Ancestry released a survey that reveals Canadians have a blind spot about what their parents’ lives were like before parenthood.
In fact, only about half (54%) are familiar with their mother’s life before having them — even though an overwhelming majority of mothers (93%) are willing to share their stories.
Despite this lack of generational storytelling, most Canadians (69%) want to know more about their parents’ lives before them. There could be many reasons for this, including being too young to ask, a lack of communication, or they just didn’t think to ask (7%).
When it comes to what Canadians want to learn about their parents, they’re most interested in pre-parenthood adventures (44%), talents and achievements (37%), and their first job (36%).
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- As for the details of their parents’ lives before they had kids, Canadians know very little about what kind of TV/movies they watched (18%), what slang they used (8%) and what they wanted to be when they grew up (18%).
- As adult children, nearly half of Canadians wish they knew more about their parents’ happiest moments (48%) and most valuable life lesson learned (46%).
- 44% of parents wish their child asked more questions about their life before parenthood.
In the days leading up to Mother’s Day, Ancestry encourages everyone to learn more about who their mother was before them, and to discover and preserve her stories using two of their latest innovative features.
- Storymaker Studio: A free feature in the Ancestry app that allows users to create bite-sized stories from their family history and share them within the Ancestry community and on their personal social media channels. With Storymaker Studio it’s easy to turn those stories, combined with personal family memories and heirlooms, into engaging, shareable content. Users can also record or upload audio of themselves and others telling family stories — in their voices — to share with family and preserve for future generations.
- DNA compare: People can now see a side-by-side comparison of their ethnicities and communities with DNA matches, as well as non-matches who have shared their AncestryDNA results with them.
DNA kit sale
Until Mother’s Day on May 14, AncestryDNA kits are on sale from Ancestry in Canada for $79, instead of $129. AncestryDNA + Traits kits are also on sale for $89 (originally $154). Shipping is extra.
Both of the above AncestryDNA kits are also on sale for the same price on Amazon.ca where shipping is free.
