Dna/ethnicity Testing-have You Done It? Opinions? Suggestions?

I am adopted, I know my biological mom is Italian, my dad was whoever jumped over the fence. Sorry I used to work at the humane society and when they didn't know the breed of the father they listed it as whoever jumped over the fence.

I digress

I would think the problem is there is no Italian gene and we hold a lot of traits in common with other Mediterranean countries. So who is to say the gene for say Olive skin is Greek or Italian? My grandpa was full Sicilian as was all of my adoptive family on both sides. My grandpa had blue eyes and looked very much German, well except for the pesky fact that he came from Sicily, the town named after his family to be specific.

I guess what I am saying is so many of my family fly in the face of stereotypical genes for Sicilian yet they are. I don't doubt those tests can tell you what genes you have, I just doubt it will indicate anything more than what you can already see by looking in the mirror.

We've done the Genographic Project through National Geographic, but that is going for much older than you're probably looking for. It's only 100, so not bad, and might be fun. We did it as part of our thanksgiving / family tree project.

What they are probably doing is mitochondrial DNA analysis. The DNA in your mitochondria is inherited through the maternal line only, so from your grandmother to your mother to you. Males do not pass on mitochondria to their children, so you would not be able to find out anything about your mother's father or your father.
Also, mitochondrial genotypes are only very broadly associated with ethnicity... you may be able to say that your maternal ancestors where from Europe or Africa, maybe narrowing down the region a bit, but you would not be able to say that they were German or French etc...
If you can afford it and are doing it "just because" I say go for it, but don't expect too much from the results. These analyses were not meant to (and do not work very well) to analyze and individual's heritage, but rather to look at distributions of genotypes across a population in order to infer migration patterns in general.
Good luck.

The organization trusted by a number of genealogists is
https://www.23andme.com/
The backgrounds only breakdown into Europe, Africa, and Asia which includes Native American). However, if other people from your dad's side have also been tested, you may find them in the "relative finder" section.
You should look at their website and see if it will help.

I think it's a good idea for you. You seem to be going into this with a healthy curiosity. I do think it may be a little expensive for simple curiosity though, but it's all up to you. If you do go for it let us know what come up.

Most North Americans would be mutts, this may be fun for you to know for sure and if you have kids you can infuse their lives with a little extra culture.

Do your research and good luck.

Lots of adoptees on my husband's side (including him) and we've talked about it. No $ to do it, or what the heck, we'd do it for both of us.

If you have the extra funds and would just like to get it done, I don't see why not. We asked the agency what my sister's race was when dad adopted her (she was 2 days old and looked eskimo, with the THICKEST head of hair I'd ever seen--like the same amount my adult brother had). The agency balked at the question and we were like, "We don't CARE what her ethnicity is, as in, it being a problem. We are curious to know (a) in case she asks later and (b) different races have different "typical" health issues that we could try to take steps to avoid or watch for. They told us (I swear, this is the quote): "Oh, well she's pure Californian". What the heck did that mean? Idiots. We didn't bother talking to them at all after that. As she's grown up, she's very clearly hispanic, but as a baby we wouldn't have been able to tell that.

Anyway, if you've got the money and want to know, go for it. If it'd be a stretch on your finances, I personally wouldn't care to know enough to do testing (I'm pure "American" I suppose.....just a big mix of everything), but I wouldn't think it strange if someone else did care enough to get tested.

I say go for it. It would be interesting and fun to know where you come from. I really like that show on NBC that traces geneaology (sp?) back generations, called Who Do You Think You Are?. Sometimes they incorporate a DNA test to help trace African American heritage. I've also seen parts of a mini-series on PBS highlighting DNA ethnicity tests. To know more about your history and trace your heritage would be so interesting. At the very least you'll satisfy your curiousity.