DNA RESULTS

My DNA results are in and they are largely what I expected.  My ancestry is 51 percent Central European - which includes Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.  Since nearly all the ancestors on my mother's side are from Germany and Belgium, this isn't surprising.

Also not surprising is the fact that 38 percent of my ancestry is from the British Isles, which includes England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  On my father's side, there are many ancestors from Ireland as well as England. 

The one surprise is that 8 percent of my ancestry is from Eastern Europe, an area that includes Poland, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus and Ukraine, among other countries.  Since I have not identified any ancestors who came from this area, some early ancestors must have migrated from there to either Germany, Belgium, England or Ireland quite a long time ago.  The information provided regarding the DNA results states that your personal DNA sample may include DNA that is not reflected in your family tree because it dates from thousands of years ago. 

There are a few empty spaces on my family tree.  I have one great great grandfather on my father's side that I have been unable to identify, and one set of great great great grandparents on my mother's side who are not identified.  In addition, there are many ancestors who go back further than that who remain unidentified. 

Although my husband has not had his DNA analyzed, we already know we share roots from the British Isles and Central Europe, as he has ancestors from England and Switzerland.  We now know we share Eastern European roots.  His results, were he to have his DNA analyzed, would show at least 25 percent Eastern European Ancestry and probably the same from the British Isles.  

I was a little disappointed that there was no Native American ancestry as I had heard occasional rumors of that possibility.  But there is 3 percent of my DNA that is labeled "uncertain," so perhaps that is still possible. 

As part of the report I was given the names of other family trees on ancestry that contain, with 95 percent certainty, some of my distant cousins.  Now I will decide whether or not to reach out to any of them.  Perhaps they will be able to provide more clues to solve the remaining family mysteries.