Have you ever wondered whose nose you inherited or what your great-great-grandparents were like? If so, you've likely tried to trace your lineage and discover more about your ancestry.
But creating a comprehensive family tree can be challenging, even for the most organized and resourceful individuals. My Heritage could be an excellent solution, as they offer a wide range of applicable services.
One of their most popular services is the My Heritage DNA test. In this review, we'll be exploring what this service entails, as well as additional services you may want to try.
My Heritage Login
To start using My Heritage services, including DNA testing, you'll need to create an account and sign in to that account. Fortunately, it only takes about a minute or so to register with My Heritage.
If you have a Facebook or Google account, you can finish your registration in seconds. That's because My Heritage offers account and profile linking for these two social media giants.
Remember, you'll need to log in to your My Heritage account to access your private information, including your DNA test results. And if you're hoping to explore the DNA Match feature, you'll need to choose a subscription plan.
My Heritage DNA Results
After receiving your My Heritage DNA Test Kit, you'll use the sterile swab to collect saliva from the inside of your cheek. Simply place the swab into its container, then slip it into the included envelope and mail it off for testing.
Within three or four weeks, your genetic testing results will become available on My Heritage. To access these results, you'll need to sign in to the My Heritage website.
My Heritage also offers a DNA Health Test, and this option can reveal more information about your genes. When reading the results from this test, you'll be able to find out how your genetics may affect your health.
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My Heritage Family Tree Builder
The My Heritage Family Tree Builder can help you fill in the missing branches of your family tree. After inputting your name, you can add known family members such as siblings, parents, and grandparents.
From this point, My Heritage will begin searching its massive database for related family members. As it adds potential connections, you'll gain access to photographs of your ancestors, as well notable information about them.
My Heritage also offers unique photo services that can help bring the past to life. For example, you could upload black-and-white images and instantly colourize them.
You could also upload grainy family photos for rapid enhancement. The My Heritage photo enhancement process will smooth, brighten, and clarify your images in a matter of seconds.
My Heritage offers users the chance to explore a comprehensive database of records and shared information. In fact, you could spend weeks researching your ancestry on myheritage.com.
What Kind of Research Can You Do on myheritage.com?
My Heritage maintains a database of more than 15 billion historical records and documents. As such, you might discover tons of new information about your heritage while researching your lineage and filling in your family tree.
There are several types of research you can do with this database, including exploring:
- Birth, Marriage & Death Records
- Census Records
- Family Trees
- Newspapers
- Immigration Records
Because My Heritage's database utilizes so many diverse documents, you have an excellent chance of discovering new information about your ancestry.
Still, if you'd rather leave the hard work to an expert, you can also choose to hire a professional researcher. They'll be able to comb through these sources to discover potential relatives.
Birth / Marriage / Death
In the past, birth and death records were kept by local churches, not provincial and federal departments. As such, you might struggle to discover records of these documents.
After all, if you're unfamiliar with your family's history, finding the local church of your great-grandfather can seem like an impossible feat. But you may be able to use the My Heritage records database to your advantage.
My Heritage includes a wide range of sources for their database of birth, marriage, and death records. These sources include cemeteries, obituaries, official certificates, and church records.
So if you've been struggling to pin down the birth date or place of an ancestor, My Heritage's diverse selection of sources might be able to help you fill in the blank.
Census Records
The first official Canadian census occurred in 1871. Before that, the various regions and communities conducted their own censuses, but these surveys were often infrequent.
As such, discovering information about relatives that lived in the 1800s can be challenging. If you're not sure what province your ancestors lived in or what community they were a part of, you might not find relevant records.
But My Heritage's database of census records includes a census of the lower provinces that dates back to 1825. They have several pre-1871 censuses, which may help some users discover ancestors that lived during this time.
Family Trees
When you create your family tree on My Heritage, you're also helping potential relatives fill their family trees. That's because My Heritage adds your family tree to a specialized search database.
When a user searches a specific name, they can find a list of user-created family trees. To access these trees, you'll likely need to become a paying member of the My Heritage site.
Newspapers
Old newspapers can offer you a unique glimpse into the past. They can also help you find familial connections. That's because newspapers contain birth, death, and wedding announcements.
The My Heritage database contains nearly seven million individual newspaper records that date between 1752 and 2007. You can search them in an instant simply by typing the name of a relative or ancestor.
If you have family members that lived in Canada over the last 200 years, My Heritage can help you find them. Of course, Canada has long welcomed immigrants, so it may be best to search through immigration records.
Immigration Records
Many Canadians are the descendants of immigrants, so it's crucial to consider immigration records when researching the roots of your family tree.
Still, your ancestors may have immigrated anywhere between the late 1600s to the late 1900s. That's two centuries of documentation to search through, which can be intimidating.
If you're familiar with your parent's personal information, you might be able to shave several years off this range. But, more than likely, you'll still have several decades of immigration records to explore when finding ancestors.
My Heritage could ease a little of your burden, as they offer access to Canadian immigration records dating back to 1620. So if your ancestors came to Canada from another place, you'd likely find proof of it here.
Hire A Researcher
If you're struggling to research your ancestry, or if you're finding it difficult to organize all the information you're collecting, you can opt to hire a researcher.
Professional researchers can make short work of database searches and can organize their findings into a clear, easy-to-read format. So if you don't want to spend hours on research, this service could be the right choice.
My Heritage Family Tree Privacy Policy
When you provide your DNA for any type of genetic testing, it's crucial to confirm that the sample provided isn't transferred to a third party.
After all, genetic testing companies that store DNA samples can experience data leaks, break-ins, and pressure from provincial and federal authorities. Protecting your genetic information from these threats is vital.
Fortunately, My Heritage has vowed never to sell user data to third-party companies. This means that any information revealed throughout your genetic testing will remain private and for your eyes only.
Feel free to read the official My Heritage Privacy Policy to confirm the above information. You may also want to consider browsing through My Heritage DNA reviews to discover past users' thoughts about this service.
The Reviews
My Heritage DNA reviews are mostly positive. Many people who've used this DNA testing kit reported feeling pleased with the accuracy of their results, as well as the comprehensive genetic database that My Heritage maintains.
That said, some individuals were unhappy that a My Heritage membership was necessary to view their full DNA results. Most notably, users felt upset that DNA-based family searches are restricted to paid members only.
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