Who Do I Think I Am?

We have all seen the ads on television advertising finding your heritage through DNA testing. There are people who do specifically know where their ancestors came from; people who have no idea where their ancestors came from; and, like most of us, people who think they know where their ancestors came from. 

Those who are adopted probably have more questions than others. Being adopted, my adoptive parents were always open about my background and were pretty sure about my hereditary cultural background. So, I always felt pretty sure from where my ancestors came.  However, being the curious sort, I opted to do the testing offered by Ancestry.com – this was done several years ago. Most of my suspicions about my background were confirmed, but there were a few surprises. Having received the results, I did not bother with the DNA results again – until recently.

Again, television advertising led me to go back and review my results. The ads were touting that the results were now being able to give you more detailed locations as to where one’s ancestors came from and even migration timelines. So, I revisited those DNA results. And, what a change!

Originally, I was given the following estimates that no longer apply:

            15% from Ireland/Scotland/Wales

              5% from South Europe

              4% from Iberian Peninsula (Spain/Portugal)

              3% from Eastern Europe

              1% from Finland/Northwest Russia

Next, I was originally given the following estimates that have changed:

            Great Britain is now 39% - an increase from 9%

            Norway is now 27% - refined from the generality of Scandinavia of 20%

            France is now 21% - refined from the generality of Western Europe of 43%

            Sweden is now 17% - refined from the generality of Scandinavia of 20%

So, I originally went from having a potential of eight nationalities in my background (some of which were pretty general) to having just four:  Great Britain, Norway, France, and Sweden.

I have to admit that I am surprised by the proportion of my background to be English and also the inclusion of Sweden. But overall, it’s satisfying to get these refined results as I always did wonder about some of the background given in the initial results.

I guess I will not wait again for a couple of years to pass before checking those results.