What happens after I purchase an AncestryDNA® kit?

After you purchase an AncestryDNA® kit, we send you a package with everything you need to register your kit and return your saliva sample. You'll register your kit, fill the tube with saliva, and send it back to us. 

In most cases, within 6 weeks of the date we receive your sample, we'll post your results to your Ancestry® account. When your results are ready, you'll receive an email letting you know.

Your results will include your ancestral origins, DNA matches, and some traits. 

Ancestral regions

Ancestral regions show where your ancestors likely lived 1,000+ years ago and what percentage of your DNA looks most similar to DNA from people with long histories in those regions.

To do this, we compare your DNA to the DNA of people with known origins from around the world (called a reference panel) to create a breakdown of your regions by percentage.

Here's an example.

Hovering over a region in your list of regions will highlight that region on the map. Selecting a region from the map or list provides more information about it.

To learn more, see Ancestral Regions in AncestryDNA®.