Thinking of trying DNA testing, it's on sale

[MacRob46]

I have toyed with having my DNA done but have not as yet. Most of my Scottish ancestry comes down through females in my paternal line (I know a good deal of the genealogy) with the male line most likely from Northern England and the Scottish border.

That being said, I question a lot of the promises being made by DNA testing companies, especially through their advertising. It is not likely to pinpoint the exact origins of your family nor is it going to tell you family names and places, down to the square mile. These companies rely on your relatives, whoever they may be, to have been at some point put into one or more of the data bases which they search (your relatives' DNA that is), in looking for a match to your DNA. If it is not there then you have a general idea of your family's origins and that is about it. I have seen more than one person who very enthusiastically announced that they now know who they are and, especially, what Highland Clan they belong to. The problem is they have nothing to back this up and no names or exact locations to cite for their ancestry - oh yes, no genealogy either, just a sept name and the DNA report.

I am probably wrong, but to me this is not much help and, since I know a good amount about my family origins, back to the late 17th c., I am wondering if I want to spend the money and, for me to have any hope at all of finding anything of use I will have to pony up the funds for an extensive test to get much information.

A friend recently bought a basic test kit from one of the leading providers. A percentage of his DNA indicated he is Jewish and of an Eastern European origin. Not that it is an indication of anything, but he is a retired Presbyterian minister. A previous basic kit from another vendor connected him with a man in England who had the same markers as him. They had a correspondence spanning a few weeks and neither could connect to the other with their known genealogy.

I am just not sold on the value of this testing and, remember, you are giving these companies an awful lot of very personal stuff, and just how do they safeguard it? Recent news reports indicate they are not doing a particularly good job of that at present.