Ancestry.com DNA Profile Kit: What You Get and What You Do

PRODUCT DETAILS:

What it is:  This DNA kit provides a person with a DNA profile of their racial mix.  The database can also provide information about distant relatives (if they have taken the test) and help you develop your family tree if you so choose to.  Mind you that developing the family tree may result in additional fees to have full access.  However, there is only one price for the DNA kit, and you are not obligated to do the family tree if you are not interested.

Website:  https://www.ancestry.com/dna/

Cost:  The kit costs $99.00 plus shipping.  I think it is around $108.00 in all.  You can save on shipping if you order more than one kit.

What you get:  A box that contains an instruction manual, baggie, test tube, funnel, topper with a preservative solution, and a prepaid postage box.

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Some time ago, a friend on Happify wrote a post about how her son--for his Christmas present--wanted to do a DNA profile test offered by a site called Ancestry.com.  Ancestry.com is a site that offers databases for people who are interested in making their family tree.  They have access to records not only in the United States but from other countries as well.  Of course, you have to pay a subscription fee to have access.  There are two subscriptions--one for the United States only, and then another for World Access. In addition, they offer this DNA test that gives a person their racial profile.  You can do the test even if you aren't interested in doing the family tree.

An example used on Ancestry.com's site of the type of information the DNA profile test gives you.

I was intrigued, but at the time, I wasn't curious enough to spend $99.00.  Of course, for a DNA test, even a general one, it isn't that bad of a price.  I'm accustomed to DNA tests costing several thousand dollars.  Still, at the time, there were other things I preferred to spend my money on.

I don't know if it is because I'm in my forties now.  There comes a time in our life that we do want to know more about our roots.  For me, I am starting to realize how much the past does affect us--and not just our past.  We are the sum of our relatives and our race.  That can be a depressing thought, but if we have any hopes of overcoming the damage inflicted by the sins of our fathers and by the past...then we need knowledge of who we are.

My uncle actually did a family tree some years ago.  He focused on the relatives that were in the States.  If he used Ancestry.com, either he reached a dead end or didn't choose to pay for the World access to documents (which is more expensive of a subscription).  I was a bit horrified by his discoveries really, though it was neat that he could trace our family line so far back.  He found photos, and that was a bit scary.  The people looked like they came out from under a rock, and I was left wishing someone hadn't moved that rock...even at the risk that I may have never existed.  I also found out that my mother and father are distantly related...that somehow even though they come from two different states (my father is from Maryland, and my mom is a native Floridian), they managed to marry a distant relative.

I also began to suspect that we aren't as Caucasian as we may now appear.  The farther back my uncle went, the more...unusual...the names were.  They didn't seem like the typical names white people gave their children.  As time went on, mom started remembering these relatives that had been rather dark and had features not commonly associated with Caucasians.  What is really funny about that is that my family was horribly prejudice.

My curiosity has deepened with the birth of a new generation, children who were born several years after their grandparents have died.  Yet, these children often display mannerisms of my grandparents.  They never knew their grandparents, and they are too young to understand even if someone cared to mention the mannerisms...though they are usually things people probably overlook.  It got me thinking...how much does our DNA influence us?  Unless you want to explain it away with reincarnation, then you have to wonder if there is such a thing as cellular memory.

Of course, some things develop, no doubt, not because of cells or reincarnation--but because of environment.  I've been reading a lot of books about slavery, and I have started realizing how much damage slavery did...how its influence still can be felt today.  To me, slavery being abolished not only was good for the blacks but for the whites as well.  However, though we are taking steps in the right direction, the wounds from that period can still be felt today.  However, these wounds probably were passed down due to environmental influence.  Slavery molded a certain mindset, developed certain fears, that were passed down.  This is true of both the former slaves and the former slave owners.  As a child, though I grew up in a time that prided itself in being enlightened, I realize now that I had inherited many prejudices.  What was terrible is that it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized this.

Setting race aside, family dysfunction is another thing that is probably passed down due to environment.  Your grandfather having an abusive alcoholic father will come down to haunt you.  People who don't face their demons often pass them on to the next generation.  You can cut your children out of your will, but you will always leave them that as a legacy.  The reason why this happens is because people pass on their fears, their priorities, etc.  Even if a child rebels and vows not to become like their parents, inevitably they often still pass on a certain amount of things because they don't realize they have this inheritance.

All of this has made me curious about what is in my genes.  Of course, the test won't tell me about family dysfunction...but if I know the racial mix, I might be able to determine what wounds are my legacy.  For instance, I have always had this nausea whenever I hear about French history.  I almost have an aversion to the topic.  I've been afraid of French people, which is terrible particularly as they often seek me out as if I'm some long lost comrade.  Some languages, when I practice them, seem "natural" to my tongue.  Of course, this may be due to the fact that English itself is a mosh pot language.  Is it possible, though, that my roots explain some of this?  That is what I want to find out.

I suppose, too, it may be a way of broadening my view.  Race is something we use to define ourselves.  I have always considered myself Caucasian.  However, does this divisive mindset interfere with us accepting our fellow man?

Anyway, suddenly I did want to know more about my racial profile.  Yesterday, I received the kit in the mail.  It was in a cute little box, small enough to fit in my mailbox.  The picture above shows the kit after I've already done the sample--but before I package it to send it off.  I will do a later blog once I get the results, which will be sometime between December and January.  The results take 6-8 weeks, and they do warn it can take longer.  Since I'm doing this during the holidays, it may take longer.

First thing you should do--THIS IS IMPORTANT--is activate the kit once you get it.  You can't get your results if you neglect this step.  You enter a 15 digit activation code that is from the collection tube.  If you can't see the code, you can also find it on the back of the packaging that contained the tube, and it is also found on the back of the instruction card.  If you are doing more than one kit, you should write your name and activation code on the card to keep track of yours.  You keep the instruction card, by the way.  When you activate the kit, they will ask you if you would consent to allowing your DNA to be use in research.  They are researching the way profiles have evolved and the health problems associated with them.  You don't have to agree if you don't want to.  You still get your results.

To gather the DNA, you have to not eat, drink, smoke, or chew gum for 30 minutes before giving your sample.  I decided to do it after doing my fluoride treatment, as I have to wait 30 minutes anyway.  I suppose this is to keep contaminates out of the sample.  Either they would degrade the sample, or your DNA might come back saying that you are part tomato if you ate spaghetti before doing the test.  My mom and I laughed and wondered if anyone had ever sent a cat's saliva as a sample.

The test uses spit.  Don't worry about having to pee in a small tube.  The tube comes with a funnel attached to it, so spitting into it is not difficult.  You spit until you reach the wavy line printed on the tube.  I had to actually spit several times--and bubbles don't count.  They claim you have to give about a 1/4 teaspoon amount of spit, and you should not overfill it.

After you get the proper amount of spit, you remove the funnel from the tube.  You then screw on the topper tightly onto it.  The topper releases some stabilizing fluid.  It does this gradually.  I got concerned because no matter how much I twisted, it seemed it wasn't releasing the stabilizer.  However, it just gradually trickled down.  Your sample will start turning bluish, and don't be surprised if suddenly the fluid goes over the wavy line.  You shouldn't overfill the sample because when the blue stabilizer is added, it increases the amount in the tube.  There is, of course, the warning not to ingest the solution--and to wash your eyes and mouth with water if you come into contact with it.

After the solution is in the tube, you should shake it for at least five seconds to make sure the stabilizer mixes thoroughly with your sample.  Then you place the tube in the collection bag and seal it with the adhesive strip.  Then you place the baggie in the pre-paid postage box and seal that.  Make sure the adhesive strip on the box is on top.  You may want to write down the tracking number on the box label so you can keep track of its progress.

After they receive it, it will generally take 6-8 weeks to process.  Again, they warn that it could take longer during heavy volume times.  They will send you an email (you will create an account with them--so make sure to write down that information) when the results are ready.  You will visit the site to find them out.

I have to admit that the conspiracy theorist in me had some reservations about doing this.  It whispered, "What if you have the wrong percentage of a certain race--and the government decides to come after you?"  This fear was indulged even more by this recent presidential election, where we were all made to feel that we were electing on whether to have a Purge or not by what candidate we chose.  Then I remembered...I live in a lower economical area that became its own city because no other city wanted to annex us...so if there ever is a Purge, I'm pretty boned anyway.  So, I might as well do the test. ;)

Anyway...to be continued (I hope).....