Am I really Hispanic? Ancestry.com helped me figure that out

Being adopted comes with a lot of questions. One of the big ones is… What is my heritage/ancestry? In the past nobody would know unless told. I was told some, I was told that I was ½ Cuban from my biological father’s side, and from seeing pics of my biological mother I presumed Europe was a big factor. Fast forward to me being 29 years old (ok 34, but a girl can stop time, right?). Anyway, I wanted to dig deeper and had a great opportunity to work with Ancestry.com and find some of those answers.

The kit is very easy to understand. Once you register and set up your account you pretty much just spit into the tube, add the additive and you are done. Then all there is left is mailing it back and waiting or the results. Typically, you will get the results back in 6-8 weeks, via email.  So I waited patiently, ok not so patiently for the email to come, and finally it did.

What I saw right away confused me as I didn’t see. Any South American countries or Islands that would make it scream HISPANIC like I was told. Upon further discover, like simply clicking on the “Iberian Peninsula”, Ancestry showed me that those countries are Spaniards, Cubans, Dominicans & Venezuelans. So, it made much more sense. Much like Europe South. There is even 8% Nigeria in the mix, which would still make sense as so many of Cuba is really other countries settling, thus making the mixed ethnicity.

I know some of my biological mother’s side so the Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland) etc came at no shock, but still very cool to see.

When you are going through the different ethnicities you can click on “overview” and it talks about that area. Also there is a map that shows your highlighted areas and you can view how and where your ancestries migrated over time.

Since I’m adopted, I have never done a real family tree, at least not a biological one. It’s a joke in our house that our family tree would be a forest as out of 5 of us kids, 4 of us are adopted. So, with the help of ancestry and talking to a few bio relatives, I was able to create a family tree of my bio mother’s side. I have no information on my bio father so that is left blank. Once you start filling some in, Ancestry helps you out with hints. With those hints you can get in touch with family you didn’t know you have. They actually matched me with a first cousin, funny enough, I already knew who she was and am friends with her on facebook.

One of the few pics I have from when I was a baby. 2 of my cousins with me

One last thing to mention is that Ancestry does give you the raw DNA file so you can upload that to read it if you are interested. This gives you some information on genetics. Please do remember that this is only info and not to be used to diagnose anything.

my girls 

Taking the whole site and experience into account and I’m so glad I did this. It doesn’t change who I am as Katrina, it just gives me a better understanding of where I came from. My oldest daughter is 15, and her bio father is from Mexico. She’s really interested in doing this for her, so I think I will buy a kit soon, that way she can see her ancestry as well. We know my youngest’s but who knows, one day she may want to see more in depth.

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Disclosure: The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free. Top Notch Material blog will always provide honest opinions, beliefs or experiences on products reviewed. We will only recommend products or services that we feel are of benefit to our readers. If you have any questions, please contact me at katrina dot gehman {at} gmail com. The disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.