DNA can tell us many stories about our families and where we come from. Learn some storytelling tips and see examples of DNA stories from Your DNA Guide’s team in this post.

What’s your DNA story?

Your DNA story is still unfolding. After all, you’re still discovering the people and places you’re connected to. Several chapters of your story are yet to be written, so to speak.

But of course you want to tell stories now, and a real story has a beginning, middle–and an end. So think about any DNA stories or even “mini-stories” or discoveries that have already happened, that have some kind of closure to them. Keep it simple and authentic. Focus on the who, what happened and why it matters. 

Using the following simple template, we invited our team at Your DNA Guide to share a short DNA story of their own. I’ll go first. Here’s my story in the template, followed by a few others. Below, you’ll see a few more thoughts and an invitation for sharing YOUR DNA stories!

Sunny’s DNA Story

The beginning of your story: What was your DNA question, or what were things like before your DNA discovery happened?

I’ve always been curious about my Irish roots. But I’d never felt a personal connection to Ireland or known much about who my Irish ancestors were.

The middle of your story: What happened, or what did you learn? What did you think or feel about it? Then what happened?   

Sylvia, my DNA connection

Then I was contacted by Sylvia, a distant DNA match who lives in Northern Ireland. My fourth great grandparents (Jane Steele and John McClelland) are her third great grandparents. We began corresponding. She loved hearing about the branch of the family who went to the United States; I loved hearing about those who stayed.

Sunny on the Downhill Strand

Some friends and I traveled to Ireland. We drove north and met Sylvia. She showed me where our families lived. We drove past their gray stone church. We walked along the Downhill Strand on the windy North Atlantic beneath the cliffs at Castlerock, where the family would have taken their beach outings. She treated us all to lunch at The Tides in Portrush, at a table overlooking the sea, surrounded by lilting Irish voices and laughter.

The end of your story: Where do things stand now? Why does this story matter to you?

Sylvia was warm and funny and kind. She is my favorite memory of visiting Ireland. Because of her, I feel a real connection to an ancestral place on the North Atlantic, which I never would have experienced if our DNA hadn’t introduced us to each other. 

Here’s Diahan’s DNA story:

The beginning of your story: What was your DNA question, or what were things like before your DNA discovery happened?

My family is small. I didn’t grow up with lots of cousins or big family gatherings, so I know very little about my extended family.

The middle of your story: What happened, or what did you learn? What did you think or feel about it? Then what happened?   

As part of my effort to practice what I preach, I tried out my communication skills with my dad’s DNA match Allen, who I believed was his second cousin, but didn’t have a tree. He wrote back and we confirmed our relationship. Then over two years later he was in south Florida and contacted me to request a meet-up. Miraculously my parents were also in town and my dad got to meet his second cousin.

The end of your story: Where do things stand now? Why does this story matter to you?

Meeting Allen showed me that a perfect stranger can feel like family when you understand how you are connected. We have only really had that 30 minutes together in my living room in south Florida, but it was enough for me to feel irreversibly connected to Alan.

Here’s Lori’s DNA story:

The beginning of your story: What was your DNA question, or what were things like before your DNA discovery happened?

About ten years after my Dad passed away, our Mom gifted my sisters and I DNA test kits for Christmas, to see if we could identify our Dad’s unknown biological father.

The middle of your story: What happened, or what did you learn? What did you think or feel about it? Then what happened?   

When our DNA results came back, we really had no idea what to do with them. So, we began working together and educating ourselves on genetic genealogy. At first, we didn’t get anywhere. But after two months, my sister noticed a new match, who became our best mystery match. She was the match we needed to help us start piecing things together!  About four months after we started, DNA testing a new half aunt led to confirmation of our Dad’s biological father. We like to think our Dad is now ‘reunited’ with both his biological parents!

The end of your story: Where do things stand now? Why does this story matter to you?

The best part of our ongoing DNA journey is the time spent with family. All of the time my mother, sisters and I spend working together!  Both then, and now. We have also met new family – such as our half aunt and second cousin!  And twice since then, we have been surprised by new matches – both who turned out to be half-brothers to our Dad and half-brothers to each other! DNA testing has truly been the gift that keeps on giving! 

Here’s Connie’s DNA story:

The beginning of your story: What was your DNA question, or what were things like before your DNA discovery happened?

The Davis surname appears as a direct ancestor in 3 out of my four grandparent lines. My father was a Davis, I have a 4x great-grandmother Davis in my paternal grandmother’s family and a Davis as a maternal 3x great-grandmother. None of these Davis families appear to be related. Researching common surnames can be challenging! We had two family letters signed by William and Mary Davis, my paternal 2x great-grandparents.

The middle of your story: What happened, or what did you learn? What did you think or feel about it? Then what happened?   

For my own surname, I worked in collaboration with my brother and Davis second cousins. Using YDNA and autosomal DNA we made progress discovering more about William and Mary Davis. DNA matches helped us document William’s parents and siblings who stayed behind in Arkansas and verify family lore about a brother-in-law who came west with William Hale Davis during the California Gold Rush. 

A distant autosomal DNA match led to the parents of Elizabeth Davis, including images of my 4x great grandparents, Zadok Davis and Elizabeth Braselle. Seeing their faces gave me inspiration to learn more about their life and times.

The end of your story: Where do things stand now? Why does this story matter to you?

Our family is in the midst of uncovering information about our Davis ancestors. There is so much more to learn! Understanding my ancestors gives me perspective on the complicated history of the United States. I look forward to sharing this information with my grandchildren.

#mydnastory

Now that you’ve read these simple DNA stories, I hope they inspire you to want to tell your own. Now, if your DNA story is quite dramatic, complicated or personal, you might not want to reduce it to this simple template. Go ahead and write a longer version! But there is also value in being able to tell the 3-minute version. Sometimes that’s the only version there’s time to share (or that’s all a person wants to hear). In my experience, it’s worth practicing how to tell our most powerful stories in a short format.

Do me a favor? I’d actually really LOVE to see any stories you write that are inspired by this article. If you’re inclined to share them on social media, will you please use the hashtag #mydnastory? We’ll be watching for those here at Your DNA Guide.