AncestryDNA for people outside the USA

I have been reading posts relating to Ancestry.com’s DNA offering (eg this one by The Genetic Genealogist) with great interest. Currently going for $99 to existing Ancestry subscribers, AncestryDNA looks like a bargain. I’m curious to see how it will tie in with member trees – the possibilities are very exciting.

The DNA product is still in beta and is currently available by invitation only. I wondered if non-US residents were eligible. The DNA page doesn’t appear on the Australian site but it can be accessed from Australia here. I submitted a request for an invitation at the end of May, wondering if they would sent one to an Australian site subscriber.

They did. It arrived in my email this morning.

Non-US residents can purchase the test. International postage is not too bad at about $10 to Australia. The only special requirement is that you have to agree to the US Ancestry site Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. They point out among other things (you should read them for yourself if considering purchase) that:

• your sample will be tested and stored in the United States,
• privacy laws in the US may differ from those of your home country,
• “you may not be able to use the results in a website targeted to your country of residence or hosted outside the United States”.

I had assumed that the first two points would be the case. I’m not concerned about the last one as I know from experience (I checked again just now!) that I can log on, search records and view records, view member trees including my own – in fact do anything I normally do via the .com site instead of the .com.au site.

The invitation is time and quantity limited. You can order one test only but if you don’t take up the offer within three days, it’s gone. Adding to the sense of urgency is a prominent countdown timer.

It must have been the countdown timer that got to me. I ordered the test.

 

No disclaimer needed. No-one gave me anything to write this and the links are not part of any affiliate scheme.