Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic test kits appear to be more popular than ever this holiday season. In my ongoing journey to take every major genetic test kit on the market, I ordered an ancestry-based kit a few weeks ago. The kit was easy to order online, and the entire ordering process took less than 10 minutes. After reading the consent form (how many people do you think actually do this?), I chose not to participate in the research study and not to be matched with other relatives in the database. Why? Because I’m not looking for any family surprises this holiday season, and I know it’s possible to learn things about your family structure that you can never unknow.

I spat in the tube, sealed the cap, shook it up, and dropped it into the mailbox. In addition to getting ancestry data, the kit would also give me my raw data – now that should be interesting.

To read the full article, click here.