welcome back to the ancestral findings podcast
myheritage.com is a subscription Genealogy website that focuses on European ancestry
my Heritage is a popular genealogy research website it is a lot like ancestry.com but
its user base is primarily European whereas ancestry is primarily American because of this it
primarily focuses on European ancestry most of the records you will find on there will be European
records this makes it an excellent genealogical resource for anyone with known European ancestry
you will find all kinds of Records on myheritage such as birth death and marriage
records immigration records court records military records Church records and other things like that
in 2016 my Heritage also introduced DNA testing which is available to users worldwide there is a
myheritage app available for both Android and iOS in addition myheritage is the home of the largest
collection of European historical records for genealogical research in the world those records
are accessible for a membership price just like on most premium genealogical research websites
the company also participates in a partnership program with the free genealogical research
website family search to provide users access to more than 2 billion North American records
that's pretty impressive undoubtedly my Heritage has a lot to offer but is it worth the money
for your genealogical research let's explore it and discover the answer to that question
many users first sign up for myheritage in order to use their DNA test users can track their
ancestry across many cultures around the globe once you buy the DNA kit and get your results you
can access those results for free if you want to connect to your DNA matches who are people who may
be previously unknown to you who are genetically related to you you have to pay for a membership
to the website you might want to do this anyway as you need to have a membership to access the
historical Records On myheritage there are three different levels of membership each one allowing
a different level of access to the historical records on the site you can explore the membership
tiers to determine which one is best for you and your genealogical research needs and goals
the DNA testing that myheritage does is autosomal DNA this tests the DNA of both your dad and mom
sides of the family this is different from why DNA tests that only tests the male side of your family
and that only males can take as only biological males have y DNA or Mt DNA only tests the female
side of your family autosomal DNA gives you a more well-rounded picture of your ancestry it links you
to your recent ancestors in the past five or six centuries or so and your ethnic heritage
this website does not test your genetic Health profile as some companies do it
is genealogy only my Heritage will use your DNA results to provide you with an ethnicity
estimate and with your unique DNA matches you can also build your family tree on my Heritage
and it will automatically begin searching its database of Records to find possible matches
to records that may pertain to your ancestors this is similar to what ancestry.com does with
its online family tree building software on its site the difference is that only the free records
will be North American the records behind the paywall will be European records if you are not
sure that myheritage has the records that will be of use to you in your genealogical research
you can take advantage of their 14-day free trial this trial will give you the opportunity
to examine the records behind the paywall on the site discover what records collections
are available what the size and scope of those records is and whether they are what you need to
learn about your ancestors find new ones and take your family tree to the next level of Excellence
if you have any European ancestry at all it is well worth at least giving the free trial a try
when you dig into the record collections on myheritage you will find that like ancestry.com
there are millions of scanned images of original records some of them are rather recent while some
of them go deep into the early modern the 1500s to 1600s and even medieval before the 1500s period
these are records that you otherwise might need to go to the European countries of their origin
to access if you prefer to do your genealogy research from home or at least from your home
country the access this website provides to these unique record collections is invaluable
if you do the DNA test the company offers as well you can use the historical records available on
the site to improve the level of proof behind your DNA matches to determine exactly how you are
related to your DNA matches and to create a more reliable and academically valuable family tree
you can also open up discussions with your DNA matches so that you can discuss your ancestors
in common and learn more about your shared branch or branches of your family tree with each other
that's pretty cool myheritage also has a cool feature that is only just now being discovered
and played with by the genealogical community it's called Deep Nostalgia and it animates old family
photos for you this is extremely cool because it lets you see what ancestors who you may never have
met look like when they moved and smiled the animations are small but effective in making
photos seem lifelike including head tilts and nods and smiles deep Nostalgia brings your ancestors
back to life in such a real sense when you combine this feature with the details of their life story
that you discover on this and other genealogy websites it makes the people on those old photos
seem more like the real people they actually were than any other genealogical Innovation
currently on the market so is my Heritage worth the money for your genealogical research
if you are of European ancestry on any branch of your family tree and want to find out more
about it while connecting with others around the world who may be related to the same
European ancestors as you then my Heritage is definitely a website you want to explore
many thanks for listening and following the ancestral findings podcast visit
ancestralfinance.com to download a free genealogy ebook inquire about
a free genealogy lookup and register for the weekly historical postcard giveaway
and thank you to everyone who contributes via patreon it helps keep this car on the road this
kite in the air and this ship on course I hope you have a wonderful day and happy searching