MyHeritage: Family Tree & DNA

This site is so helpful! I found out last year I had a niece I never knew existed. She found me on one of these sites. So yeah, I discovered I have a sister I never knew existed. So I have obviously kept in touch with my new sister only to learn that we may also have a brother! My sister and niece had been asking me and asking me to get a DNA test (but I’m on a very tightly fixed income) but feeling like this could make or break my new sister I found bc she’s working extra hours at work etc to maybe come from Missouri to WV which is a 12 hour drive and see me and our other sister (that we are the only 2 that share same mother and father) so I went online and My Heritage had the best prices on the DNA kits. But once I started ordering the kit, they had an offer running where you get a 30 day free trial and this site provided me already my maternal grandparents names just from me entering my mother’s name. It’s helping me build a family tree that I have always wanted but had no way before My Heritage to accomplish this. I have nothing but praise for My Heritage

I only wanted this app for its ability to automatically fix old scanned photos - so first I’ll talk about that. Amazing - it fixes scratched, torn, faded, etc photos, it uses AI to get amazing detail like strands of facial hair, a cut on a child’s lip. It colorized old black and white/sepia photos and it fixes color issues with old faded, poorly colored photos. Finally, it can animate a still photo. Imagine having a short video of your great grandmother turning to the camera and smiling at you. Incredible. But then there’s the feature I swore I had no need for - the family tree. With a few pieces of info (like maiden names, country of birth, year of birth) it was able to help complete a family tree and get photos we didn’t have like my mother’s 1950’s high school spanish club photo, signatures of my grandparents ellis island immigration, and more. Then there’s abilities like family members adding their own photos, correcting/filling out data, etc. You have to try it all out for yourself. I went with the 1 year full plan - money well spent.

I clicked on the free trial before buying this app. I enjoyed its features, and relative (pardon the pun) ease of use. It’s the best one I’ve tried so far. I hemmed and hawed as to whether or not to subscribe for a year. Well, I decided not to at this time, went in the settings to decline the $99 subscription, it let me. I thought. Until I got a receipt telling me that my credit card was just charged $99 plus tax for the My Heritage app. There appears to be no way to undo this charge, so I’m stuck with it. I’m not going to pursue a refund, however, just a fair warning...if you are still in the free trial mode, I suggest you decide at least a couple of days before your trial period ends, to cancel. The small print says to give at least 24 hours notice. I believe that was my mistake. I gave it 23 hours maybe. I don’t know. Anyway, now that I have it for a year, I guess I’ll explore my crazy family tree that I know will be a challenge because it’s all over the place. This is a really good app, and I highly recommend playing with the animation feature with old portraits of dead people if you have them! It’s freaky. I have a 72-year-old friend who adored his father who died at age 56. I animated a photo for him as a surprise, and he burst into tears of joy and nostalgia. That alone was worth the hundred bucks! Nice app, I really do recommend it, but be wary of the free trial time limit.