NEW! MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry Test

MyHeritage has announced their newest product, the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry Test. MyHeritage will now offer two separate DNA tests:

MyHeritage DNA Ancestry-Only test
MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry test

The Health+Ancestry test will be a cheek swab test, similar to the Ancestry-Only test. Customers who have already purchased a MyHeritage DNA test for genealogy (now called the MyHeritage DNA Ancestry-Only test) can pay $120 to upgrade their test results to include the health results. They’ll need to complete a questionnaire about their personal and family health history but they will not need to submit a new swab or DNA kit.

MyHeritage will also offer a Health Subscription plan for $99/year that can be canceled at any time. The Health Subscription will give customers access to all new health reports as they are released without needing to re-test DNA. The Health Subscription will also give customers access to all advanced features for genealogy (viewing family trees of DNA matches, viewing shared matches and ethnicities, etc.) As a product-launch special, anyone who purchases or upgrades to a new MyHeritage Health+Ancestry test and signs up for the Health Subscription will receive the first year of the Health Subscription for free.

MyHeritage is the second major DNA testing company to offer both a genealogy test kit and a health test kit and their test is the only health test available internationally in multiple languages. 23andMe also offers both types of DNA tests in the United States. You can learn more about the new MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry test in this video.

How Long Does it Take to Get DNA Health +Ancestry Test Results

The first round of results may take an additional 1-3 weeks on top of the regular lab processing time as MyHeritage coordinates new procedures for test results. The standard DNA lab processing times are:

3-4 weeks for a new Health+Ancestry test submission
3-4 weeks for an upgraded DNA test if you tested with the former Omni chip or received test results in March 2019 or earlier
a few days for an upgraded DNA test if you tested with the new GSA chip or received test results in April 2019 or later

What the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry Test Includes

Some features of the new MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry include:

Polygenic risk reports including heart disease, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes
Monogenic risk reports including Celiac disease
Carrier risk reports including Cystic Fibrosis
See a page listing reports available
genetic counseling (if required) “Your test includes independent physician oversight. A questionnaire about your health history is required before taking the test. Your answers will be confidentially reviewed by a physician. After your results are generated, your reports will be reviewed by the clinical team from PWNHealth, who will determine whether genetic counseling is advised. If genetic counseling is recommended, it is included as part of the PWNHealth services.”
24/7 support
DNA matching, family trees, historical records
and more

What the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry Test Does Not Include

Here are a few details to explain who and what this test is not for:

You cannot upload DNA from another test provider and get health reports from MyHeritage. You can only upload DNA from other providers to receive ancestry & genealogical benefits.
You cannot test minor children. No one under 18 years of age is eligible to test.
Available globally but you cannot currently test if you are a resident of New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island or a few countries. They are working to obtain additional permits to make these tests available where health testing is permitted.
You cannot yet upgrade DNA tests you manage for other people. This will soon be a feature but only those people will be permitted to access their Health results.
MyHeritage does not generate Health results unless you purchase an upgrade to your existing Ancestry-Only kit or you purchase the full Health+Ancestry kit.
MyHeritage will never sell or license data without the user’s explicit informed consent.
The Health+Ancestry test is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or treat any disease or condition and may not cover all of the variants associated with a particular condition.

What does this mean for the future of genealogical research at MyHeritage?

From the MyHeritage blog:

Some of our users may be wondering if the development of the new health DNA test means that MyHeritage is changing direction or is going to invest less resources in genealogy. In fact, the opposite is true. As a genealogy company, we believe that family history research and understanding personal health go hand in hand.

A portion of a person’s health trajectory is hereditary, based on the genes we inherit from our parents, which they inherited from their parents, and so on.

The discoveries you can make with your MyHeritage DNA results are even more useful when there is a family tree associated with those results, giving you better insights into your DNA Matches, and now on your health as well. By knowing your family history, you will be able to gain a deeper understanding of your health within a wider family context, as opposed to just looking at the health of a single individual.

We have already integrated genealogical DNA results with family trees, and we hope to integrate health insights with family trees in the future as well. This will be very advantageous to our users who have family trees, giving them a greater understanding of the impact of hereditary conditions on their family over time, and an understanding of who they inherited certain conditions from.