It is quite common for people to get surprising results after undergoing a DNA test. When I took mine, I was shocked to know that I don’t have any German genes, even though most of my ancestors are Germans. I was wondering if I should take another test, to get to the bottom of this mystery.
I Have Many Ancestors From Germany, But My Dna Test Didn’t Specify Any German Ancestry. Should I Get Another Dna Test?
To be honest, there is always a chance that the results of your DNA test may not come out as expected. You should ask your parents to take the DNA test, to find out if they have any German genes. Also, there is a possibility that there may be a non paternal event in one of the generations. If this is true, then the biological father of the non paternal event would have introduced new genes. As a result of this, you won’t have any German genes, which is one possible explanation.
Another thing you have to keep in mind is that German genes are quite different, especially when it comes to genetic tests. For instance, the German DNA of your ancestors will come from Western Europe. Again, this category is broad, as it also includes Belgians and French. It is a rare occurrence for Germans to be only from Western Europe. For instance, if the Germans in the northern areas have Scandinavian genes.
The East Germans will share DNA with Eastern Europeans, due to the domination of Slavs during the dark ages. Truth be told, Germans have diversity in their genes, which has a huge impact on DNA tests. You won’t find a test where the results will tell you that you are completely German. Every test will compare your DNA to data available and match you to regions where the genes are similar.
Due to this reason, your DNA test will give you an idea of the location of your ancestors, hundreds of years ago. I would like to introduce one theory, which may explain why you don’t have German ancestry. If your ancestors were from a different region such as Britain or Scandinavia and relocated to Germany, it can play a huge role in the disparity in your DNA test.
Another theory which comes to my mind is if your German ancestry comes mainly from your maternal or paternal side. As you only inherit only one-half of the genes from every parent, it is possible that you may not have gotten the German ancestry.
There is another way to know if you have proper German roots, which is to follow the paper trail. One important fact is that a lot of Germans never participate in DNA tests, as no one takes it seriously. Due to this reason, there is a chance that not enough Germans took the test, which explains your situation. If you are keen on following the paper trail, there are a large number of church books which go back all the way to the 16th century. However, the downside is that you have to know Latin.
1 Like