After seeing Anne Wojcicki on Shark Tank, I decided I liked her, and one day I might even use 23 and Me DNA testing in order to find some of my ancestors. In December of 2019, I went ahead and sent in some of my salivae to be tested. Once that was completed, I sealed it up in a postage-paid envelope. I think Target had a sale on them as a potential Christmas gift, and I bought it for slightly less than the $99 price. (Maybe $69?) If you are interested, I would be watching for a sale on 23 and Me soon, or if you can’t wait until then, order the kit online at 23andme.com. I can’t guarantee they will ever go on sale again.
If you can afford it, I think it would be a great Christmas gift for your parents and/or siblings.
23 and Me DNA Testing
The name 23 and Me was chosen because we have 23 sets of chromosomes in our bodies. DNA testing is only part of their business.
23 and Me has stories on their website about some of the results people have had after having their DNA tested. Some people have found their birth family or found members of their family they never knew existed, and everyone finds out their ancestry by percentages. I enjoyed reading some of the stories. My results were easy to read.
23 and Me is more than DNA results
Besides ancestry information, you can also answer questions to be part of other studies. These are health-related. If you want to be updated on your personal results in these studies, you can sign up for them at $29 a year. This will allow you to see exclusive reports. There isn’t a need to resubmit salivae for further testing.
I receive notices like the one to the right, which identified me as a person with one of the variants of a rare genetic disorder. Fortunately, I only have one variant. I need two to have the disorder. But I may have passed it on to my children. So it is information that is good to know. If something might concern you, they provide some things for free, like this test to the right. I’m sorry about the blurry pictures. They looked great on my phone.
My results
My experience with 23 and Me has been great. After seeing Anne Wojcicki on Shark Tank, I was convinced that it was a good thing. She is known as one of the most popular CEOs, and I would agree with that. So, after buying the kit at Target, I spit in the tube and sent it off. It wasn’t long before I received my results.
My results confirmed my Dutch/German heritage. The results showed 76.8% fell in the French/German category, which ends up as Netherland and Germany in my case. I also have 22.9% Scandinavian. That was a surprise to me.
Once you sign up for 23 and Me, you will receive emails from 23 and Me to see if you want to be part of a study. I usually opt out, but some of them are tempting.
My overall experience
I have sent messages to my first or second cousins. Some of them have been total strangers that I ended up liking. I have a second cousin with whom I’m in contact regularly. Unfortunately, she lives on the east coast, quite a ways from me on the west coast. After being friends for years, I discovered that she is also a writer. To me, that is something huge to have in common. Without 23 and Me, I would have never known her. She connected me with the family’s Facebook page, where there are pictures and information shared.
Some people do not take the time to answer the simple questions that will show up on their profile. If they complete these questions, we can compare our answers and see how close we might be related. If they don’t complete these questions, I usually don’t get a response back from them. I think they were only interested in their DNA and not finding ancestors. The questions aren’t that hard. I started with only a few surnames, but as I made progress, I could add additional names of my great-great-grandparents.
- Maternal grandmother’s birthplace?
- Maternal grandfather’s birthplace?
- Paternal grandmother’s birthplace?
- Paternal grandfather’s birthplace?
- Other ancestor’s birthplace?
- Family surnames?
Ancestors
If you are looking for your ancestors, you will likely complete all those questions and read the answers given by people whose DNA matches your familial DNA. 23 and Me fills in a Family Tree for you with all people that they have placed on your tree at the time you get your DNA results. As a note, the tree isn’t always perfect. I had a family member put in the wrong family. I was able to get assistance from 23 and Me to put her in the right family. It had me very confused, but it was easy to get resolved. So check your Family Tree accuracy. I doubt they make mistakes often, and this was years ago.
As you figure out your tree, you can add additional family members based on your own knowledge (deceased people or people that haven’t used 23 and Me.)
My mother had bound books on her maternal grandparent’s side and on my father’s paternal grandparent’s side. Having those and the information from 23 and Me, I have made lots of progress on the family tree. I was also able to find a cousin on my dad’s side, who sent me pages of family tree information. I have found many of my previously unknown relatives to be extremely helpful. Plus, my mom had a lot of pictures of people like her mom, in the picture to the right, of my grandma Coba and her sister Jennie (standing on the right). It’s nice to identify people in the pictures that my mom left behind.
The growth of your tree
I receive a list of new relatives every few months from 23 and Me. The list shows the closeness of the relationship. Lately, I’m getting all the 4th, 5th, 6th, or more distant cousins. I’m not so interested in them. But it is nice to see that my family tree is growing, even if I’m not adding them.
I have been disappointed by how few of my relatives have had their DNA tested. 23 and Me is a newer product, so there are many people out there that have used other companies. Unfortunately, those people will not show up on your tree unless they are retested by 23 and Me. I would say that is really the only disappointment I have had, and it’s not 23 and Me’s fault.
Have you had your DNA tested for building your family tree? I hope you are enjoying the experience. Make a comment below in the reply section. I’d love to hear how your family tree is growing.
