Happy Friday everyone!

So I learned something interesting recently that I would like to pass along: I signed up Ancestry.com a few years ago, and even took one of the Dna Tests. It’s been a pretty interesting experience, and even met a second cousin I never knew I had while visiting Las Vegas.

While my results are fairly reasonable- nothing too wild, just a lot of Northwestern European and British Isles- I know from several family stories, photos and documents that part of my family has a fairly strong French background…. that is absolutely not mentioned in my DNA results. Which is strange, considering we have a family document (somewhere) in which either my great or great-great grandmother traced her lineage all the way back to a French soldier who served in Napolean’s army. In looking on Ancestry’s site and checking the section where they highlight all of the areas in the world where they test, there is a big blank spot in the middle of France.

Curious about this, I decided to look it up: according to the site My French Roots, “According to the French bioethics law, DNA testing is only allowed for medical, scientific or judicial purposes. The main concern is that paternity tests and medical DNA tests shouldn’t be done without supervision. But the ban also extends to genealogical DNA tests….Some of the major international companies (like Ancestry) do not ship their tests to France. And most of the companies don’t make advertisements in France.” The article continues to explain that some companies are starting to sell their tests recently anyway, since no one has been fined for purchasing these direct to consumer genealogy tests.

So, for anyone else who might have taken one of these DNA tests and wondered why their own French ancestry may not show on a site like Ancestry.com, here’s your answer. Hopefully someone picks up a new fact for the day or I’ve helped answer a question that may have been lurking in the back of your mind.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!