Why are all my dna matches from fathers side
![why are all my dna matches from fathers side why are all my dna matches from fathers side](https://www.ancestry.com/corporate/sites/default/files/wp_images//Image2.png)
When I eventually found the option to change my ancestry composition to "90 percent confidence" I was shocked.
![why are all my dna matches from fathers side why are all my dna matches from fathers side](https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/save-match-now-846x1024.png)
"Customers can select different confidence thresholds ranging from 50 percent to over 90 percent confidence," according to a statement provided to Newshub. However, 23andme claims their "ancestry service" results are "highly accurate" and can provide "estimates" of ancestry percentages down to 0.1 percent. She also added that not everybody from those regions would carry the same markers either. "Like all biological variation we know there is more genetic variation within groups than between groups, so while they may be at high frequency in particular populations or groups of people from geographic regions, they are not the only people who would carry those markers." Matisoo-Smith said this is because the companies providing these tests have identified what they call "ancestry specific markers" and while they call these markers "specific" they are only found at a higher frequency in particular ethnic groups or regions. She said while the DNA markers are real and there is a chance, given a combination of specific markers that someone's ancestry is from a particular region, there is no way of being 100 percent certain the markers are specific to that area and claimed it is unlikely they are at all. University of Otago professor of biological anthropology Lisa Matisoo-Smith told me these autosomal DNA ancestry tests can be "misleading" for people as she claimed there are no biological markers that can assign people to any specific population with anything even close to 100 percent accuracy.
![why are all my dna matches from fathers side why are all my dna matches from fathers side](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hlketu-t5AE/maxresdefault.jpg)
When I tested with the National Genographic Project, I came back as 33 percent Mediterranean yet the other tests said I had no ancestry from this region. My father who tested with AncestryDNA has documented recent ancestors from France which was initially confirmed with the results but after a few years, his results "updated" and his entire percentage of Europe West (region that includes France) ancestry was removed. He was born in the United States to parents of Danish ancestry and has identified as Scandinavian American his entire life. What made it even more confusing was that my maternal grandfather was never told he was French and German. My mother got her results with AncestryDNA and it showed she was only two percent from Germanic Europe (the category that includes Germany) yet her father was told he was almost all genetically French and German when he tested with 23andme. The 23andme test I took, told me around 14 percent of my genetics did come from France and Germany which lined up with my grandfather's results but why the differences between companies? How could Family Tree DNA tell me all my European ancestry comes from Britain and Ireland yet my maternal grandfather's 23andme results (yes the test confirmed he was my relative) come back as almost 100 percent French and German? While it showed we are all related (whew), all of us had varied results depending on the company we tested with. I decided to try another two tests and also get my father, mother, and maternal grandparents tested with different companies.īut when each of the results came back, I was even more confused. OPINION: When a leading genetic anthropologist told me autosomal DNA ancestry tests can be misleading to many people, I felt a sense of relief.Īs a kid, I had an obsession with genealogy and was lucky enough to be able to trace most sides of my family back to the 1500s.īut when I decided to take my first autosomal DNA test with Family Tree DNA, I was upset that my results did not exactly match my documented genealogy.