DNA Ethnicity estimates

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Permalink Reply by Kimberly Murray on December 11, 2023 at 3:09pm

Hi Keith,

I had the same thing happen to me, with the same companies! I tested separately with both Ancestry and MyHeritage and had different results, some of which I'm still confused about.

I did a bit of research and found that the results depend on where/what the company focuses their testing on. It's very tempting to test with a couple of other companies to see what their results would be. 

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Permalink Reply by Keith Michael Parkin on December 12, 2023 at 4:26am

Thank for the reply Kimberly. If the different companies have different results, without explanation, I would say it is pointless spending more money on the same test with others. They will all be playing the same guessing game.

It would be smart for an industry standard to be developed by scientist regarding region boundaries. Probably wishful thinking. It appears that ethnicity is based on each of the company's databases as reference point, the region you come from and in depth family trees they have on record of others similar to you. Here are some articles I found since posting the question.

https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/02/12/466379200/can-you-tell...

https://www.wired.com/story/your-ethnicity-estimate-doesnt-mean-wha...

So at best, its a guide based on records they have of other DNA samples.

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Permalink Reply by Kimberly Murray on December 12, 2023 at 11:05am

I agree, an industry standard would probably be the answer to so many questions. I don't think the testing companies can pinpoint anything exactly.

Here's my experience: I am 2nd generation Canadian on my mother's side (both her parents immigrated from Scotland), and on my father's side I am probably 5th or 6th generation Canadian - once again through immigration from Scotland. However, family lore states I also have Irish, Welsh, French and Eastern European - some of that lore comes from a story that my maternal great-grandmother was a gypsy, either that or Metis - depending on who is telling the story. Then, there's the lore of my father's ancestors being banished from Scotland, sent to Ireland then shipped to Australia. Most of my Ancestry tests correspond with what I know for sure and also correlate with some of the lore, MyHeritage, on the other hand, barely acknowledged the British side of my family and focussed on the Eastern European side and then added in Ashkenazi Jewish! There has never been a hint of Jewish in our family - Baptist, Presbyterian, Church of Scotland and United Church, are the only ones I've heard of.

I won't be testing with other companies, not only for the expense of it but because there are so many contradictions. I'm going to work with what I know for sure through documentation. I may never untangle the true stories and prove or disprove the lore. I know I can go only so far back in time. It's still a lot of fun looking into it and I have found some answers to questions my parents had - and, isn't that what it's all about? 

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