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I'm really confused and I'm hoping someone here might have the answer, or at least be able to point me in the right direction.

Let me begin with how my DNA test results have come as a shock. When I was 12 the BIG family secret came out that my mother's parents and grandparents were secretly Jewish, but that they'd all changed their names and converted to Catholicism and played up their Irish heritage. I didn't think much of that until I was an adult and as I got older I thought how wrong and cowardly it was of my ancestors to run and hide like that. So I converted Judaism and took my great-grandmother's Hebrew birth name, Sabra. While I adore Judaism, I also did it in sort of a tribute to my grandparents - who I believed were forced to leave Judaism as children.

Over the last few years I've been trying unsuccessfully to trace that heritage, but there wasn't much of Jewish trail (a few names here and there, but no concrete proof). Still, I felt compelled to know more and took the Ancestry.com DNA test. The problem is it shows I have NO European Jewish blood. Does that mean I'm really NOT Jewish or is there another test for Sephardic Jews?

Oy Vey. Please help.

Candie Leigh Campbell
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    Welcome! Judaism is defined based on mothers religion even if you have no relevant dna :) – andrewmh20 Sep 26 '15 at 16:59
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    Also, if you converted, you don't need prior Jewish heritage at all cc @andrewmh20 – MTL Sep 26 '15 at 17:00
  • It would depend on what DNA results they use. It would also depend on where the family originally came from in order to wind up in Ireland. – sabbahillel Sep 27 '15 at 00:07
  • Sephardic and Ashkenazic DNA tests can be different. – Aaron Sep 27 '15 at 03:38
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    @CandieLeighCampbell If your family is Sephardic (or converts), you will not necessarily have European Jewish blood. It doesn't mean you aren't Jewish. You do need proof that someone in your maternal line was born or converted to Judaism, though. – SAH Dec 03 '15 at 17:22

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