insight into background, ancestors, etc.

I can't really tell what it is you want to know from the DNA test. What sort of "insight" are you looking for?

If you are only interested in ethnicity then the autosomal test for each of you will be enough. Bear in mind, this is a coffee table conversation starter. What ever company you test with will use all the other people who have tested at that same company to compare you. If you test at another company you might get a totally different ethnicity result. To really know your ethnic background you really have to do the genealogy. Sorry but that's the answer to the ethnicity question. DNA is not magic. It can't tell you anything you don't tell it first. DNA will not give you a list of facts about your ancestors. DNA will match you to other people who share the same bits of DNA with you. You aren't interested in finding cousins but that's how you find out about your ancestors.

If your husband does the Y test he will be matched against all the other males who have tested at that company. No magic DNA. Same as above.

If you are wondering only about your whole female line then the matriarchal test is the one you need. This would not include any of the males in your line and you would be matched against all the other females who have tested at that company. No magic DNA. Same as above.

If you are interested in health results, do the autosomal test and upload your results to

Promethease

scroll down for the short video.

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Thanks, Imhappy. Yes, it's primarily ethnicity that we are interested in. Your response is very valuable. I appreciate it.

I tried to do a copy/paste of the FAQs from the Ancestry website, but it was waaaaay too long. (Posts can only be up to 21,800 characters, apparently.) I tried to break it up into sections, but they were still too long. So, here is the link to the Ancestry FAQ page about DNA

I think it's possible to research the various companies to check out their "DNA pool" somewhat. We swabbed my folks and used two different companies for the strengths of their respective pools (one parent white the other not) to try and get best info. Turns out we have a small % of Neanderthal in there! ;-)

I was adopted, and knew nothing about my birthparents. I took the Ancestry DNA test. The results were interesting, but without having the vaguest idea about my family tree, I still don't know much.

I had my DNA tested with 23andMe several years ago. I still don't understand the issue of maternal vs. paternal line. The locations of my ancestors (500 years ago) were mostly what I expected based on my knowledge of my maternal and paternal lines, and the percentages were in the correct proportions. So I don't know what would be added if a male relative were to get tested.

The health-related genetic information contains more than just "health risks." It can tell you which pharmaceuticals would be useless for you, and which ones might be harmful. It told me my liver is more vulnerable to damage than most, and I passed this information on to my two cousins whose mother died of unexplained liver failure. They will probably have their DNA tested.

Many of us think our DNA is set in stone, but environmental factors can alter it. I learned that my many prescriptions for antibiotics created a mutation that gave me problems. Reading about the mutation in my report (I used Promethease, linked above by Imhappy), and then being able to research it online was eye-opening. That alone was worth the price of the test.

Our DD did DNA on 23 and me and did we -- her report shows her father's DNA as well as mine (his father has distinctive DNA that I don't have -- he's 50% -- DD is 26% -- I am none so it only isn't mother)

It is a bit confusing for women...at least to me. In order to get paternal dna you have to have a male relative give dna is what confuses me. I did 23 and me ... very interesting. You can choose not to share with anyone and not be bothered. 23 and me has come up with a thousand or more people I am related to, and I have shared with some of them, but most will not contact you. As far as "detailed" family origin you will not get that unless you find and contact relatives that know your family history.

Martha, your child gets 50% of their DNA from each parent. In turn, your child gets 25% of their DNA from each grandparent. Then 12.5% from each great grandparent. And so it goes. It won't always be exactly the 1/2 % each time. That's why siblings will have slightly different ethnicity %. Your DNA has nothing to do with your husband's DNA until it gets mixed in your child. Then it's only in that child. If you mix a 1/2 bucket of white paint with a 1/2 bucket of black paint you won't have 3 buckets of gray paint.

The maternal test will only be to show daughter to mother to her mother to her mother to her mother and so on forever.

The paternal specific test is for son to father to his father to his father to his father etc.

The autosomal is for all the ancestors of the tested person using the % shown above.

There are some excellent blogs that have easy to understand information. And some that leave me wondering what I just read! But all are worth while and the more you learn the more all of them will make sense. As for using your ethnicity % results for anything - um. No. There will not be an exchange of costume just by that. That ancestry commercial sold a LOT of DNA kits. If you really, really want to know where you came from you HAVE to do the genealogy. At a minimum I'd say 8 generations back.

ingeorgia, the autosomal test will give you both parents. If you were a male and wanted to track your genetic male line, you would use the Y test. If you are female and were only interested in your mother and her mother and her mother and her mother.... the maternal test. But unless there is an adoption or a reason you are looking for specifically the male line or the female line, the autosomal test is the one you need.

I'mhappy -- I know that -- I thought the original question was only maternal line was available for DNA and I was pointing out that I know that was not true as my DD showed DNA from her father -- a heritage that I lacked so it had to come from him and in no way could it have come from me. And yes, I also realize that my DH's DNA is different than mine.

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I guess that my husband and I will both go for 23&me. As long as their $99 test gives my husband information about his ethnicity, we are not going to go for the $199 report that shows health and other stuff . Thank you all for taking the time to respond to me .

I think I saw a groupon for Ancestry DNA -- their test for $68. You don't have to join Ancestry to use it either. It showed my father's as well as my mother's. However, it is pretty vague -- "eastern European" not Latvian, Polish, Serb etc for example.

This is probably so much gibberish right now but if you get into it, it's very helpful.

http://vita-brevis.org/2017/07/shared-dna-parents/

An update on DNA testing facts. What the test tells you. What it doesn't tell you.

http://www.legalgenealogist.com/2017/12/31/dna-resolutions-2018/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheLegalGenealogist+%28The+Legal+Genealogist%29

I took a look at your link, imhappy. Her ramblings don't say that much but the good news is they're footnoted to show the sources. The bad news is that most of the footnotes refer to other things she wrote herself. The effort to be credible (footnotes) results in a lack of credibility for me but if you like it, great. It's important to give internet "finds" a critical assessment before running too far with what you find.

One of the reasons that some of the results are surprising is that many do not know the history of the region that their ancestors are from. Many armies tramped over much of the world leaving their dna. Many seem to be finding Asia as part of their genetic makeup without realizing that according to historical writings Mongols carried that genetic makeup. They ruled and ravished a large area.

Sure, invaders ruled and ravaged far and wide. But also there have long been been peaceful travelers ranging far and wide. Many today seem to want to assume broad generalizations about their ancestors without having a basis for doing so. There's no better example of this than the PBS show Finding Your Roots, where professional researchers seem to always find surprises and twists and turns in people's backgrounds that were never known nor expected. The program also shows (as others have correctly discussed above) that DNA can show indications and suggestions but it's always civil records and other historical docs that form the real basis for getting information.

Elmer I agree. However most do broad generalizations. Think of all the people that claim they are Irish not being aware that Ireland had many different ethnic groups since before the dawn of history. Their families may have been from Ireland but that in a genetic sense is a wide map. A friend of mine just had this shock as most of his genetic makeup is not from groups normally associated with Ireland.

I don't know why people are doing these tests. If your parents told you where your ancestors are from, why bother? Unless you're adopted. Also: if these tests show a disease that you could potentially get, wouldn't that go against you later in life as a pre-existing condition that could disqualify you from insurance? I wouldn't take that chance.

For some it is the idea to know where their family originated or to see if they have Devonian or other ancient man history. Some it is curiosity to see if what they have been told about their family history is true. I am part of the latter group except I want to see how much of it is false. Part of my father's family showed up in Kentucky supposedly coming from Virginia. There are no records that I or others have found of that family with any of the spellings of the name found in Virginia. Looking at some of the old pictures I have wondered if the family was light enough to have passed. One of these days I will actually take a test or two to compare.

Edited to add that some diseases that you inherit may not effect you but will effect future generations. I look at YT DNA things several times and was surprised how many had a certain type of jewish ancestry show up in their DNA. People with that ancestry can have Tay Sachs as recessive. Important to know to prevent the anguish of seeing your children start dying shortly after birth.