My Ancestry

Growing up, I was always told that I was a variety of different ethnicities. I grew up believing that I was part Native American, Pennsylvania Dutch, in German. Eventually consulted with my grandmother on my dad's side, and found out that apparently, I was also French and English. At the time, my parents and I were skeptical. But one day, I decided to have my genome sequenced, and my ancestry plainly laid out for me. This will be the day that I would see without a shred of a scientific doubt once and for all what I am.

23andMe is an interesting concept that allows you to send a saliva sample to a laboratory and received genetic testing results within 6 weeks. For the basic $99 kit (with some occasional discounts), you can have this company sequence your genome to figure out where your ancestry lies. For an additional $100, you can also have them test for health problems that may arise, who exactly your ancestors were, your risk for Alzheimer's and other diseases, and what you inherited from who. This time around, I did the basic model, as it was on sale at the time for $60.

Growing up, I was told that I was European, which made sense given my markedly white skin. But when I asked for an explanation about my tan complexion and why my eyes slant when I smile, I didn't get many explanations. I was told it was because I was Native American, but others thought that I was some sort of Asian. I didn't believe them, until I received my ancestry results. 

As it turns out, I was the first one in my family to have my genome sequenced, growing up I was told it I was European which made sense given my markedly white skin. But when I asked for explanation about my tan complexion and why my eyes slant when I smile, I was told it was because I was Native American. Yet, others thought that I was some sort of Asian. I didn't believe them until I received my ancestry results. As it turns out I was the first one of my family to have my genome sequenced, which meant that I would be the first to know for sure.

After questioning both sets of grandparents, I deduced that I was French, British, Dutch, German, and Native American. When I got my results though, I was surprised to learn that this was not entirely the case. Yes, my makeup was definitely markedly German. However, even though I was about 60% German, I was also about 20% British and French both. It turns out that I was not Native American at all, but I have Italian, Iberian, Scandinavian, and South Asian (Indian specifically) in me. I learned what my paternal and maternal haplogroups were, and as it turned out, I also found that about 2% of my DNA is comprised of Neanderthal. As it turned out, I was quite The Eclectic mixture of things.

If you've ever had a question you haven't been sure about regarding your ancestry, it's best to get checked. You can then send your reports from 23andMe to Promethease and they will sequence your genome results to predict for hereditary illnesses and other things for much cheaper than 23andMe does. Or if you want the complete report, of course, continue forward with 23andMe. By the way around, it's quite interesting to learn where you come from, and a worthwhile investment.

If you are interested in sequencing your genome to determine your ancestry, you can use this link to 23AndMe’s website to figure it out for sure.