Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • (tinkly music)

  • - Today, we are getting our DNA tested

  • to see where our ancestors are from.

  • - Many of our coworkers have done this before

  • and have gotten wild results, and we wanted

  • to see if this might apply to some of our

  • Asian-American coworkers at the company.

  • (techno music)

  • - My folks have always been really private

  • about our family history.

  • Not only were they private about it,

  • I felt like they'd go out of their

  • way to even hide stuff from me sometimes.

  • - My family is really open to talking

  • about our Filipino heritage.

  • - They have never really told me

  • even where in China I was from.

  • They're just like, "China."

  • - My mom and dad always talked about our immediate family.

  • Aside from that, we don't really interact

  • with aunts, uncles, cousins, or any of that.

  • - We can't trace my family history back that far.

  • - Now, I think that's because they

  • actually don't know too much, either.

  • - The things they told me, I'm like,

  • "Is that real?

  • Are you sure?"

  • (tinkly music)

  • ^- The Philippines has always been conquered

  • ^by various other cultures and countries.

  • ^So it's kind of hard to say what real Filipinos are.

  • ^According to my dad, we came down

  • ^from the mountains, so we weren't as conquered.

  • ^- I've always believed my whole life

  • ^that I was 100% Korean.

  • ^- And my parents have always said

  • ^my family's from China, but then

  • ^my parents were born in Vietnam, so Chinese.

  • ^- And my parents have always told me that I am 100% Indian.

  • ^I started thinking that I might have other genetic codes

  • ^in my DNA because my mom was born with blonde hair,

  • ^and then she has an uncle with blue eyes and blonde hair.

  • ^- My parents had always told me I was Vietnamese.

  • ^Recently, I found out I was part French.

  • ^- Southeast Asia is a bit of a melting pot.

  • ^I was raised to believe that I am 100% Lao.

  • ^I don't think I'm a 100% Lao.

  • ^- And my mom is Japanese, and my dad is white,

  • ^and I found out that my great-grandfather

  • ^was adopted, so who knows?

  • ^- And I'm 50% Chinese and 50% Scottish and Irish.

  • (techno music)

  • ^- As a first guess, most people do think I'm Korean.

  • ^- When I was in the Korean market, a older Korean lady

  • ^started asking me things in Korean.

  • ^- It's weird because my dad, he works

  • ^as a mechanic, and his client sometimes thinks

  • ^he's white, which is also very odd.

  • ^- They've never guessed anything other

  • ^than Indian or Persian.

  • ^- I would get Chinese, Thai, and sometimes Filipino.

  • ^- I've heard Filipino.

  • ^I've gotten Chinese.

  • ^I've gotten Thai.

  • ^I've gotten mixed race.

  • ^People think I'm half Lao, half white.

  • ^- I get Latina a lot, Native American,

  • ^Native Hawaiian, Filipino.

  • ^Usually people are surprised when I

  • ^tell them that my mom is Japanese.

  • ^People think I'm Latino.

  • ^A lot of people just come up

  • ^to me and start speaking Spanish.

  • ^I went to China; some people still

  • ^didn't think I was Chinese.

  • ^Breaks my heart because I grew up

  • ^in a Chinese restaurant with a Chinese family

  • ^eating Chinese food almost every day, speaking Cantonese.

  • ^I'm a mixed race guy.

  • ^Sometimes you feel like you belong everywhere,

  • ^and sometimes you feel like you belong nowhere.

  • ^- It's hard to say what does Japanese look like,

  • ^and what does Asian look like?

  • (techno music)

  • - So we got these little kits from 23andMe.

  • - And we're going to spit in a tube.

  • Mm.

  • (techno music)

  • Wow.

  • - Mail this out.

  • (techno music)

  • ^Because of history keeping in the Philippines,

  • ^and not a lot of access to those records --

  • ^- And I've always wondered what my lineage was.

  • ^Bloodlines is a really important thing in Korean culture.

  • ^- I am hoping to find out whether there

  • ^was some mixing back in the day, or there wasn't.

  • ^I just honestly hope that I kind of get

  • ^this understanding of who I am.

  • ^My entire family is really pale, and I'm tan

  • ^Why am I tan?

  • ^- As an individual, it is nice to feel proud.

  • ^- My family, this is also information

  • ^I can share with them, too.

  • ^- So I just got married, and I'm really hoping

  • ^when I have kids, I can tell them what they are.

  • ^- It will be a way to bring my family closer together.

  • ^My grandmother passed away.

  • ^She was our family matriarch, and she was always the one

  • ^to pass down stories about our family

  • ^and our family's history, and now that she's gone,

  • ^I want to keep that conversation going.

  • - So I really hope that with this DNA test,

  • feel like I really, truly do belong somewhere.

  • (techno music)

  • - So it's been a few weeks.

  • - We're gonna get our DNA read

  • ^- My name's Jhulianna Cintron.

  • ^I'm a senior product specialist

  • ^on the Customer Care Team at 23andMe.

  • It can confirm what you already know,

  • or it can totally surprise you.

  • (cheering)

  • - I'm so excited.

  • - According to my mom and my dad, we are full Filipino.

  • - Ray, you are not 100% Filipino.

  • ^Pretty close, though, 99.1% to the Philippine.

  • ^You do have 0.8% Iberian DNA.

  • ^What is that?

  • ^Which could be Spain or Portugal.

  • ^That makes sense.

  • My dad wasn't exaggerating when we came

  • down from the mountains.

  • I haven't been this proud about

  • being Filipino in a while.

  • - He's gonna have a flag on his desk.

  • - No, I know.

  • - I hear you think you're 100% Korean.

  • Is that correct?

  • - I think so, yeah.

  • ^- So you are 100% East Asian, 97.3%

  • ^Korean.

  • ^- Wow.

  • ^- 1.2% Chinese, and 1.2% Japanese,

  • ^0.3% broadly East Asian.

  • ^- That's all in his DNA?

  • ^- Yeah.

  • - I feel good about it.

  • I'm proud to be Korean.

  • It feels good to be validated.

  • - Are you now more fond of pot stickers?

  • - Yes, and gilgai, for sure.

  • - I'm pretty sure I'm 100% Chinese, that's all.

  • (laughter)

  • - You are not 100% Chinese.

  • ^You are 92.2% Chinese, mostly from mainland China.

  • ^You are 7.5% Vietnamese.

  • ^- Oh.

  • ^(exclamations of surprise)

  • ^- What?

  • ^I literally always just tell people

  • ^I'm culturally Vietnamese.

  • I think it does make me feel more

  • connected to my Vietnamese side.

  • It does make me want to go to Vietnam.

  • I'm going to have to go learn to read in Vietnamese.

  • I just kind of picture my arm as Vietnamese.

  • That's how I kind of...

  • I'm splitting myself up.

  • - Well, I know my relatives are from India,

  • and when my mom was a baby, she had golden hair.

  • I know the north, in general, there is mixing,

  • I just don't know if that mixing affected my family.

  • ^- You are 100% Indian.

  • ^- I mean, at the some time, I'm still like

  • ^why the hell does my great uncle

  • ^have blonde hair and blue eyes?

  • ^It doesn't affect me and the way I live my life.

  • ^I've been raised Indian.

  • - I think it's also cool to compare with

  • your siblings because siblings share 50%

  • of their DNA, and so your results

  • are expected to be similar, but not exactly the same.

  • - Well, my parents always acknowledged

  • that we were just Lao.

  • I assume that means 100% Lao.

  • - Because you look pretty mixed.

  • - That's the thing; I get that a lot.

  • - I thought you were mixed this whole time.

  • ^- You are 100% East Asian, broken down

  • ^into 79.8% Thailand.

  • ^(exclamations of surprise)

  • ^- What?

  • ^- That is mind blowing.

  • ^- Are you ready for the other percentage?

  • ^- Oh, yeah, do you know ...

  • ^I didn't even know there was another percentage.

  • ^I'm still too in shock.

  • ^- So you are 19.8% Chinese.

  • ^- That's a big --

  • ^- That's a big chunk.

  • ^- One match strain with Taiwan.

  • ^- I think I'm still processing it all,

  • ^and there's just many levels to my shock right now.

  • ^It feels like my identity's been changed.

  • I had never considered being Thai at all.

  • It's gonna be a lot of fun information

  • to give my parents, and then, maybe,

  • hopefully, one day, claiming my rightful place

  • in the Taiwanese government.

  • (Laughter)

  • - I'm pretty sure I'm mostly Vietnamese.

  • ^There is some French in me.

  • ^- Broken down into 76.4% Southeast Asian from Vietnam,

  • ^20.8% Chinese,

  • ^and 0.7% broadly East Asian.

  • ^2.1% broadly East Asian and Native American.

  • ^Let's take a look.

  • ^- What?

  • ^- Wait, did you just say Native American?

  • ^I'm not even a little bit French?

  • ^I'm talking to my mom tonight.

  • - It's important to keep in mind

  • that just because you don't have this

  • particular ancestry in your DNA doesn't mean

  • that your family history is wrong.

  • You inherit 50% of your DNA from each

  • of your parents, so it could just mean

  • if there is French DNA, you just didn't inherit any.

  • The best way to see this is to have

  • one of your parents geno typed.

  • - I am mind blown.

  • I don't know if I can handle this right now.

  • I didn't even think I could be a little bit Chinese.

  • That's a part of me that's so uncharted.

  • - You like pot stickers more than Gene.

  • - Yeah.

  • My family is going to be nah, that's all wrong.

  • I'm like, I spit into a tube.

  • - I'm thinking 50% Japanese, 50% British.

  • - [Kane] What's that smile?

  • (Laughter)

  • ^- You are 49.5% Japanese, 0.3% Native American.

  • ^- Oh.

  • ^- Oh, interesting.

  • ^- 0.4% Broadly East Asian.

  • ^The European is 48.8%,

  • ^but you are not just British.

  • ^- Oh, okay.

  • ^- 21.9% French and German.

  • ^- Oh.

  • ^- 21.

  • ^- Ah, bonjour.

  • ^- You're more French than Kevin.

  • ^- Oh, my God, Kevin's gonna be so sad.

  • ^- Our British and Irish reference population,

  • ^you have 19.1% the United Kingdom.

  • ^You also have 2.2% Scandinavian

  • ^and 4.6% broadly Northwestern European.

  • ^You also have 0.5% West African.

  • ^(exclamations of surprise)

  • ^That's so many different regions.

  • ^- If you were ever looking to travel based

  • ^on your DNA, you have a lot of places to pick from.

  • - So you said that I was 0.3 Native American?

  • Does that mean I have a Native American ancestor for sure?

  • - It's in your DNA because it was passed down

  • to you from some ancestor.

  • We're looking at the last 500 years.

  • There are people that might not see

  • Native American ancestry in their DNA.

  • It doesn't mean that the family history

  • that they know about themselves is not true.

  • It just means that in terms of DNA,

  • they just didn't get any.

  • - I've always just thought I'm half Chinese

  • and half Scottish and Irish.

  • ^- You are 24.2%

  • ^French and German.

  • ^- What?

  • ^Are you serious?

  • ^(laughs)

  • ^That's insane.

  • ^Oh, my God.

  • ^- And 22.9% British.

  • ^You have 4.1% broadly Northwestern European DNA,

  • ^which is where your Scottish ancestry could also be.

  • ^- All right, let's talk the Asian side now,

  • ^and please tell me my life is not a lie,

  • ^and that I actually am Chinese.

  • ^Otherwise, I'm totally gonna freak out.

  • ^- You're 47.1% Chinese.

  • ^- Yeah, my life is not a lie.

  • ^- And then you do have 1.3% Southeast Asian.

  • ^- What?

  • ^That is just mind blowing.

  • ^This really explains why I've had sort of

  • ^this connection to France that I couldn't explain.

  • ^- So after finding out that I was

  • ^100% Indian, I was still curious as to

  • whether there was any mixing at all.

  • My mom took a DNA test, and it turns out

  • that she's 7% Irish, Scottish, and Welsh,

  • and 4% Scandinavian, so there was some mixing.

  • I just didn't get any of that DNA.

  • Still cool to know.

  • - I kind of came into it thinking that

  • my parents were private because they

  • don't want to talk about it, but

  • now I kind of get a sense that

  • they're private because they just don't know.

  • - You very often identify with where you were born

  • or where your parents were born.

  • 500 years ago, you don't have records.

  • You're not into genealogy, then there's

  • no way that you would know.

  • There's a difference between your ethnicity

  • and how you identify and then your genetics.

(tinkly music)

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it