My DNA Journey – Where I’m from

// This is a sponsored post. In collaboration with Momondo //

A couple of months ago, Momondo approached me and asked if I would be interested in joining their campaign The DNA Journey. The campaign went live about a year ago, but since they had some DNA samples left over, they asked if I wanted to give it a try. The purpose with the campaign is to break down borders and show that we have more in common than we think. To widen horizons and to question prejudice and stereotypes.   

First step was to send in a saliva sample to Ancestry.com. Based on the sample, my DNA profile was then created, and I would receive an estimate of the geographic areas in the world my DNA would most likely be from.

It was with great excitement that I sent away my little glass with saliva, and the following weeks were spent considering what the results would be. My mom was convinced that I would be partly African (don’t ask me why), while I couldn’t help speculating if I would be Japanese, Greenlandic or maybe even partly Faroese?

My results

Unfortunately, Ancestry’s Asian database isn’t very exhaustive, so the result of my test was just that I am 100% East Asian. 100 % East Asian. I kind of already guessed that. I was therefore a little disappointed, when I received my results. I might as well have gotten a note, stating that I was 100% human. Not very surprising, huh? Ancestry’s African and European databases are much more extensive, so I really hope they’ll be working on building their Asian database in the future.

The DNA test didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know, but Ancestry.com matches your DNA profile with other members’ profiles in their database and give you an estimate of how closely you are related. There are two members, which are most probably 4^th or 5^th cousins to me, and then there’s a bunch of other people, which Ancestry.com thinks are more distant relatives. Now that’s something I think is very exciting. You can get in touch with the other members through Ancestry.com, which is something I will most definitely do a little further down the road.

When I was in my mid-20s, I was very interested in Korea. I visited the country several times, and I also did an internship in Seoul, but in recent years, I’ve been busy doing other things, and Korea has somehow fallen off my list. Though the thoughts I’ve had about the DNA-test have once again sparked my interest in my birth country, and last month, my friend Pia and I went on a trip to Korea. Pia is Swedish, but she is also adopted from Korea and it’s been a while since her last visit too.  We had a wonderful trip, which you can read more about here, and I’ve already decided to go back soon.

> (Advertisement) You can plan your trip to Seoul here

Learn more about the DNA Journey in this video from Momondo: