Over the last two years, we talked about wanting to order an ancestry kit. As our pregnancy progressed, we thought more about our ancestry, health, genetics and how all of this will affect our kids. We reached out to 23 and Me and they sent us two complimentary Health + Ancestry kits.

In my senior year of high school, we had to compile a life story (well the first 17 years). One of the sections was a family tree. On my mom’s side, her mother’s line could be traced only as far back as my great-grandmother who was born on a ship leaving Scotland. Her father’s side was a little more of a mystery, but we knew he was polish. On my dad’s side, my uncle traced our last name to the early-1600s. This was one of my favorite projects.

It was so cool to see what part of the world my family came from before coming to America. But this was only one part of my story. Fatima and I knew we wanted to dive a little deeper into not just the ancestry of our genetics, but our health. We know that this would be an important first step in seeing what our kids may inherit from us. That’s when we reached out to 23 and Me.

About 23 and Me

• The 23 and Me Health + Ancestry kits include reports covering Carrier Status, Genetic Health risks, Traits, Wellness, and Ancestry.
• The genetic health risk and carrier status reports meet FDA criteria for being scientifically and clinically valid.
• DNA collection kit is FDA-cleared for use with Genetic Health Risk and Carrier Status reports.
• Their team of scientists and medical experts uses a robust process to develop reports to ensure validity.
• Genotyping is well established and reliable platform for analyzing DNA. Reports get more detailed as more people use the service.
• Ancestry percentages are derived from their powerful, well-tested system that provides us with ancestry estimates down to the .01%!
• These reports are not for diagnosis. A consultation with a medical professional is encouraged for a deeper dive.

Carrier Status

• These set of reports help you discover if you have specific genetic variants that may not affect your health, but could affect your children’s health.
• A carrier means you “carry” one genetic variant for a condition. Carriers do not typically have the genetic condition, but they can pass a variant down to their children. If both parents are carriers, there is a 25% chance their child will have the condition. Remember drawing genetic squares?

This and the genetic health risk sections were nerve-racking to open. What if we discovered we had a tested variant? What would that mean? For the risks and the variants they tested us for, we were not carriers. Nothing exciting to report here. However, 23 and Me continues to update their reports for more screenings.

Genetic Health Risks

• These reports help you learn whether you have specific genetic variants that can influence your risk for certain health conditions.
• Reports are not for diagnosis and factors like lifestyle, environment and genetic markers are not covered by this test, but can play a role.

Fatima did not have any tested genetic health risks. However, I had one variant detected for AMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration), but not for an increased risk. It’s the most common cause of irreversible vision loss in adults older than 80 years. There is no cure, but can be slowed. This is not surprising to me. It’s common in European decent and my grandmother has this. She regularly gets shots in her eyes to slow down the process.

Lifestyle is also a factor. Eating a diet high in leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats, and olive oil is a good start. Our diet consists of most of this anyways, so I don’t really need to change my lifestyle. However, I should also lower saturated and trans fats. That’s something I can change dramatically.

Traits

• These reports explain the genetics behind your appearance and senses.
• Hair color, Taste and smell, and facial features are pointed out.

This report was fun to read through because it consists of everything you already know about yourself. Do I have a lot of freckles? Yes. There were two surprising things here. The first being red hair. It said I likely had no red hair. Not sure if this was just on my head, but my beard can grow in red. The other being a Sweet vs. Salty taste. It said I preferred salty. I have a big sweet tooth, so this was interesting. However, I didn’t really think about which I preferred. I do like a sweet and salty combination.

Wellness

• These reports show how DNA can affect body’s response to diet, exercise, and sleep.
• Reports include deep sleep, lactose intolerance, and genetic weight.

Another fun section to read through. These were spot on. Caffeine consumption showed I am likely to consume more caffeine than others. True. My sleep movement, little movement. Also true. And I learned I do not have a gene that many power athletes have. Makes sense. However, Fatima has this gene, so hopefully our kids will be blessed.

Ancestry

• Discover story of your ancient ancestors, origins, and ancestral background from out of 150 regions worldwide.
• Trace parts of our ancestry to specific group of individuals from 1000+ years ago.

This was one of our favorite sections of 23 and Me to read through. Coming in at 100% European, I’m one of the whitest people you’ll know. I knew most of my ancestry would consist of French, Irish, Scottish, and English, and that’s what it showed me. Fatima, surprise, surprise, is 89% sub-Saharan African. This was fun to compare. While Europe is the only thing that shows up for me, the world lights up for Fatima.

These reports also show our Maternal and Paternal Haplogroups. These look at the long lines of women and men tracing back to eastern Africa over 150,000 years ago. It was cool to see the groups I was traced back to and their migration pattern our of Eastern Africa.

What’s Your 23 and Me Story?

This was a really cool experience. By taking a closer look at our DNA we really got to know ourselves and each other better. We didn’t fully comprehend how detailed the reports were. It took a good week to digest everything. Since receiving the reports, there were a handful of new reports and ancestry details released, including the BRCA1/BRCA2 variants associated with certain cancers. We can’t wait to share our reports with the rest of our family, kids, and see what other reports we get in the future!

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