Hey everyone, for today’s blog post I wanted to sit down and talk to you about the DNA test that I decided to take earlier this year. I have always known that I was adopted ever since I was a little girl however, I have never been that interested in looking for my birth parents up until now. I think the past two years have shown me that life is really short and that if I really did want to try and find my birth parents that I should start now.
With that being said I decided the first step was to take an international DNA test to see what results that had. I decided to go with 23andMe as a lot of Chinese people use it and seeing as I am from China it made sense. The test I chose was the Health + Ancestry Personal Genetic Service which was £149.00 and the shipping was £29.99. The test pack itself only took a few days to arrive as I ordered it on January 17th and received it on January 19th.
The DNA test itself requires you to spit saliva into a tube until it reaches a certain level. Once you have done that you have to register the kit on the 23andMe website before sending it off. I posted it on January 19th however, it wasn’t received at the factory until February 10th. From when the DNA is received at the lab it goes through various stages before you receive the actual results. My DNA results were ready on the 21st of February which was really quick as sometimes it can take up to six weeks. When I received the email to say that the results were ready I was really excited to open them but also a bit apprehensive.
There were different parts of the DNA results such as the ancestry report, DNA relatives, health highlights, physical features, & wellness. The ancestry report told you where you were from I was about 99% sure that mine would be 100% Chinese. Then there are the health highlights which say what you could get but it isn’t necessarily giving you a diagnosis as you have only given them a saliva sample. However, they may pick up on a health problem that you already have. The health highlights can change over time as they are always working on their systems. The wellness part of the report was to see how your body responds to diet, exercise, and sleep. The neanderthal part of the results was quite funny as I wasn’t expecting that but it was really interesting to read as well.
The next part of the DNA results was the physical features. On the whole, they were pretty accurate and it was fun to compare them and see what was right and what wasn’t. I love how some of them are really detailed as well as how some are completely random.
The last part of the DNA test was the relatives part which is where your DNA is compared to others in the 23andMe system to see who you are related to. It then sorts them by the percentage of DNA comparison. Unfortunately, I didn’t match with any immediate family but I did match with a lot of distant cousins. I was probably most apprehensive about this part as you just never know who you will match with. I had also been seeing lots of 23andMe DNA matches on TikTok which made it all that more nerve-wracking.
If you click on each connection it tells you how you are exactly related which I found really interesting. I then decided to reach out to a few of the people that I shared a higher % of DNA with. I didn’t want to make the first message too long as I mainly just wanted to introduce myself. The messaging system on 23andMe is also not the best so I asked if we could talk on Instagram instead as I know that it is more reliable. I have connected with quite a few people and it was really lovely to hear their individual stories and also their adoption stories as well. I still speak to many of my distant cousins even to this day as we are related just distantly.
Overall, I would highly recommend 23andMe if you are considering doing a DNA test as I like how detailed it is. As I mentioned above I chose this one specifically as many Chinese people use it however, I know there are other DNA companies as well such as ancestry. I know the price can be offputting sometimes however, they often have an offer on so if you can’t afford the full price then make sure to keep an eye out.
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