Ithought about taking a DNA test for years. My paternal grandfather was illegitimate and so was a greatgrandmother and her mother!
But I hesitated.
If I’m honest I wondered whether spending that amount of money would be worth it and, more importantly, whether it would help with any of my ‘missing father’ brick walls. I watched as prices slowly began to fall and the choice in tests grew. I finally took the plunge in 2017 at a family history show where there was a tempting, too-good-to-resist offer on a FamilyTreeDNA test. And, oh what an exciting, educational and sometimes frustrating area of genealogy it opened up!
Goodness, I was naïve, having done little DNA research despite being a long-standing family historian. It was a steep learning curve and I made mistakes but, ultimately, I’m so glad I took that first step.
So here is my (hard learned) take on the tests available and the pros and cons they have.
I won’t be covering Y DNA or MtDNA tests here. Instead, I’m focusing on autosomal tests which are the most popular DNA tests taken by family historians from the following companies: 23andMe, Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA, LivingDNA and MyHeritage.
Let’s dive into the details!
Cost
Prices vary greatly depending on the time of year. Many of the companies offer discounted tests around Christmas and Black Friday; Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are also popular times to drop prices.
However non-sale prices are: 23andMe £99, Ancestry £79 plus shipping (£9.99 for one kit and then £4.99 for any additional kits ordered at the same time), FamilyTreeDNA £70 (depending on conversion rates from dollars to sterling), LivingDNA £74.95 and MyHeritage £84. Some of these companies require a subscription to access all the tools (see below) so this needs to be factored in.
Taking the test & waiting times
Whichever company you use they will need a sample of your DNA. Some companies (23andMe and Ancestry) ask for a small vial of your saliva, the others (FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage and LivingDNA) require a cheek swab. Both methods are painless and
