23andMe Ancestry Service - DNA Test Kit with Personalized Genetic Reports Including Ancestry Composition with 2750+ Geographic Regions, Family Tree, DNA Relative Finder and Trait Reports

If you live outside the US do not buy this item. There is no way of shipping it back. So you basically loose your money

The testing is fairly simple: You receive a test vial (log in and register it on their website) and provide saliva up to the control line. Make sure you don't eat or drink for 30 to 45 minutes before providing your saliva sample. It is best not to brush teeth beforehand since it will wash away valuable DNA and you want to ensure your sample has enough to process. Yes I had a few failed kits in my life and that set us back months of getting results on those kits. Anyway it’s fairly simple to provide the saliva samples. Simple enough I had my 5 1/2 year old done and she was the easiest one to process. Then you place the kit back into included return envelope and wait for about 6 to 8 weeks for it to process. All while keeping tabs of the process online as each step finishes.I have tested both of my parents, my two children, two paternal aunts, my daughter's paternal grandmother as well as myself and two cousins whom I tested to confirm our relationship. If you test at least one parent, you can easily sort matches that are shared with that parent to determine which matches are maternal and paternal. Since both my parents have tested mine literally shows who matches me from each side and my children can sort their matches based on me being tested too.My paternal grandfather died in 1995 and took with him the secret of his past. He had ran away as a young boy and changed his name so we knew him only by the name he had taken. My family always yearned to know more about my grandfather's past but he had endured some sort of trauma or something and for whatever reason chose to never speak of it again. So we grew up only knowing half my father's ancestry - that of his mother.After my grandfather died, I set out on a mission to try to figure out more about his identity. I sent off for birth and school records but hit one dead-end after another trying to prove he was who he said he was. I spent hours going over census data on Ancestry's website, writing to courthouses across the country. The evidence pointed to the conclusion that he was not who he said he was. I had nothing really solid to go by. Until 17 years into chasing cold trails, I discovered ancestry type DNA testing. I figured it wouldn't hurt to order my dad a kit and see where that would take us. If I could just find one close enough match then maybe it would give us a good lead on figuring out my grandfather's real surname.After waiting for what seemed like months (it was actually only about 6 weeks) my dad's DNA was online (on 23andme’s secure site) and accessible along with all his many matches - which were basically cousins at various degrees of distance. It was one cousin (a predicted second cousin) in particular that gave me access to their family tree and actually dove in with me searching for clues that would lead us to my grandfather.Just 6 months into researching my father's DNA, I found my grandfather's family and figured out who he really was. I wanted to ensure that my information was correct and so I contacted the daughters to the man I believed to be my grandfather's brother and offered to test them both. Their test results confirmed they were indeed our 1st cousins. I have since been in contact with close and distant family via this newly discovered paternal side and even obtained a copy of my grandfather's family surname book. His absence was even recorded in the book! I solved an 83+ year mystery and gained a family I longed my entire life to know about. I cannot be more thankful that these tests are available and that it gives us such ability to solve things that seem impossible.Granted this all sounds way easier than it was and in all honesty it took planning and sorting and meticulous record-keeping to rule out my father's maternal matches. I literally mapped my father's DNA and researched every match labeling in an Excel document, which chromosome location that relative fit and what surnames fit within those matches. It’s given me new found respect and interest in knowing about each and every ancestor that left their mark within our DNA. It’s time-consuming, rewarding and addicting. I can say that with all honesty as I now manage 15+ kits on various DNA websites. I tested myself and both parents on 23andme as well as AncestryDNA and Dad was also tested on FTDNA but I met my most useful matches on 23andme. It was on 23andme that I found the best ability to pour over chromosomes - researching every detail I could.Oddly between 23andme and Ancestry their tests show a discrepancy in ethnicity estimates. One shows that my dad has a tiny trace of Native American (23andme) yet AncestryDNA does not show any trace whatsoever of Native American. My son has confirmed Native American and was only tested on 23andme and his percentage came back at nearly exact what is on his BIA blood quantum card. So I lean in feeling more comfortable with 23andme’s ethnicity estimates.IMPORTANT TO NOTE: You can take your raw data (once your DNA is processed) and download it from any of these DNA testing sites and upload them to GEDmatch for free. That site allows you to cross compare matches on there from all the DNA sites. As long as others have their data on their too you can look at those matches and even see where the match is on individual chromosomes, etc. It’s a great tool to utilize along with your DNA testing sites.FINAL THOUGHT: If you are looking to solve a mystery, 23andme is great. If you are looking to just fill in a family tree and you have a paid Ancestry membership or you are willing to pay for it, I would also suggest AncestryDNA. AncestryDNA gives you immediate access to your matches’ trees and you can in turn build on your own tree with the information. But if you are NOT a paid member to Ancestry, their AncestryDNA features are limited. I personally think its poor business practice for Ancestry to force people who already fork over money for the DNA kits to further pay to utilize services that should be totally included within the purchase of the kit. With 23andme, there are no additional hidden usage fees.Whichever one you choose, be prepared to discover a new you.

Pro: I have purchased both Ancestry and 23 and Me DNA reports and I've had paid professionals in multiple attempts to find my ancestors long before the internet and DNA sites ever existed. I spent hundreds of dollars to send someone to the Mormon Temple in Utah to research the census records, recorded documents on death and births, marriages, and all of that was valuable as far as it went. Interesting, but still in its infancy on what the possibilities will be in the 21st century and beyond. That is both thrilling and terrifying, in this age of internet piracy and lack of security.General Information: All I can say is be cautious and recognize the risks of agreeing to have these for profit organizations share your biological and health records with 3rd party agencies. I point this out because no one guarantees that our confidential information security measures are protected and the small print reveals that these companies are partners with labs and they do not fall under the same protection requirements as either of these DNA agencies that provide their services. Anything you 'volunteer' in surveys is on you, not them. Be patient as to the length of time before you get back your DNA results and reports. I've found the earliest estimated time they give you is likely to be not less than 30 days, but could be longer. This company gave me nearly daily updates as to when they received it, what stage they were now processing it, and estimated wait times were adjusted. Yes, they will also attempt to up-sell you to purchase more reports than you first ordered at additional costs, but I do recommend you wait until you see the results prior to ordering additional health reports, especially. If I'd been 50 years younger, health tests would have been more appropriate, but at this point, my whole life has been my teacher. If you are concerned because of genetic issues on future children, I think it would be well worth the extra cost to have peace of mind regarding that.So far, I have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams in discovering what my DNA has revealed and now know my family tree and historical stories are either fiction or facts. Let me tell you, the REAL stories are so much better than the ones you were told by your grandparents, parents and older siblings. You will discover your true race and ethnic biological makeup and that is liberating! At last, I know which legends were truth, and which were not. I always prefer the truth, but not everyone will want to know, so be aware before you start this journey that you may not like what you find. That's up to you to decide.Con: Mostly the risk of your previously confidential information now being subject to being weaponized by unethical pirates and scammers. Again, that's something everyone who participates needs to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks. Obviously, the larger the samples and groups of people that participate will enhance the data information and accuracy of these tests. At the present time, neither of these DNA competitors share their research information with one another, so that's a drawback. Ancestry.com will give you more historical data to identify the names of who you are descended from over the centuries. However, 23 and Me will give you raw data that you can use with other professionals and nail down additional traits. It also is the only one that will tell you how much Neanderthal you have inherited compared to the rest of the sample of people that have been curious. I recommend both of these plus diligent research by yourself and/or with someone you trust that have the skills to differentiate between the results if you want to delve deeper into our shared human history. Hope my review is helpful to you. Good luck!

Is 23&Me ancestry service worth paying for? For me, definitely YES. I wanted to know my ethnic breakdown and bought a test kit online.When it arrived, it was in a box with a sleeve around it that looks exactly like in the picture. I took the plastic wrap off, then the sleeve, and opened the box. Inside, there is a card with instructions for registering your kit and a place to write down your sample number (which is on the side of the spit test vial), a plastic biohazard bag for putting your completed sample in, and a plastic case with pieces of the spit sample tube that require simple assembly. Keep the box after you have opened it. You'll use it to return your sample. The sleeve on the box was for hiding the prepaid postage back to the lab.After you go online to the 23&Me website, and register your kit, you're ready to take the sample. Assembling the vial is easy. A spit cup screws onto the top of the tube, and you literally "spit in the vial". You can't eat or drink or smoke for 30 minutes before you collect your sample. If you do this wrong, you could end up with an invalid test result. The tube might look shockingly large at first, but if you look at the side of it there is a measure mark, and you can see where there is a cut off point inside the tube shaped kind of like a little upside down pyramid. Roughly a fourth of the tube is what actually collects your spit, the rest is simply space for handling the vial.Important: Be aware there is a little cap of solution attached to the spit cup. Don't snap that down until after you've spit in the tube! Once you have your saliva up to the measure line, snap that cap of solution down so it mixes with your sample. Then you can take the spit cup off the vial, and put on the secure screwcap to seal the vial closed. The kit comes with a sample bag to seal your tube in, then you put it back into the box that the kit came in and seal it. There is pre-paid postage on the box already, so you can ship it from home without having to go to the post office. Wait times for kit processing vary. Mine took approximately 2 months for the results to come in. You can monitor your kit's arrival and status on the 23&Me website, which tells you what stage of the testing process your kit is currently going through.I had the ancestry report done by 23 & Me, and I'm going to go back later and upgrade my report through the site, which is $100-$120ish extra depending on whether a sale is going on, to upgrade to the health report. By the way, when you upgrde your kit to include the health background services, there is no need to buy an additional kit. You can simply upgrade through the 23&Me site.Most of my results were expected, however, there was one surprise result, which was exciting to see. I received my maternal haplogroup, and also a chart that shows how far back in time (up to 8 or 9 generations, I forget) when my ancestor with that ethnicity lived.For people specifically looking for the possibility of Native American DNA, I'm including this part of the review for you. If your ancestor goes back further than 8 generations, I've been told by fellow dna geneology buffs that those results can "wash out" of your results. This has apparently happened to me. My great x5 grandfather was born on the reservation and is on the Dawes Rolls. His mother was 100% Peoria Indian. His mixed status is documented through census records. I didn't get any results for the Americas, Native American, or East Asian DNA through 23&Me, which would be an indicator that I'm part Native American. However, my results did show I am 10% broadly South Asian.I was curious if the South Asian result could somehow be misconstrued as Native American, and was told by dna buffs outside of 23&Me to download my raw dna data from the 23&Me site and take it over to GEDmatch. That is one of the bonus awesome things you can do with your DNA from 23&Me. You can download your raw genetic data in a file, and take it to other sites, like GEDmatch, and upload it there for an analysis using various databases.One of the things I noticed at 23&Me is that their South Asian dna, and my maternal haplogroup T1a1, both have very small sample sets in their database. I'm not sure what to make of this. Will these numbers change as more people take the test? Obviously. So, what will that do for testing results? There is nothing on the site to tell users how to fully interpret this information table, and whether or not more input into this database could potentially alter test results. That's the reason I'm leaving four stars instead of five. The interpretation tools on the site could be better in this regard. I've searched high and low for information on maternal haplogroup T1a1, but there really isn't that much information about it to be found on google. Certainly not enough to satisfy my curiosity. I felt like 23&Me should've had more detail on the site about specific haplogroups, after all, that is one of the primary features we're paying for. But let's get back to the Native American test results....After taking my raw dna and putting it through the world map filters in GEDmatch, I got a hit for 6% Native American DNA, which would be expected given how many generations in distance I am from my 100% Peoria ancestor. What's equally interesting, it turned out that the Native American marker was completely separate from my South Asian dna, which grew to 23% in the World22 and World9 databases. It was also able to take the South Asian portion of my dna and define it as Baloch. That small detail gives me a lot of information to go on when I go searching my family tree again. To sum it up, I encourage anyone interesting in, or looking for, Native American ancestry to take their 23&Me ancestry test results and run their dna through other databases for a broader picture.Since my results came back, I've bought kits for both my parents, and we are going to link them all through the 23&Me site, another great feature they have. There is a report area that allows you to see potential relatives as well. The only downside to that is if the other person has their information hidden (which most of my relative results do), it's hard to make use of it, although you can attempt to contact that person and ask to share information with them. I haven't been brave enough yet to approach anyone and ask to share their dna data. C'est la vie. Overall 23&Me ancestry service is a fun little tool for discovering your ethnicity and learning more about your ancestors. I'm very pleased with all the information I've learned from the site.

I gave 23andme 5 stars, because the product does exactly what it states. The process was simple, and the turnaround time for the results was both reasonable and on time. The 23andme app is also easy to use, and I liked the ability to monitor my sample's progress, during the whole process . There is also a find DNA relatives option, included in the app, where 23andme compares your DNA against all other participating 23andme subscribers. If and when the site finds a match, that person will show up as a DNA relative. Ok, having said that... Be warned!! Like I said before, this product does EXACTLY what it states it is going to do. You better be ready for whatever the results may be, because the DNA does not lie. 23andme is the ultimate Truth Machine, and hearing the truth can be very, very difficult. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to fully understand that the results you are expecting may not be the results you get. So proceed with an open mind and a forgiving heart, because you might need both.

I like the kit! I was able to figure out more about my ethnicity, so it was worth it. I do recommend to purchase it when it is on sale. I got it much cheaper on Black Friday and I had an Amazon gift card, so it was worth it for the lower price. If not on sale and it is not something you REALLY want, then maybe wait on it until there is a sale. I don't have a picture because I already sent the kit and received my results, but remember to register it on the app to make it work!