AncestryDNA Testing

First Estimate

Revised Estimate

AncestryDNA is a DNA testing service for genetic ethnicity estimates and identifying potential DNA matches. The kit costs $129 at the moment but sometimes a discounted price is offered on special occasions. It is so far available only in a handful of countries. 

The process of DNA testing is actually quite simple. You register and pay for the kit online and receive a DNA testing kit in a week or two. The kit includes a saliva collection tube and a pre-paid return mailer. After returning the sample, the DNA results become available at the AncestryDNA website in around two months.

As far as the actual ethnicity estimates are concerned, it can provide much more detailed information if one has European ancestry. However, in the case of other regions, it is still quite crude. For example, the whole of South Asian ancestry is bundled under one ethnic group. 

It is also a rapidly evolving field and ethnicity estimates can change as new data becomes available. In my case, initially, my ancestry was reported as 95% South Asia, 4% Central Asia and less than 1% for Finland/Northwest Russia region. However, this was later revised to a 100% South Asian ancestry.

One nice feature of the ancestry site is its tool for family tree creation. One can add photos, records and a lot of details about one’s family members and ancestors. Its layout is easy to manage and handle. However, it has a drawback when it comes to cousin marriages.  Add a few such relations and the whole tree becomes jumbled. There is no solution to date on the Ancestry site about resolving this problem (apart from avoiding cousin marriages in the first place).

The DNA matches that I received were mainly in the 5th to 8th cousin range and do not seem to be quite reliable. This is understandable since the kit is only available in a few developed countries. I hope that this will change in the future as DNA testing techniques improve and become more widely available throughout the world.

Update: October 2019