Genetic ancestry tests?

Question

If a person gets their genes tested and they come back as a totally different ethnicity than what they thought they were, will this go down on their records? Will they be forced to mark something else on the ethnicity box?

I am asking this for a friend. She was adopted by a kind Canadian-African family, but thought she was from Eritrea and marked herself as black/African. Now her test has come back and shown that she is Indian (as in from India, not Native American). Will she have to change her ethnicity ,now?

I got my test back and was exactly what I expected.

But my friend, wonders if she will have to change her ethnic identity because of this DNA test. I told her not to worry about it, just to be who she always was. And mark the same African/black as before.

Any comments? Has this ever happened to any one before?

Answer 1

Yes - my matrilineal "Clan Mother" is identified as "Una" (some 20,000 years ago).

The Clan Mothers who have their given identity names beginning with the letter 'U', are Asiatic.

I've traced my British ancestors back to the 1500's where I found French ancestry - so what does that make me?

At what point in our personal history do we make the jump from one ethnic group to another?

Since most of these little boxes are only for stats purposes and to comply with Race Relation rulings, I think, like you, that your friend should ignore it if she is happy with what she has always believed.

Answer 2

DNA test are confidential. If she identifies with the family that adopted her and she wants to use their ancestry, that is nobody's business but hers.

Answer 3

Absolutely everyone is of mixed "ethnicity", there is no such thing as "pure ethnicity" or race, and there is no reason why she should change what she has always believed unless she wants to, it is really only a label to help goverment statistics.