One or more of your
parents, grandparents or great grandparents came from Italy. That makes you
Italian, right? For some Italian Americans, that’s all they need to know—but
millions of others have submitted their DNA to popular testing companies—paying
as little as $59—to fill in gaps in their knowledge or see if science confirms
what they already believe to be so.
More than 26 million
people—mostly Americans—have taken genetic ancestry tests, according to MIT
Technology Review. Ancestry, the market leader, has tested more than 15 million
alone, and the numbers roughly double annually.
The two main reasons for
the burgeoning popularity of these tests are curiosity about one’s ethic
origins and to find previously unknown relatives. Some companies also provide
health information, such as predisposition to specific diseases.
In many cases, little
information about “the old country” has been passed down from one generation to
the next—and is this limited information even accurate? Is it possible
that one’s earlier ancestors immigrated to Italy from some other country before
subsequently leaving for America?
“I wanted to know where
I came from and who my ancestors were, and then pass that information to my son
and future generations,” said Nicole Gallant Nunes of Danvers, Massachusetts.
“My great-grandfather left Italy alone at age 13 to live with an uncle in
Boston to learn how to be a barber. He never spoke much of his life in Italy,
so we weren’t really sure of his origins. My DNA confirmed that both my
grandfather and grandmother had deep roots in small towns in the Avellino area
of Italy.”
While some just seek
confirmation of their ethnicity, finding relatives is a strong motivation for
others, especially those seeking to create or add to their family trees.
“I cherish my ethnicity,
and DNA testing is a way to confirm, share it and find relatives,” said Frannie
Myannie of Cranston, Rhode Island. “I tested 80% Italian, which was not a
surprise, since all my grandparents were from southern Italy. But I was
surprised to see percentages of Arab, Egyptian, Spanish, Portuguese and Asian.
I lack knowledge about Italy’s history, and this has inspired me to learn to
understand it better. It has also piqued my interest to visit
the comuni (hometowns) of my ancestors, and I did visit three of the
four. I made some wonderful acquaintances, and it was the best experience of my
life.”
“I know exactly where my
parents and grandparents came from,” said Gae Nastasi of Brisbane, Australia.
“For me, the DNA test allowed us to find relatives who had left Sicily early in
the 20th century and gone to the USA, and with whom we had lost contact.
We found a whole branch of the family which we had always wondered about. They
had left before my mother was born, so all she knew was that they had gone to
America.”
“I did DNA testing three
years ago, and it has seriously taken over my life,” said Annette Gigliotti
Steele of Gresham, Oregon. “Oh my gosh, cousins were coming out of the
woodwork! It was also really cool to see the test put me smack dab in Calabria,
where my family originated from.”
Even though DNA tests
don’t show exactly how people who share genetic similarities are related, they
can lead to contacts with other relatives who have already done the hard
research.
“My father’s dad passed
before I was born, and I had knowledge of only three of his siblings,” said
Benita Cicero of Alexander, Arkansas. “Though 23andMe, I matched two second
cousins. I loved it all, especially meeting and talking with new cousins.”
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| Joanne Cretella |
“I didn’t know much
about my mom’s side of the family,” said Joanne Cretella of Naugatuck, Connecticut.
“I’ve found many cousins who have given me photos and stories that I never
would have known otherwise,”
Despite these happy
stories, genealogists and geneticists caution that the tests can lead to false
hopes and confusion for people who don’t understand how the process works. This
is sometimes fed by overly enthusiastic advertisements from the many testing
services, which may, as CRI Genetics does, promise customers “an accurate
detailed portrait of your family’s history.”
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| Lynn Serrafinn at Lake Garda, Italy. |
“Marketing campaigns
love to focus on success stories of people who were reunited with parents,
siblings and close relations,” said Lynn Serafinn, author and professional
genealogist from Bedford, England. “For most people, the reality of connecting
with blood relations through DNA testing is much more challenging.”
Because of privacy
concerns, potential relatives may be listed only by their initials. The testing
services provide the ability to send messages, but often people don’t respond,
likely because they took the test for curiosity about ethnic origins instead of
establishing new contacts.
Another area that
critics believe is overhyped is the accuracy of the ethnicity reports. Each
testing company has reference groups of people from various countries who have
had genetic tests. Scientists then compare the DNA strands to find
commonalities, and your DNA will be analyzed against these results to see where
your ancestors may have come from. The accuracy of the results depends both on
the size of the reference panel and the genetic diversity of the country.
“Ethnicity reports from
DNA testing companies do not—and cannot—tell you ‘who you are’ but only who you
are most similar to in comparison to other test takers in their systems,”
Serafinn said.
Another genealogist, Bob
Sorrentino of Bradley Beach, New Jersey, points out that it is important to
rely on old-fashioned research.
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| Bob Sorrentino |
“All my grandparents
were born in Italy, so naturally I believed I would be mostly Italian, which I
am,” Sorrentino said, “but I’m also Spanish, Greek and a bit of Persian.”
Sorrentino has used
traditional genealogy methods to trace some of his ancestors back as far as
1,000 years, and he has found roots from other countries.
“DNA is only one part of
the puzzle,” he said. “Documentation, to the extent that you can find it, is
the other. Through (Italian website) Antenati, I found Swiss and Spanish great
grandparents, and through historical documents I found ancestors from almost
every European royal family.”
Italian ethnicity
results are complicated by the fact that DNA from southern Italians is
different than that of northern Italians.
“Of all the European
countries, Italy is the most genetically diverse within its own population,
which is reflective of its history as a crossroads of human migration and
settlement,” said Vincent Palozzi, a professor at Miami University and an
administrator of Italy DNA Project.
Southern Italy,
especially Sicily, has been invaded more than 17 times in the past 2,000 years.
It has seen extensive periods of foreign domination including Greek, Roman,
Vandal, Ostrogoth, Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Aragonese and Spanish.
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| Alfio Di Mauro, right, with travel guru Rick Steves. |
“Sicily is in the center
of the Mediterranean,” said Alfio Di Mauro of Sicily, a former science
researcher at the University of Catania and now a tour guide. “It is a fertile
garden-like land and a natural steppingstone between Europe and Africa. No
other part of the world so small has had so many invasions. For thousands of
years, it was the island to control; it was considered the center of
the civilized world.
“You’ll never find such
a power-packed, genetically diverse and historically interesting place like
Sicily. If you do a genetic survey of Europe, which region has the highest
genetic diversity in Europe? It’s Sicily!”
Northern Italy has also
had its share of occupiers, but the invaders generally came by land from the
North, whereas attackers of southern Italy came by sea from other regions in
the Mediterranean basin. Northern Italians tend to have genetic traits in
common with their French, German and Spanish neighbors.
DNA testing is not
common or popular in most European countries. In fact, it is restricted by
privacy laws in Italy, so the data bases are still small, and some companies
have found it difficult to differentiate the regions. This can create
confusion, doubt and even dismay for people who have identified themselves as
Italian and then find out that a testing company has labeled them as something
else.
“I’m the state recording
secretary for the Sons and Daughters of Italy,” said Gina Natucci of Tacoma,
Washington. “But my DNA test from Ancestry came back saying I was 7% Italian,
and that has since been revised to 0%. Other members of my family have also
been revised to 3% or less. That was a surprising, shocking and disappointing.
My great grandparents moved here from Tuscany in the early 1900s. Were they
really from somewhere else?”
However, Natucci has
done her own research, which involved visiting the parish archives in Pescia,
Italy, and thus far she has traced her grandfather’s ancestral line back to 1725.
“I trust the paper trail much more than what the DNA testing company says.”
Another issue that irks
scientists are marketing claims the companies use, such as “Find out who you
really are,” “Reinvent the way you see yourself” and experience “the awesome
process of discovering yourself.” While Italian Americans express a fondness for
Italy and Italian culture, would someone who takes a DNA test and finds out
they are actually more Scottish than Italian suddenly develop a yearning to
play bagpipes and wear a kilt? Is an affinity for your ancestral culture
inherent or learned?
“I understand that
people want to research their family histories and find out more about their
heritage,” said Ryan Anderson, cultural and environmental anthropologist at the
University of Santa Clara. “Tracing your family genealogy can be fascinating.
The problem is that these tests seriously conflate culture and biology. Culture
is not genetic. There is no ‘Irish’ or ‘German’ gene or combination of genes.
That’s just not how it works.
“Culture is shared,
patterned, learned behavior. Humans may have the biological capacity for
culture, but the specific expression of that capacity is a matter of social
relationships and history. Cultural behavior is not intrinsic or inherent.
Nobody is born with a certain culture or set of cultural behaviors–people learn
it over time.”
Timothy Caulfield, a
health policy professor at the University of Alberta, Canada, said the
marketing departments of many testing companies have gone overboard in their
claims about DNA testing.
“These companies are
really trying to push the idea that this is scientific,” he said in a televised
interview with CBC Marketplace. “They present it in a way that looks very
scientific and precise. It’s an exciting story. It’s about you, but I think
it’s recreational science. People can have a little bit of fun.
“Don’t take it too
seriously but know that you’re just getting some information of how your DNA
compares to other people. It’s not tracing back your heritage.”
Knowing what company to
choose and what kind of test to request can be confusing, considering there are
four different kinds of tests and many testing agencies.
Four major companies
offer DNA testing—Ancestry, 23andMe, Family Tree DNA and MyHeritage—although
several more have started within the last few years.
Four genealogically
related analyses can be done, although not all companies perform all tests,”
Palozzi said. “Briefly, testing can be done on the y chromosome (yDNA
identifies direct paternal lineage), the x chromosome (xDNA, female pattern of
inheritance), mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA identifies direct maternal lineage) and
autosomal DNA (atDNA, overall ethnic/geographical origins). Which tests a
person should order depends on the person’s testing goals.”
Most people choose
autosomal, because it gives more information on geographical origins. Because
it is so much more popular, the chances of finding relatives is also much
higher. Ancestry has the largest database, so one is more likely to find
relatives there. Some experts called in question its formula for determining
Italian ethnicity, especially for northern Italian regions and Tuscany.
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| Italian and Italian American Spadoni cousins meet in Italy. An Ancestry DNA test was the key to their coming together. Susan Spadoni, Sauro Spadoni, Suzanne Spadoni, Paul Spadoni, Annette Spadoni Bannon, Sharon Spadoni Marr. |
Sorrentino recommends
Ancestry for finding relatives but Living DNA for ethnicity. Palozzi
favors 23andMe as the most accurate for determining Italian origins, but he
added this caveat: “Which companies provide the most accurate results at any
given time can change, because each company has its own reference database
which is updated from time to time. Additionally, companies may use different
mathematical formulas to do their analyses, and the science continues to
develop, providing more refined analyses.”
Serafinn, who has
extensively researched her father’s northern Italian ancestry, received
analyses from four companies: Ancestry, 23andMe, CRI Genetics and
MyHeritageDNA. Of these, MyHeritageDNA matched her genealogical research most
closely. However, she found comparisons difficult because “no two companies
have the same test people in their reference panels, no two companies have the
same number of ethnic groups, no two companies label their populations with the
same names and no two companies define these populations with the same
geographic boundaries.”
Palozzi said he expects
the companies to steadily become more accurate and detailed as their sample
sizes increase.
“Your testing can help
scientists and historians better understand the development of modern Italy,”
he said, “and it may help others who are trying to discover their own roots.
It’s only because of the people who have tested so far that we can do these
analyses, and the more who test, the better the analyses will be.”
Another cautionary note
is added by Ancestry on its website: “You may discover unexpected facts about
yourself or your family when using our services. Once discoveries are made, we
can’t undo them.” This warning is provided because some people discover for the
first time that they are not genetically related to a parent, sibling or cousin
because of what genealogists call a non-paternity event. This can result from
undisclosed adoption, sperm donation, marital infidelity, rape or medical
mistakes during procedures such as in vitro fertilization. Estimates of
misattributed paternity range from 2% to 12%.
Discovery of a
non-paternity event was initially devasting to Steven King, who shared his
feelings on Megyn Kelly Today in 2018. King recommends joining a support group,
many of which can easily be found online.
“It’s such basic
information about your individuality that should not be revealed via email,”
King said. “Such personal details should be revealed to you by your family. If
you’re going to get a DNA test, be prepared. The information could be
life-changing.”
Some people may be
hesitant to send their DNA off to a big company because of privacy concerns and
fears that their data may be stolen, sold or obtained by the government.
However, they all make strong statements about the importance of privacy and
the efforts they take to protect it. They have state-of-the art systems to
prevent hacking and security breaches.
“Customers can control
how much of their information is made available to other users,” Palozzi said.
“Privacy and security have always been a priority with the major companies, and
since they have European customers, they’re following stricter European Union
laws over the U.S. laws.”
23andMe’s website says:
“Respect for customer privacy and transparency are core principles that guide
23andMe’s approach to responding to legal requests and maintaining customer
trust. We will not share your data with any public databases. We will not
provide any person’s data to an insurance company or employer. Unless required
to do so by law, we will not release a customer’s individual-level personal
information to any third party without asking for and receiving that customer’s
explicit consent. More specifically, we will closely scrutinize all law
enforcement and regulatory requests and we will only comply with court orders,
subpoenas, search warrants or other requests that we determine are legally
valid.”
Whatever one’s
motivations for testing, if current trends continue, more than 100 million
people will have submitted their genes for testing by the end of 2021. And
whether one is determined to be 100% or 1% Italian by the arbitrary standards
of ethnicity, sometimes it’s wise to set aside technicalities and consider the
words of the late poet Enzo Camilleri: “Italy is an emotion that hits you in
the heart and will never leave you again. Italy is something inside you . . .
an intoxication that takes you away in the moments when you are in apnea, a
beauty tattooed on your eyes that projects you, in the blink of an eye, well
above the ugliness that surrounds you.”
Paul Spadoni is an
author and speaker on the topics of Italian living and genealogy. He writes a
popular blog, “Living (with) Abroad in Tuscany,” and is the author of a
Readers’ Choice award-winning memoir, “An American Family in Italy: Living la
Dolce Vita without Permission.” Spadoni has obtained his jure sanguinis Italian
citizenship and lives in both Montecarlo, Italy, and Gig Harbor, Washington.
