48% - maybe they're lumping English and Scottish in together? If so...I definitely don't like that!), it also showed that a have a (very) small percent Ashkenazi Jewish. My jaw hit the floor when I saw this. I have never come across this in my research. Heck, I had to google what an Ashkenazi Jew was! Ashkenazi refers to Jews who established communities in western Germany and northern France in the middle ages. Still, I had no clue! I have yet to find any significant link to this data - aside from this one DNA test but, you all will be the first to know if and when I find out more!

Now, do I suggest taking a DNA test? YES! My recommendation is to take an AncestryDNA test. Ancestry has a TON of resources to research your findings, link you with relatives (if you so desire), and provide answers to questions you may not have even known that you had.