FREE – DNA test uploads & forever features at MyHeritage DNA – thru 18 Dec 2019

This week only, MyHeritage is offering Forever FREE access to advanced DNA features on kits uploaded by December 18, 2019 at midnight (no $29 annual fee to unlock the kit).*

 

This means:

 

• if you’ve already DNA tested at 23andMe, AncestryDNA, FamilyTreeDNA, or LivingDNA and can access your test results (instructions below), you can download those test results from your provider and upload them (before December 18th at midnight) to MyHeritage DNA and be grandfathered in to free advanced features forever. (Usually you pay a $29/year unlock fee to get these features.)

 

• if you missed the deadline last December 16, 2018, to be grandfathered in to the free advanced DNA features, you can re-upload your DNA to get grandfathered in to this deal for free advanced features/no annual unlock fee.

 

NOTE: MyHeritage will not automatically change the fees/features for your existing uploads. If one or more of your DNA uploads is not already grandfathered in to free advanced features, you have to go to the trouble of re-uploading each of those DNA tests if you want to take advantage of this offer. Here’s a link to the MyHeritage blog where you can read specifics of the offering.

 
 

Free test results include:

• Ethnicity Estimate
• Chromosome Browser
• View family trees and pedigree charts of your DNA Matches
• Shared DNA Matches
• Shared ethnicities
• Shared ancestral places
• AutoClusters
• Theory of Family Relativity™

 

Some of the best advanced features for DNA kits at MyHeritage include the Chromosome Browser, AutoClusters, and Theory of Family Relativity.

 
The Chromosome Browser allows you to compare up to 7 other people’s DNA at one time. I prefer to start with 2 people and see if our DNA triangulates. I take my closest DNA relative on my mother’s side of the family and see if anyone matches her DNA and my DNA. If we all three are a match, our DNA triangulates, and I note on the site that this third person is probably from my maternal line.
 

 
 
The AutoClusters tool (my personal favorite), groups DNA matches into clusters of people who appear to have descended from the same common ancestor. That’s huge! If I know how I connect to one person in a cluster, I can do descendancy research on the common ancestor to try to find how I connect to others in that cluster.
 

 
 
The Theory of Family Relativity uses family trees and records content at MyHeritage to show you how you might be related to a DNA match. My husband has some Scandinavian ancestry and has more ‘Theories’ and his Theories link him to matches through records at MyHeritage. My ancestry is almost all early colonial in America and I have some Theories as well. Below is a picture of a DNA match who has three different Theories of Family Relativity linked through family trees.  I’m showing the one I think is our correct connection. I only share 1 segment of DNA with this match and it’s 8.3 centiMorgans in length. We share .1% of our DNA–not much. Parents & children generally share about 50%. I’m blurring most of the names & dates for privacy reasons.
 

 
 

The biggest benefit of uploading your DNA to MyHeritage DNA (from another test site) is getting more unique DNA matches.

 

MyHeritage claims to have the best service worldwide for European DNA matches. They have a user database with 3.5 million people. And if it is a concern, “MyHeritage will never sell data to insurance companies, and we have a strict policy prohibiting the use of our DNA services by law enforcement agencies.” 

 
 

How-To Instructions for Downloading DNA from other DNA Test Sites

 

• Basic Instructions from MyHeritage for DNA downloads from other providers

 

• How to Download DNA Raw Data from 23andMe

  • Requirements:
    • Be able to login to your 23andMe account
    • Have access to your email
    • Have access to a secure computer

 

• How to Download DNA Raw Data from AncestryDNA

  • Requirements:
    • Be able to login to your Ancestry account
    • Know your Ancestry password for verification (there is one place where your password will not be automated)
    • Be able to access your email for final download instructions
    • Have access to a secure computer

 

• How to Download DNA Raw Data from FamilyTreeDNA

  • Requirements:
    • Be able to login to FamilyTreeDNA (you’ll need your kit number or GAP username and your password)
    • Have access to a secure computer
    • MyHeritage accepts the Build 37 Raw Data Concatenated download option

 

• How to Download DNA Raw Data from Living DNA 

  • Requirements:
    • Be able to login to your Living DNA account
    • Have access to a secure computer

 
 

How to Upload Raw DNA to MyHeritage

• Here’s is a link to the MyHeritage site where you can upload your DNA to MyHeritageDNA.

 

Again, this offer is only for people who have already tested at other DNA sites. You need to be able to upload your Raw DNA data before the December 18th at midnight deadline. Happy Holidays and best with your research!

 
*I can’t tell from the offering, but I’m assuming the ‘forever free’ access to advanced features means it’s for current advanced features. You may not be granted free access to future features that are not yet developed and/or released.