People have a lot of questions and concerns regarding DNA testing. That’s understandable - for one thing, it’s relatively new and for another, it’s much misunderstood.

So, first things first, what DNA testing won’t do: it won’t magically reveal or draw up your entire family tree back to the year dot – as some people seem to expect and are sorely disappointed to find that, even after they’re received their results, there’s still a lot of work to do!

What will it do?  Unlike using documents alone, which only tell you part of your story, DNA testing can help you to confirm whether or not those documents are correct, help put you and/or keep you on the right track and, can go a long way in helping you understand the bigger picture.

But there are so many tests out there I don’t know what kit I should use! There are various types of DNA testing kits commercially available from a variety of sources. For genealogical purposes, however, the most common (and for good reason as they have the largest and best database) are Ancestry’s autosomal kits. These are the ones family historians work with the most as, for most people, they’re good for researching back for between about 5 to 8 generations. If you haven’t ordered or done one yet, and finances are a concern, we’d recommend waiting for an offer.  They do regular discounts at, say, Christmas, Mother’s and Father’s Days, Easter and Black Friday – as well as intermittent random offers throughout the year. Obviously, as these are the most popular times for people to order their kits, this may impact how long it takes to receive your results -  but in our experience, it’s unlikely to take beyond about 8 to 10 weeks. Other testing kits are available from other companies, and we can work with them, too, but Ancestry is our ‘go to’ if asked.

Are they safe? Generally, yes. We’ve used them for years with no issues whatsoever. But if you have specific doubts or concerns, it’s always good to read the small print to ensure that you, specifically, are OK with their terms and conditions.

In the old days, long before DNA testing became so easily accessible, family historians embarked on this journey in good faith. They dutifully did everything they were supposed to - studiously following paper trail after paper trail, pursuing every last record and noting down every minute detail they could find in every document they could lay their hands on. Consequently, they accumulated reams and reams of documents, photographs and ephemera relating to people they wholeheartedly believed were their bloodline. Why wouldn’t they - they had all of the necessary documentation to prove it, after all.

Then along came DNA testing - and up-ended everything.

For some, decades of research went out of the window overnight. Years of painstaking, carefully documented and referenced investigations became irrelevant. Suddenly, they found themselves back at the start.

The main issue for most was that they’d simply taken a wrong turn at some point, way back in their early research, when they were inexperienced novices – but they may never have even noticed or rectified the issue without DNA testing.

Some, however, found the issue was far more serious - but, again, it may never have even come to light without DNA testing. Documents, you see, are not infallible - no matter how careful a researcher you are. They’re filled in by people - and people can make mistakes. Or, they can act in good faith and tell the truth as they know it to be - which may not have been the truth at all. Or they can simply lie.

There can be many reasons for this. Non-Parental Events, for instance - or NPE’s as they’re known, when a parent, grandparent etc turns out not to be who you were expecting  - are not as rare as you might think. In fact, we’d go so far as to say: they’re pretty common indeed. Many/most families have them – and they’re probably more common the further back you go. Yes, even your great great great granny was young once - so was your great great great grandpa. And despite the rose-tinted spectacles of nostalgia obscuring the view, the fact is, not everyone in our family lines was as perfect or as infallible as we’d like to think they were - regardless of what their carefully researched documentation suggests. (Obviously, there can be more sinister and unsettling reasons for an NPE too, but we won’t go into those here).

Consequently, some find DNA matches with people that, just following the paper trail alone, may never come to light. A surprise second or third cousin, say, because it turns out that great great grandpa had an entirely different family that no one ever knew anything at all about. Or perhaps he simply remarried after great great grandma passed away - and that line has long been forgotten about thanks to the rift it caused. Or perhaps he had an entirely secret life outside of his relationship with great great grandma - and only DNA testing could ever have shed any light on it.

Similarly, great great grandma may not have been the perfect person we like to think she was either. Did she have a child before marriage? Was her marriage as perfect as it looked from the outside? Not all were. But divorce was rare in the old days - socially frowned upon, expensive, nigh on impossible for women to initiate…so highly unlikely. Relationships, however, were still the same; they still went through the same trials and tribulations back then as they do now. Perfectly decent young women still got pregnant outside of marriage in the same way. Perfectly decent young men got women they never married pregnant. They both had affairs. They both met different partners who took on their existing children as their own…Etc. Etc. Etc.

For some when they realise this has happened, there can be a disturbing realisation that all was not what it seemed in their perfect family line. They might feel shock, hurt, resentment, disbelief…. etc. They might find it hard to believe that their dear old great great grandma or grandpa would do such a thing. But of course they would - they were just people, as fallible and as prone to indiscretions as the rest of us. No matter how pious or perfect we like to paint them, or however they may seem to us with our rose-tinted spectacles: they weren’t Saints! They were just human beings who undoubtedly had their reasons for living their lives the way they did – and who are we to judge?

Where adoption or suspected adoption is concerned, DNA testing is even more essential.  In far too many ‘official’ adoption cases, for instance, DNA testing is still, all too often, the only way to bypass overly-complicated, needlessly off-putting official channels to accessing paperwork – the guardians of which all too often seem to want to block adoptees or those looking for them from finding one and other.  Often, that’s not intentional – no matter how it might seem to those searching for their loved ones.  But in the past, for whatever reason, many adoption documents were given protection for a prolonged period of time – preventing officials from releasing them no matter how much concerned parties might beg.  Of course, some may be released, in part – but with any identifying or for those searching for loved ones, useful, information redacted. Or, in the case of unofficial adoptions (such as foundlings, or where the care of a child was simply handed over to a trusted family member or friend, say) there may no documentation whatsoever - official or otherwise – to prove who a child’s biological parents actually were.

Whatever the case, these days complicated situations like these can usually be bypassed and resolved relatively quickly with DNA testing. And the more people test, the easier it becomes.

Family history researching comes with serious risks for everyone involved. With the best will in the world, some people go into DNA testing ill-prepared for what they might uncover. It’s all very well researching a paper trail to find a ‘known’ or well-documented history; but genetic testing can upend all of that in a heartbeat and throw all they knew, or thought they knew, into complete disarray.

It’s important to us that ALL people working with us understand this from the outset. Prepare for every eventuality, from the extreme to the mundane and everything else in between.  None of us know what we may find.

What data is used for by companies?

What if the company who owns my data is sold?

What can you find out through DNA?

We can help you make sense of your results, contact us here to discuss your requirements.