Ancestry.com

[dewilson58]

I'm a non-believer.


I have not done it.

My children have and find it interesting.

How about you???

[Martian]

I'm a non-believer.


I have not done it.

My children have and find it interesting.

How about you???





A non-believer in what? You don't believe you have ancestors? Ancestry.com is a site for doing research into you ancestors and providing tools for drawing a family tree.

Are you referring to their DNA service? You are saying you do not believe in DNA as a valid way to track your ancestry?

If so, yes, I believe that DNA is a valid tool. It is NOT perfect, but it is good and based on real science.

[manaboutown]

I did it years ago and the results were very much as I expected. They updated me a couple of times as their data base grew.

[billethkid]

I remain a skeptic.
It comes across to me that there is some sort of a matching of DNA that comes close. And any that does is reported as some related descendence.
Versus actual familial lineage.

I look forward to learning something from this thread.

[manaboutown]

I wonder if the FBI or other agency could gain access to their data base to solve crimes?

[Kenswing]

I'm not freely giving my DNA to anyone.. lol

[Marathon Man]

I have a friend who got a list of relatives. One of them was his first cousin who he grew up with. So, that make me more of a believer, or maybe less of a skeptic.

[dewilson58]

A non-believer in what? You don't believe you have ancestors? Ancestry.com is a site for doing research into you ancestors and providing tools for drawing a family tree.

Are you referring to their DNA service? You are saying you do not believe in DNA as a valid way to track your ancestry?

If so, yes, I believe that DNA is a valid tool. It is NOT perfect, but it is good and based on real science.




Sorry.

The whole, take my spit & tell me I'm 10% Japanese.


:shocked:

[Velvet]

No DNA test for me either, I consider it an invasion of privacy, the same way Apple wants my finger prints, and face recognition. I’m continually amazed that people are not concerned with the kind of access they give to strangers.

Information is power, and power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[villagetinker]

My wife found her half sister that had been given up for adoption shortly after birth. They met for the first time after almost 70 years. The half sister now has a whole family she never knew about! So we are believers. Now for the security aspect, there have been several stories about the sharing of DNA data, and I have many concerns about this, so i have chosen to not participate. While we have actually experienced the good/great side of the DNA testing, there are many other aspects are very troubling. For example, could insurance companies get your data and change or cancel your coverage based on test results, could your data be sold for targeted advertising for certain drugs, could you be held liable for incidentally giving out relatives info because you gave your DNA? This was done without their consent. lots of things to think about.....

[swooner]

I did it years ago and the results were very much as I expected. They updated me a couple of times as their data base grew.

Are you also related to Henry the 8th? Or the Queen of England? Or George Washington?

[Velvet]

Or is one related to Charles Manson, the Boston strangler, etc? The test can cut in many ways. The criminals data base has been collected by the police for some time.

[Velvet]

My wife found her half sister that had been given up for adoption shortly after birth. They met for the first time after almost 70 years. The half sister now has a whole family she never knew about! So we are believers. Now for the security aspect, there have been several stories about the sharing of DNA data, and I have many concerns about this, so i have chosen to not participate. While we have actually experienced the good/great side of the DNA testing, there are many other aspects are very troubling. For example, could insurance companies get your data and change or cancel your coverage based on test results, could your data be sold for targeted advertising for certain drugs, could you be held liable for incidentally giving out relatives info because you gave your DNA? This was done without their consent. lots of things to think about.....

That is wonderful news about your wife. I guess one has to weigh the possible positives to the negatives.

Personally, I generally dislike collection of private information since Caesar introduced the census so that he could collect taxes from everyone. The more information you give about yourself the more power people have over you.

[graciegirl]

I'm a non-believer.


I have not done it.

My children have and find it interesting.

How about you???





You are a non-believer you have ancestors? Nah. You are too smart. You are a non-believer that the data base is helpful in finding anything specific or interesting...…..right?

I had mine done. It said that over half of my ancestors were British. And I was the girl with the Dirndle.

I think it is kinda fun. Do it when it goes on sale.

[Martian]

While we have actually experienced the good/great side of the DNA testing, there are many other aspects are very troubling. For example, could insurance companies get your data and change or cancel your coverage based on test results, could your data be sold for targeted advertising for certain drugs, could you be held liable for incidentally giving out relatives info because you gave your DNA? This was done without their consent. lots of things to think about.....

Yup, absolutely. Things are changing and not necessarily for the better. I am not personally worried about DNA security for me. I. can certainly understand younger people being comic earned about even being denied employment. With employer provided healthcare (that I am totally against) the employers would get better rates is they don't hire people that have certain genetic markers...

[PJOHNS2654]

A little over a yer ago two of my nieces had their DNA tested. The test results listed them as first cousins. It also revealed that they both had two first cousins that they were not aware of, one of these cousins lived near them and another lived in Sweden. My investigation revealed that the cousin in Sweden was definitely my daughter who I was not aware of and the other was definitely my deceased brother's son that no one in the family was aware of. Of course I had to get my DNA tested and the results were conclusive.

We recently had a family reunion so we could all meet the newly found family members. My Swedish daughter looked more like my family than her mother's. By the way her mother (deceased) would never tell her who her father was and she had never told or tried to contact me. My newly found nephew looked more like my brother than his son who we have known all his life.

Being a former LEO I think I have some investigative skills and my investigation along with DNA results have convinced me that DNA does not lie.

[retiredguy123]

I think a lot of the information they provide is bogus. I wouldn't pay anything for it. But, even if it was accurate, I just don't care about my ancestry.

[Marathon Man]

A little over a yer ago two of my nieces had their DNA tested. The test results listed them as first cousins. It also revealed that they both had two first cousins that they were not aware of, one of these cousins lived near them and another lived in Sweden. My investigation revealed that the cousin in Sweden was definitely my daughter who I was not aware of and the other was definitely my deceased brother's son that no one in the family was aware of. Of course I had to get my DNA tested and the results were conclusive.

We recently had a family reunion so we could all meet the newly found family members. My Swedish daughter looked more like my family than her mother's. By the way her mother (deceased) would never tell her who her father was and she had never told or tried to contact me. My newly found nephew looked more like my brother than his son who we have known all his life.

Being a former LEO I think I have some investigative skills and my investigation along with DNA results have convinced me that DNA does not lie.

This is a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it.

[Marathon Man]

I remember when cameras were first going up in public places. A lot of people called it invasion of privacy. But we now clearly see the benefits that those camera provide. With new technology comes questions and suspicions, and rightly so. But I believe that many benefits of DNA testing are out there waiting to be seen.

[manaboutown]

Are you also related to Henry the 8th? Or the Queen of England? Or George Washington?

I don’t know or care. Are you?

[justjim]

Wife and I sent our DNA to ancestry.com as a Christmas gift to each other just for fun and information. What came back was very “general” and there was nothing that we didn’t already know from some research we did a few years ago. Sort of disappointed. We figured we had nothing to hide from anybody and didn’t give security matters a second thought. However, I know some friends and acquaintances who are close to being paranoid about their private matters and security to the point that it has become the major priority for them. Just because your credit card may be compromised is no reason to quit using credit cards. Its quite okay to have concern about your personal information and be careful not to give out certain personal information (i.e. Soc. Sec #’s, address, phone numbers to perfect strangers, etc). “Everything will be all right with you, when you are all right with everything”. anonymous

[Velvet]

...

[thelegges]

We have a forensic anthropologist DNA 5000bc, specializes in Egyptian, Native Mexico, Native Alaskan. Since he travels the world for data, we have quite an extensive Research. We got a better deal, but the education was more than $49.95 :faint:

[Two Bills]

I had mine done, and they sent the results to the police. Evidently I was Jack the Ripper.
Trial ccomes up next month!!

[600th Photo Sq]

I had mine done, and they sent the results to the police. Evidently I was Jack the Ripper.
Trial ccomes up next month!!

Reincarnated " Jack the Ripper ", so I guess you will be referred to as Jack the Ripper Part II. Interesting. :shocked:

[PennBF]

I spent about 2 years doing research on my ancestor's on both my father's and mother's side. For my brothers 90th birthday I gave him a chart that listed our fathers ancestor's going back to 1587. It was a real eye opener. In each case I listed our string of grandfathers, wives maiden names and their children. and all their birth dates and dates of their deaths. I understand that a lot of people don't care to know their ancestor's however it is a terrific way to get to know your background. I will not go through some of the high points as it only opens an avenue for some to try to act like critics or be pretend comics. A couple of good places to start are Ancester.com or MyHeritage. There are a bunch of other sources but these are good for starters. :popcorn:

[New Adventures]

I have used it and it has connected me with some of my family that I had never met before. As for the DNA, with all the blood tests done in my life I really don't see the problem so the outcome for me was good. But I understand that there may be hesitation for some, which is quite alright.

[Velvet]

The DNAs in 1587 may not have been that accurate. Don’t they say 6 degrees of Separation? We are actually related to everyone on the earth.

[dewilson58]

The DNAs in 1587 may not have been that accurate. Don’t they say 6 degrees of Separation? We are actually related to everyone on the earth.




You are so right my brother from a different mother.


:)

[mtdjed]

I had mine done and found out I was not related to my father's brother's nephew's cousin's sister's former room mate. I am a believer.

[NotGolfer]

Our kids got me an Ancestry kit for either a birthday or another occasion, a couple or so years ago. My curiousity was piqued so I purchased one from MyHeritage as I wanted to compare. I got the next step from MyHeritage because I wanted information on both grandmother's and whatever else info I could get. My family was traced back to the 1600's which was fascinating. I didn't re-new and now wish I had as they've improved some things. There are links that show documents, photos in some cases and more. I found distant cousins in my grandmother's native country, through one of them I reconnected with 1st cousins in the U.S. It's fascinating as a hobby for sure.

[birdawg]

My wife found her half sister that had been given up for adoption shortly after birth. They met for the first time after almost 70 years. The half sister now has a whole family she never knew about! So we are believers. Now for the security aspect, there have been several stories about the sharing of DNA data, and I have many concerns about this, so i have chosen to not participate. While we have actually experienced the good/great side of the DNA testing, there are many other aspects are very troubling. For example, could insurance companies get your data and change or cancel your coverage based on test results, could your data be sold for targeted advertising for certain drugs, could you be held liable for incidentally giving out relatives info because you gave your DNA? This was done without their consent. lots of things to think about.....

Nice.

[Number 10 GI]

I'm not concerned that the government might be able to obtain my DNA. I spent 21 years in the Army and held a Top Secret clearance for years and after I retired from the military I was investigated again for a Top Secret clearance in my civilian job. The government knows more about me than I do. I've had two colonoscopies so far and figure the government has that information also so they know everything about me.
I joined Ancentry.com a couple years ago and have discovered family that I had no idea existed, especially after I did the DNA sample. It showed pretty much what I expected, western European, England and Ireland, petty much pure bred white boy. No American Indian, no relation to royalty and so far no famous or infamous people, and no rich people either unfortunately.

I did have one surprise, a woman sent me a message saying "Hi cousin, lets talk". I went to her family tree and she had a thumbnail picture of herself posted and because the picture was so small it was hard to see it well. She has a dark complexion and I thought she was possibly a cousin I know of that is part Panamanian. I checked out her family tree and she is African American. We talked on the phone and tried to figure out where the family connection was but couldn't figure it out. A couple weeks later another cousin had gotten her DNA results back and she turned out to be the common link for the two of us. It is through my mother's side of the family and we believe one of her male ancestors apparently had a child or children with a black woman or the other way around. The African American cousin is from South Carolina and my mother's family ancestors also lived in that area for some years before moving to the Midwest.

The DNA test also turned up a cousin in Minnesota. I made contact with her and her great, great grandfather was a great, great uncle to me. Her great, great grandfather had left the Midwest and moved to California where he started his branch of the family. She retired from teaching and moved back to the Midwest. I went to Minnesota and had a nice visit with her and her mother. I also want to travel to South Carolina to visit the black cousin and meet her family. I am enjoying contacting family members as I was gone so long from home while in the Army and had no contact with them.

Ancestry also links your family tree that you build to other family trees that are related to you. Its really been interesting, unless you are fugitive from the law. If that's the case don't join.