Have you ever wondered about what your past was like? Where you've come from, or where your ancestors originated from? I have always been curious, however never acted upon wanting to find out. Late last year I was contacted by a company called Living DNA who can provide a home DNA test which gives you an accurate view of your ancestry.
I couldn't wait to try this out and eagerly awaited my test kit to arrive in the post. I received my DNA testing kit and it came with everything I needed including clear and simple instructions. I made an account and linked my test to it so that I could be updated when it was received.
I had to take a swab of my DNA from the inside of my cheek, all instructions and kit was provided so it was really quick and simple to do. I sealed my sample and popped it in the pre-addressed envelope. Results can take up to 8 weeks to arrive so I posted this as soon as I could.
Christmas came and went and I finally got an email saying my results were in, and I logged onto the website straight away to see what they said. The results were well worth waiting for.
I couldn't wait to try this out and eagerly awaited my test kit to arrive in the post. I received my DNA testing kit and it came with everything I needed including clear and simple instructions. I made an account and linked my test to it so that I could be updated when it was received.
I had to take a swab of my DNA from the inside of my cheek, all instructions and kit was provided so it was really quick and simple to do. I sealed my sample and popped it in the pre-addressed envelope. Results can take up to 8 weeks to arrive so I posted this as soon as I could.
Christmas came and went and I finally got an email saying my results were in, and I logged onto the website straight away to see what they said. The results were well worth waiting for.
This kit costs £99 and can be purchased over on the Living DNA website. Are you curious to find out where you came from? Living DNA give detail on your family ancestry stretching back 10 generations with a breakdown of countries and regions. As a female, I could only see my maternal ancestry (the motherline) and the migration paths going right back to when the first humans migrated from Africa.
As expected, my results showed that I am 100% from Great Britain and Ireland, which confirmed what I knew about my family history already. The exciting part is, the Living DNA test breaks this down into regions, which again, matched up to what I know about some of my direct relatives, including where I come from too, as you can see on the below map. The sub-regions included East Anglia, where I am from, Ireland, Yorkshire and Cumbria!
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| Screenshot obtained from Living DNA |
I then had a look at the Motherline ancestry map, which proved very interesting indeed. I don't know a lot about my ancestry, or how far back it goes and where people originate from so I cannot confirm if these results are exact but I still thought it was fascinating.
My motherline haplogroup is a collection of related family lines that I am connected to through my MtDNA. I share a common ancient ancestor with all of the people who also share this haplogroup. These can be associated with geographic regions and the map below shows where this group is most commonly found today.
You can also check out your migration map, which shows the journey your ancient ancestors could have taken as they moved across the globe.
As you can see, there's quite the variety of regions in my map! Some very surprising results and really makes me want to delve further into my family history as I could uncover some amazing information. Overall, I am really pleased I took this opportunity on as I have uncovered some amazing things and feel like I have only scratched the surface of what I could find if I put some time into doing some proper research.
If you'd like to embark on this journey yourself, head over to Living DNA and order your kit today. The sooner you get started, the sooner your results will be back.
*I received this DNA Kit free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.
