Adults who take an AncestryDNA® test must register their own kits on their own accounts, but they can share their results with you or invite you to manage their test once it’s registered.
Sending someone a registration invitation
Go to DNA registration
- When asked who you’re registering this kit for, choose Someone else.
- Enter the test taker’s email address and select Send invitation. Don't enter your email address here; enter the email address of the person submitting a saliva sample.
- The person you're inviting to register a kit will be sent an email.
Why adults must register their own kits
The person who gives a saliva sample is the owner of the DNA test. They must register their kit on their own account. The only exceptions are minor children and incapacitated adults for whom someone else holds power of attorney. To agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement, they must register their own kits. If you want to help manage their test, they can invite you to manage their test after they’ve registered it.
An adult who holds power of attorney for another adult may create an Ancestry® account on their behalf, register the kit on that account, and manage the test from either account. Memberships are account-specific, so a membership purchased on one account does not transfer to another account. If you manage someone else's test on your account and your account has a membership, you can access the DNA features of their test that are available with a membership. Likewise, if you manage someone else's test on your account and you don't have a membership (but they do), you would not have access to the features available only with a membership.
Managing their test
If the test owner follows the link in the email they receive from you to register their test, they’ll be given the option to make you the test’s manager.
If they don't make you the manager while registering their kit, they can always make you a manager later.
Troubleshooting
Shared email account
To use Ancestry, each person needs their own email address and account. If they share an email address with someone and it’s already used on Ancestry, tell them to make a new email address for free and use that to create their free Ancestry account.
The recipient doesn't receive the registration invitation email
If the person you're inviting to register their test doesn't receive the registration invitation email:
