DNA testing for ancestry

[rikki]

Has anyone done this? I have a pretty good idea about my roots, but BF's family came here as slaves (he thinks) and has no idea from where. I thought it would be kind of neat to do this before the baby is born.

If you have done it, which company did you go with?

[LoveTrains]

I know that my FIL did it. His background is ashkenazi jew and it showed he was from Eastern Europe. I don't think it got more specific than that.

[LoveTrains]

I think some people on this board have posted about 23andme before.

[rikki]

Jan 22, 2013 15:37:18 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Can you please share (not specific details) but the level of info they provided?

[drloretta]

My MIL did. She and a distant cousin both did it so they could see where their families trees led and diverged. I can ask her who she used.

[nonsenseabound]

I just did 23andme. They are running a $99 special. I have not yet received results but I understand they give regional information but can't tell you that you came from XYZ village in Spain type info.

[cjeanette]

Jan 22, 2013 16:02:58 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Females get their Maternal Haplogroup. Basically, looks like this:

Haplogroup: H1, a subgroup of H
Age: 13,000 years
Region: Europe, Near East, Central Asia, Northwestern Africa
Populations: Spanish,Berbers,Lebanese
Highlight: H1 appears to have been common in Doggerland, an ancient land now flooded by the North Sea.

You don't get your dads side if you are female but males do. Males have both female and male sides.

The cool part is that you can compare your dna with others. I found 3 cousins on it.

[agnes]

Jan 22, 2013 16:02:58 GMT -5 kooshball said:

You don't get your dads side if you are female but males do. Males have both female and male sides.

So if it doesn't get your father's side, how does it work with the mothers?  Does it also exclude the male side from your mother's genetics?

Obviously, I don't know much about genetics and testing.  I'm not sure if this is a stupid question.

[Redpoppy]

I did 23andme. My brother got it for me for Christmas as he did it a while back. They are now $99 as they had a major investment to bring down the price. I'm waiting on the results now.

[FWP]

Jan 22, 2013 16:39:48 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Science! I guess the fathers dna is only passed in the Y chromosome or somethin. I am guessing something here does this for a living... DNA is too complex for me.

Mitochondrial DNA (not the chromosomes that you are probably familiar with) is passed from the mother to all her children, male and female (never passed from father). That's how they determine the maternal line info. The paternal line info for men is extracted from the Y chromosome (which women don't have and the same Y is passed from father to every son).

ETA - this means you only find out about the origins of a very small part of your family tree (great-great-great...great-grandmother for example). There was not much mixing before the world became the global community it is today, but if you know that your parents, grandparents, etc had very different ancestries, you can only learn some of it from 23andme.

[agnes]

Jan 22, 2013 16:39:48 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Science! I guess the fathers dna is only passed in the Y chromosome or somethin. I am guessing something here does this for a living... DNA is too complex for me.

Yeah, I would really want to know about my maternal grandfather's side.  They don't have very much info. 

[Lucille Bluth]

Are there any repercussions to having this done and then dealing with health insurance?

[FWP]

Jan 22, 2013 17:22:28 GMT -5 agnes said:

Jan 22, 2013 16:39:48 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Science! I guess the fathers dna is only passed in the Y chromosome or somethin. I am guessing something here does this for a living... DNA is too complex for me.

Yeah, I would really want to know about my maternal grandfather's side.  They don't have very much info. 

No go. You didn't get his mitochondrial DNA.

[FWP]

Jan 22, 2013 17:23:09 GMT -5 Lucille Bluth said:

Are there any repercussions to having this done and then dealing with health insurance?

customercare.23andme.com/entries/21252073

Federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act protects you from discrimination by health insurance providers and employers but not life or disability insurance providers.

[agnes]

Jan 22, 2013 17:23:54 GMT -5 FWP said:

Jan 22, 2013 17:22:28 GMT -5 agnes said:

Yeah, I would really want to know about my maternal grandfather's side.  They don't have very much info. 

No go. You didn't get his mitochondrial DNA.

That's a bummer.

[carfar]

Currently waiting for my 23 and me results.

[cjeanette]

I can't convince H to do it. He says it is a gimmick that may or may not be accurate.

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