AncestryDNA test takes woman to parts of the world she'd previously written off

Michelle Weigold learned she was not at all Irish, despite having an Irish surname

Michelle Weigold wants to visit every country her AncestryDNA test revealed (Stock Image)

When Michelle Weigold was in high school, she became fascinated by family trees and genealogy, creating trees for her friends and family, and digging up names and countries of origin.

But after a certain point, Weigold, whose hobby eventually tied into a love of travel, realised there were certain slots on her own tree that she couldn’t fill - until she saw an ad from Ancestry offering DNA tests.

Weigold signed up and just a few weeks later, received the results of her AncestryDNA test.

And after sending a saliva sample by post to Ancestry, which boasts the world's largest consumer DNA database, Weigold found out some fascinating things about her ancestry.

“It was so interesting to see because it is never what you think it is going to be,” Weigold told The Independent of her AncestryDNA findings.

According to Weigold's DNA, she was not mainly German, Italian, and Irish as she’d originally thought.

Instead, “The vast majority of my DNA was Great Britain and a significant amount is the Middle East Caucasus region.”

Michelle Weigold visited places she's never been based on her AncestryDNA

Ancestry also revealed Weigold was Scandinavian and South Asian - and her favourite, six per cent Iberian peninsula.

As a Spanish teacher, Weigold said: “I was really excited to see that and thought maybe that’s why I’m drawn to it.”

And, as a world-traveller, the results of her AncestryDNA test have led her to explore entirely new parts of the world, which she admits she may have previously been closed off to.

Weigold was surprised to learn she had DNA from India

“When I saw I had DNA from different regions, it changed my sense of self. I want to make it a point to go to one country and one place from each of the regions,” she told us - so she made a checklist.

This past summer, Weigold was able to check off the first trip on her list - Egypt and Jordan, both destinations where she “wouldn’t have considered going if it wasn’t for the AncestryDNA test.”

But Weigold “absolutely loved it,” revealing it was one of the “most amazing destinations I’ve ever been to.”

However, Weigold thinks the trip was especially special because of her connection to that part of the world, knowing that her DNA meant her relatives had also lived there.

“It gives you more of a personal connection to that part of the world. It is kind of cool and personal because you think ‘maybe my ancestors were here, in the same spot.’ Maybe I’m not the first person to have been there.”

The next stops on her list are Scandinavia and India, which she wants to try to get to while she is still young.

But apart from influencing her travels, Weigold noticed that the results of her DNA test have also influenced her mindset and how she views the world.

And what she first realised when filling out family trees for her friends - that “cultural superiority is stupid” - has only expanded as she studied her own DNA with the help of Ancestry genealogists.

“Everyone is diverse in a way and everybody has a different background - way more than they realise,” she said.

Weigold also believes that if everyone were to take an AncestryDNA test "racism could fizzle out," as people are rarely what they think they are.

For Weigold, this new self-awareness has connected her to parts of the world she’d never thought possible - and it’s also allowed her to connect with distant cousins and continue to fill in her own family tree.

As Ancestry shows users their relatives based on DNA matches from more than 350 ancestral regions around the world, Weigold has been able to “fill out the missing parts of my family tree.”

According to Weigold, Ancestry's database is continuously growing and updating - and it updates users too. For Weigold, Ancestry has informed her of six hundred matches of cousins based on shared DNA.

One of these relatives included a first cousin on her mother’s side that the family hadn’t known, as that side of the family hadn’t spoken since a money feud in the 1900s.

"You know it is accurate because it is matching you up to people that you know are related through DNA," Weigold said of all of her previously unknown relatives in the world - and she has already encouraged her husband, mum, and dad to take an AncestryDNA test.

Overall, Weigold believes everyone took an AncestryDNA test because: “For the cost of a couple groceries, you could find out life-changing information.”

Where in the world will your DNA take you? Click here to buy AncestryDNA