African Ancestry MatriClan Test Kit

Brand: African Ancestry

African Ancestry has worked out of Washington DC since 2003 and does one job only: tying a lineage to a present day African country and people. MatriClan reads mitochondrial DNA, so it follows the mother's mother's line back roughly 2,000 years, compared against the company's own collection of indigenous African samples rather than a public customer pool. Anyone can take it, men included, since everybody carries mtDNA.

This is the test for families whose paper trail stops at slavery records and who want a country and an ethnic group instead of a percentage chart. Limits are clear: one line only, no cousin matching, and a price near $300, well above a chip kit. Results arrive as a certificate with a guide, which is part of why families order it before reunions.