As an only child, I've always been curious about my genetic genealogy and ethnicity, especially on my mother's side of the family. I am very lucky as my father had meticulously researched the genealogy for his side of the family (before the internet no less) and because of his efforts, I can trace our roots back to Alsace, Germany.
Unfortunately family on my mother's side never really discussed their ethnicity or genealogy and I just assumed that they were either Ukrainian or Romanian. Sadly there are no longer any living relatives on my mother's side that I can ask, so I decided to do the next best thing and do one of those fancy DNA tests they advertise. But which one?
As with any industry that has become popular, especially quickly, there are the front runner companies you always hear about - Ancestry, 23andMe and another I recently came across MyHeritage. Pricewise, MyHeritage is the cheapest at $99, Ancestry is next at $129 and then 23andMe at $249 (prices quoted are in Canadian). The tests from Ancestry and MyHeritage sequence your genes to help trace your geographic roots but they don't provide health and wellness information. On the other hand, 23andMe includes health and trait reports, but sadly the price of the test is a bit expensive for me.
Shortly after I ordered it online, the MyHeritage kit arrived in the mail. Shipping took about a week from the time I placed my order. The Ancestry kit took about a week longer to arrive.
I wanted to wait to do both tests, and send them back to their respective labs on the same day so waited until both had been received.
I excitedly opened the MyHeritage box first (I like purple what can I say LOL)
The MyHeritage Instructions indicate you should not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum for up to 1 hour prior to collecting your sample. The test is simple and requires you to remove one of the swabs from the plastic wrapper and use it to scrape the inside of one of your cheeks for 30-60 seconds. You then open one of the small tubes and insert the swab into the vial and push down on the top of the swab stick to eject the swab into the vial. You then close the vial tightly and repeat the swabbing of your other cheek with the second swab. After inserting the second swab into the remaining tube, you insert both vials into the clear plastic bag and close the ziplock top. The bag is then inserted into the addressed envelope and the envelope sealed for mailing. Unfortunately the envelope does not have the postage pre-paid by MyHeritage and you will need to apply appropriate postage before mailing - in my case, because the envelope is thicker than a regular letter here in Canada, it is considered oversize and cost close to $3 for me to mail it.
Next up was the Ancestry DNA test
The Ancestry DNA test requires you to fill a tube with your saliva. Instructions indicate you should not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum for 30 minutes prior to giving your saliva sample. I wasn't looking forward to spitting into the tube to the top of the line as I had read that generating enough saliva for the collection process can be a bit of work. I opened the tube and after a few minutes of spitting, I had enough saliva in the tube and was ready to get my sample ready to ship. Following the kit's directions, I placed a special cap on my tube which released a chemical solution (the blue stuff on the top) into the tube.
I placed the tube into the grey colored plastic bag and sealed it as per the instructions, then placed it into the box provided and it was ready for shipping. Interesting to note is most all of the other Ancestry test return boxes showed an address in American Fork UT. My box was going to be traveling to Dublin Ireland.
Prior to mailing the packages, both Ancestry and MyHeritage require you to active your tests online. Both processes were easy and quick. You cannot skip this step as you will not get your results unless you activate your tests.
Now comes the waiting. The tests were mailed today - May 8th. Ancestry indicates the test results will take 6 to 8 weeks from the time they receive the sample. MyHeritage indicates test results will take 4 to 6 weeks.
First impression:
The MyHeritage test was much easier to collect, although I think I "scraped" my cheek the first time a little too hard as there appeared to be a slight pink tint to the top of the swab when I placed it in the collection tube. I was not impressed that returning the sample was at my expense.
The Ancestry test took a bit longer to collect as you are required to fill the tube with your saliva. For me, it took about 5-6 minutes to complete this. I did like that the postage was pre-paid for returning the sample, although am a bit confused as to why the return address was Ireland rather than the US as I had seen in other blogs/vlogs.
I am very anxious to receive my results, and will give a full review upon receipt of both results.
** You can check out my updates on the process here - Update 1 and Update 2
* This is not a sponsored blog. All opinions are genuinely my own. Tests purchased by me *
Unfortunately family on my mother's side never really discussed their ethnicity or genealogy and I just assumed that they were either Ukrainian or Romanian. Sadly there are no longer any living relatives on my mother's side that I can ask, so I decided to do the next best thing and do one of those fancy DNA tests they advertise. But which one?
As with any industry that has become popular, especially quickly, there are the front runner companies you always hear about - Ancestry, 23andMe and another I recently came across MyHeritage. Pricewise, MyHeritage is the cheapest at $99, Ancestry is next at $129 and then 23andMe at $249 (prices quoted are in Canadian). The tests from Ancestry and MyHeritage sequence your genes to help trace your geographic roots but they don't provide health and wellness information. On the other hand, 23andMe includes health and trait reports, but sadly the price of the test is a bit expensive for me.
Shortly after I ordered it online, the MyHeritage kit arrived in the mail. Shipping took about a week from the time I placed my order. The Ancestry kit took about a week longer to arrive.
I wanted to wait to do both tests, and send them back to their respective labs on the same day so waited until both had been received.
I excitedly opened the MyHeritage box first (I like purple what can I say LOL)
The MyHeritage Instructions indicate you should not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum for up to 1 hour prior to collecting your sample. The test is simple and requires you to remove one of the swabs from the plastic wrapper and use it to scrape the inside of one of your cheeks for 30-60 seconds. You then open one of the small tubes and insert the swab into the vial and push down on the top of the swab stick to eject the swab into the vial. You then close the vial tightly and repeat the swabbing of your other cheek with the second swab. After inserting the second swab into the remaining tube, you insert both vials into the clear plastic bag and close the ziplock top. The bag is then inserted into the addressed envelope and the envelope sealed for mailing. Unfortunately the envelope does not have the postage pre-paid by MyHeritage and you will need to apply appropriate postage before mailing - in my case, because the envelope is thicker than a regular letter here in Canada, it is considered oversize and cost close to $3 for me to mail it.
Next up was the Ancestry DNA test
The Ancestry DNA test requires you to fill a tube with your saliva. Instructions indicate you should not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum for 30 minutes prior to giving your saliva sample. I wasn't looking forward to spitting into the tube to the top of the line as I had read that generating enough saliva for the collection process can be a bit of work. I opened the tube and after a few minutes of spitting, I had enough saliva in the tube and was ready to get my sample ready to ship. Following the kit's directions, I placed a special cap on my tube which released a chemical solution (the blue stuff on the top) into the tube.
I placed the tube into the grey colored plastic bag and sealed it as per the instructions, then placed it into the box provided and it was ready for shipping. Interesting to note is most all of the other Ancestry test return boxes showed an address in American Fork UT. My box was going to be traveling to Dublin Ireland.
Prior to mailing the packages, both Ancestry and MyHeritage require you to active your tests online. Both processes were easy and quick. You cannot skip this step as you will not get your results unless you activate your tests.
Now comes the waiting. The tests were mailed today - May 8th. Ancestry indicates the test results will take 6 to 8 weeks from the time they receive the sample. MyHeritage indicates test results will take 4 to 6 weeks.
First impression:
The MyHeritage test was much easier to collect, although I think I "scraped" my cheek the first time a little too hard as there appeared to be a slight pink tint to the top of the swab when I placed it in the collection tube. I was not impressed that returning the sample was at my expense.
The Ancestry test took a bit longer to collect as you are required to fill the tube with your saliva. For me, it took about 5-6 minutes to complete this. I did like that the postage was pre-paid for returning the sample, although am a bit confused as to why the return address was Ireland rather than the US as I had seen in other blogs/vlogs.
I am very anxious to receive my results, and will give a full review upon receipt of both results.
** You can check out my updates on the process here - Update 1 and Update 2
* This is not a sponsored blog. All opinions are genuinely my own. Tests purchased by me *
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