Ancestry DNA - My Experience and Results

Disclosure:  These are my own experiences with AncestryDNA.  I received no compensation for this post and this post is not done in partnership with AncestryDNA.

Today I wanted to share my experience with AncestryDNA and my results with you all.  Getting this test done was something I had been wanting to do for awhile, and after receiving the kit as a gift recently I now have so much more information about who I am genetically.  The results were actually quite surprising.

So for anyone wondering what the time frame for my test completion was it took about one month from when I sent off my sample to when I received my results.  The test itself was simple and consisted of a small saliva sample.  AncestryDNA includes a postage paid box to mail your sample to them for testing.  I received a confirmation email when they received my sample, an email when they moved my sample into the testing phase, and a final email with my results.

A little backstory is that as far as my ancestry provided by family members I knew that on my Dad's side I had German, Polish, and Cherokee Indian.  On my mom's side I knew of French and Sioux Indian.  Now I will preface this with the fact that both sides told me that I had Native American ancestry before I get into my results.  Apparently my DNA showed some contradictions to this as well as some interesting news.

Here is a picture of my results:

As you can see it shows the main regions of DNA origin which includes 50% Europe West, 19% Great Britain, and 31% other regions.  Europe West according to AncestryDNA includes Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein.  This made sense to me with my knowledge of German and French ancestry.  I will say that the 19% Great Britain came as a surprise and I am currently working on finding my ancestors from this area.

Notice however there is no mention of American Indian ancestry.  After being told of this on both sides I was shocked to see I had no American Indian DNA.  Upon researching, it appears that many people are told of American Indian ancestry when it is either based on incorrect facts or you do not have enough of this DNA to show up on a test.

Below is the expanded version which includes even more information:

Now came some more interesting news.  I am 11% Scandanavian and 7% Irish.  I had no clue and it really shows how eye opening one of these tests can be.  I also found the trace regions interesting but AncestryDNA warns that these are small amounts found and may not indicate genetic ethnicity for these regions.

When you get your results you also get a list of matches.  These are people who you are related to that have also completed an AncestryDNA test.  As of now there are over 3 million completed tests.  My current list shows 621 4th cousins or closer.  You can see what a great resource this test is.  You also have the ability to message your matches if you wish to connect and share information.

Overall I was very pleased with the whole process and my results.  If you are considering taking this test I highly recommend it, as the results may very well likely surprise you.