MyHeritage 2025 Year in Review

  • By Esther
December 30, 2025
MyHeritage 2025 Year in Review

2025 was yet another very successful and very busy year at MyHeritage! We introduced many new products and features, added significant historical record collections that opened new doors for researchers around the world, and expanded the use of AI across the platform. At the same time, millions of MyHeritage users continued to make exciting discoveries that made us proud of the work we love doing.

To inspire people worldwide to discover more about who they are and where they belong, we embraced new technology, improved accuracy, and invested in resources to help make family history easier, more enriching, and more accessible to everyone — from seasoned genealogists to those taking their very first steps in genealogy.

We recently shared a video that nicely illustrates our mission, and we invite you to watch it again:

Here’s a chronological review of the key milestones and stories that shaped 2025 at MyHeritage:

January

January was a stellar kickoff to the new year, with one of our largest content releases ever. After launching the first 4 collections in the Names & Stories project in late 2024, 15 more collections were published in January 2025, adding 11.6 billion structured records extracted from historical newspapers to MyHeritage.

These collections cover all 50 U.S. states, Canada, Australia, and the U.K., and were created using advanced AI to transform unstructured newspaper articles into searchable records that include names, dates, relationships, life events, and contextual snippets. The records were sourced from newspapers that we published into OldNews.com, our website for historical newspapers that was launched in 2024. For each record, the original newspaper image can be viewed on OldNews.com.

February

February was a celebration of non-stop product releases.

First, we introduced the long-awaited Ethnicity Estimate v2.5, a major upgrade to MyHeritage DNA’s ethnicity model. The new version delivers higher resolution, nearly doubling the number of ethnicities from 42 to 79, and offers more accurate results.

The response was outstanding, and many users reported that their updated results align more closely with their documented family history and provide more meaningful insights into their origins.

Then, we introduced MyStories — a new product that helps anyone turn personal memories into a beautifully printed hardcover book. Storytellers receive weekly email prompts with thoughtful questions, reply at their own pace, and can add photos and customize the final layout before printing. MyStories makes it simple for individuals, parents, and grandparents to capture meaningful life experiences in a lasting keepsake. Feedback from genealogists and family history experts was very enthusiastic, highlighting how easily the prompts unlock stories that might otherwise go untold. MyStories proved to be a very popular gift for the holidays.

Finally, we launched Ancient Origins, a new DNA product that allows users to trace their roots up to 10,000 years into the past and discover which ancient populations they descend from, such as Imperial Romans, Norse Vikings, Canaanites, Ancient Egyptians, and many more. Ancient Origins uses existing MyHeritage DNA data to generate its reports, including ancient population breakdowns across historical eras, hunter-gatherer vs. farmer composition, genetic similarity rankings, and interactive genetic distance maps.

Watch the video below to learn more about Ancient Origins:

Our users loved Ancient Origins!

March

At RootsTech 2025, we showcased our newest innovations and connected with the conference attendees in Salt Lake City and online. The MyHeritage booth was busy throughout the event, with hands-on demos of LiveMemory™, MyStories, Ancient Origins, and other recent releases. Visitors could speak directly with our product experts, try out features, ask questions, and join mini-sessions held throughout the day. We also created dedicated spaces — including a MyStories nook and an Ancient Origins photo corner — that encouraged people to share memories, explore their heritage, and have some fun.

Beyond the booth, MyHeritage team members led multiple RootsTech sessions covering DNA, family trees, AI photo tools, and research strategies, and our keynote presentations highlighted the main products introduced over the past year. It was a great event, full of learning, discovery, and meeting MyHeritage users from around the world.

At RootsTech, our Founder and CEO Gilad Japhet delivered his annual session, sharing recent genealogy discoveries, walking through new product innovations, and giving attendees an early look at what’s coming next from MyHeritage. His talk drew a large audience and offered a behind-the-scenes view of how upcoming features and research advances are being shaped. His full talk can be watched here:

During RootsTech, we introduced Cousin Finder™, a new genealogy feature that identifies people on MyHeritage who share common ancestors with you — without requiring a DNA test. It analyzes Smart Matches™ across family trees to highlight relatives who are connected to your direct ancestral lines and shows exactly how you’re related. Cousin Finder™ creates a list of cousins you can contact through MyHeritage, making it easier to grow your tree, compare research, and explore new branches.

Users enthusiastically shared their experiences with Cousin Finder™. Genealogy bloggers highlighted how easy it is to understand and use, and users reported finding cousins they hadn’t known about.

We introduced a creative addition to accompany Ethnicity Estimate v2.5: original tunes for all 79 supported ethnicities. Each tune was composed to reflect the cultural character of its ethnicity, so users can explore their updated results while listening to music inspired by their roots — from the Scottish Highlands to West Africa, Polynesia, Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, and more.

We also revamped the family tree on the MyHeritage mobile app to align it with the redesigned tree on the web. The update introduces vertical profile cards as the default for a clearer view on small screens, lets users control tree settings directly in the app (including orientation, match icons, card colors, and add-parent prompts), and brings color coding to Family view to make branches easier to follow.

April

The 24-Hour Genealogy Webinar Marathon, hosted each year by Geoff Rasmussen on Legacy Family Tree Webinars, returned in April with another round-the-clock lineup of expert genealogy sessions from around the world. This beloved global event brought nonstop learning, inspiration, and new discoveries to family history enthusiasts across time zones.

May

Our research team uncovered new details about Anna Jarvis — the woman who founded Mother’s Day — and identified her closest living relatives. Using historical documents and newspaper archives on OldNews.com, researchers traced that branch forward to two descendants in Maryland, who were unaware of their connection. The story was publicized in the New York Post.

Also in May, the MyHeritage Research team analyzed historical data to track how the average age of first-time motherhood has shifted over the past century across several countries, highlighting long-term demographic and social trends reflected in family history records.

June

In June, we announced a partnership with ScanCafe, a leading U.S. service for digitizing photos, slides, negatives, and video tapes. ScanCafe began offering MyHeritage to all its new customers, to take advantage of MyHeritage’s online storage and innovative photo enhancement features. MyHeritage users in the U.S. can now send their physical media to ScanCafe and have the digitized files automatically transferred into their MyHeritage account.

LiveMemory™, the feature that turns still photos into short video clips, was enhanced with desktop support on the MyHeritage website. After becoming a hit on the mobile app with more than half a million videos created, LiveMemory™ can now animate any uploaded photo directly on desktop — automatically or using custom gestures and playful effects. It’s an easy, delightful way to bring old scenes back to life and share them with the people you love.

July

In July, MyStories became easier to use with the addition of audio recording and automatic transcription, letting storytellers share their memories in their own voice and have them instantly converted into editable text. The update also included enhanced editing tools, and the ability to place and resize photos directly within a story instead of only at the end.

MyHeritage also released a big update to LiveMemory™, adding 11 playful new effects — along with an upgrade to the underlying AI technology so animations look more realistic and stay truer to the original faces.

August

In August, we expanded Cousin Finder™ to allow viewing its results for any individual in the family tree. This update lets you see the blood relatives of a specific ancestor or family member — a powerful way to uncover cousins connected to people whose ancestors differ from your own, such as a spouse, child, or in-law

September

Webtember 2025 provided a full month of free genealogy education from Legacy Family Tree Webinars, with live sessions held each Wednesday in September. Webtember brought together experts from around the world to teach on 4 themed tracks. The month opened with German genealogy, featuring classes on directories, regional history, and lesser-known sources. The second week focused on writing, offering practical guidance for crafting ancestor stories, using historical context, and even writing genealogical mysteries. The third week spotlighted MyHeritage, with sessions covering platform basics, DNA testing, research discoveries, and the value of OldNews.com. The final week explored U.S. historical records, from gravestone clues and WPA resources to school censuses and old land surveys.

October

In October, MyHeritage announced that it upgraded all new DNA tests to Whole Genome Sequencing — the most comprehensive method of reading DNA, covering 3 billion data points instead of the 700,000 used in traditional tests. This makes MyHeritage the first major consumer DNA company to use Whole Genome Sequencing at scale. This is a huge step forward for genetic genealogy and will provide more accurate matches, better ethnicity results, and a foundation for powerful new genealogy features — all at no extra cost and with the same strong privacy protections. This upgrade was based on technology from Ultima Genomics.

Also in October, MyHeritage launched its first-ever pop-up shop in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, inviting travelers to embark on a heritage-inspired journey and discover where their DNA could take them next. The pop-up operated for several months and welcomed both first-time visitors learning about MyHeritage and existing users who stopped by to meet the team, ask questions, and share their own family history stories.

November

In November, in response to new customs tariffs in the U.S., MyHeritage opened new local DNA collection centers in Australia, Norway, and Switzerland to simplify sending DNA samples for processing in our U.S.-based lab. These join existing centers in the EU (Germany), the U.K., Mexico, and Argentina.

MyHeritage rolled out a major update to Theory of Family Relativity™, adding 103 million new theories — a 44% increase. Now over 3.5 million DNA kits have at least one theory, helping users break through brick walls by showing possible relationship paths to their DNA Matches using trees and historical records.

December

In December, MyHeritage joined Good Morning Washington for a special holiday DNA reveal, as host Roxanne Strouk explored her MyHeritage DNA results live on air with MyHeritage VP of Marketing Aaron Godfrey. Roxanne discovered a diverse heritage and was deeply moved by newly uncovered family history, including an enhanced photo of her ancestor and stories revealed through historical records. The segment highlighted how MyHeritage DNA, historical records, and photo tools come together to create discoveries for users.

Also in December, we announced that OldNews.com surpassed 400 million digitized newspaper pages — an extraordinary amount of historical content made searchable in under two years. This milestone reflects cross-team effort and the growing global impact of the platform, which now hosts newspaper pages from 25 countries. With every newly added page, users gain access to rich details that rarely appear in other records: small personal mentions, local events, and everyday moments that bring family history to life.

We ended 2025 on a high note with the launch of MyHeritage DNA Traits, just a few days before the end of the year. This new product lets users explore how their genetics shape everyday aspects of who they are, from sleep patterns and taste preferences to personality, fitness, and cognition. With 40 engaging, science-backed reports generated from existing DNA data, DNA Traits adds a fun and meaningful new layer to the MyHeritage experience.

Watch a fun video that introduces MyHeritage DNA Traits:

Historical records

During 2025, MyHeritage added 6.6 billion historical records, bringing the total number of records on the platform to over 38 billion. This included approximately 6 billion records extracted from newspapers, 500 million structured historical records, and more than 200 million family tree profiles. The new content spans dozens of countries and includes a rich diversity of records, including newspapers and vital, church, census, and military records that are helpful for genealogists worldwide.

Below are some particularly noteworthy historical record collections and milestones added in 2025:

User stories

Here’s a recap of some of the beautiful user success stories facilitated by MyHeritage over the past year:

We started off in January sharing Wanda Novak’s story, which began with a lifelong question about her father. When a MyHeritage DNA test revealed that her siblings were actually half-siblings, she embarked on a DNA journey guided by a simple daily prayer: to learn her father’s name. A close match finally led her to a 91-year-old man living in Florida. DNA confirmed he was her biological father, and the two met for the first time on Father’s Day — a joyful, life-changing reunion.

In another extraordinary discovery in January, Suzanne Cohen used MyHeritage to investigate a belief held her entire life: that her father’s European relatives had all perished in the Holocaust. Instead, MyHeritage research uncovered relatives alive today in Germany and the Netherlands, and revealed that her family’s shoe store, founded in 1864, had survived, been reclaimed after the war, and is still operating. Suzanne traveled to Europe to meet her cousins, visit the shop, and return to her father’s boyhood home. The story resonated widely and received extensive media coverage, including a feature in The Washington Post.

In March we shared Svein Jørgenson’s story. He grew up knowing the man in his home wasn’t his real father and spent years searching, armed only with a name his mother shared before she died. The real breakthrough came when a new DNA Match appeared with a woman who turned out to be his half-sister; her father, a ship captain who had once worked with Svein’s mother, had died just one day earlier. As Svein learned more about him — their shared love of the sea, similar personality, and striking physical and vocal resemblance — everything finally fell into place.

Tony Palmeri grew up hearing that his family might be related to the outlaw Sam Bass, but the details were unclear. Years later, after following several wrong leads, a U.S. Census record he found on MyHeritage revealed that his great-great-grandmother, Eliza Ann Bass, had been born in Indiana — the key detail that connected her line to Sam Bass’s family. Further research confirmed that Tony and Sam Bass share a great-grandfather, Moses Bass. The discovery tied together a long-suspected family story and even connected with Tony’s current life in Texas, where he performs in Old West reenactments much like his late uncle once did. The story can be seen on Fox7 Austin.

In July, we shared Sharon Lovell’s journey. She grew up knowing her father had once loved a woman in Japan and lost a child he was never able to find, a heartbreak that stayed with him for the rest of his life. Decades later, a cousin’s MyHeritage DNA results unexpectedly matched a young woman in Japan, whose father — Akihiko — had been raised believing his American father had abandoned him. A DNA test confirmed the truth: Akihiko was Sharon’s brother. For him, the discovery overturned a lifetime of painful assumptions; for Sharon, it fulfilled the search her father never completed. The powerful story captured widespread attention and was featured in Newsweek.

At 77, Brigitta D’Souza took a MyHeritage DNA test expecting nothing new — until a niece appeared in her matches. She had no siblings, yet the test revealed a half-brother she never knew, and with him, the truth her mother had kept hidden: the actor she grew up believing was her father wasn’t her biological father at all. Her real father was the composer Hans Husfeld, whose name had been printed on a theater poster hanging above her desk for 40 years. Photos she’d owned her whole life suddenly made sense — Hans had been on stage with her mother the year she was conceived. She learned he came from generations of musicians, just like the music school she’d run for decades without knowing why it felt so natural. Now she’s met her half-sisters and nieces, finally seeing the face — and the story — she never knew she shared.

In October, we shared the emotional story of Mikael Kjelleros Endrell. Kidnapped as a newborn in Colombia and adopted to Sweden at 8 months old, he grew up knowing nothing about the mother he had lost — only that one day he would try to find her. After decades of searching, learning Spanish, becoming a father himself, traveling to Colombia, and facing disappointment after disappointment, it was a MyHeritage DNA match that finally broke the silence. Nearly 40 years after he was taken, Mikael found his biological family, confirmed the connection through DNA, and met his mother for the first time at the Madrid airport in November 2024. Their reunion became one of the most widely shared and deeply felt moments on our social media channels.

One of the most inspiring stories we shared this year came from Peter Sykes, an Australian MyHeritage user whose journey is nothing short of remarkable. After emergency heart surgery, Peter suffered a massive stroke, fell into a month-long coma, and was given almost no chance of meaningful recovery. Then, against every expectation, he woke up. Back home, he faced severe memory loss and difficulty using his dominant hand. Searching for a way to rebuild his cognitive skills, Peter turned to MyHeritage — and genealogy became his unexpected form of rehabilitation. Tracking relatives, entering names, analyzing connections, and typing every day helped restore his memory, sharpen his focus, and retrain his hand. As his abilities returned, his tree blossomed, eventually surpassing 17,000 ancestors across centuries of history, from early Australian settlers to medieval nobility and Viking-era figures. What began as therapy became a powerful rediscovery of family, resilience, and identity. Peter’s story was covered by The Canberra Times.

In December we shared the remarkable reunion of Frank McGrath of Canada and Frans Bannink of the Netherlands — half-brothers who discovered each other nearly 80 years after World War II. The connection was uncovered when Amber Hogervorst, Frans’s granddaughter, took a MyHeritage DNA test that revealed a close match to Frank, leading to the discovery that both men were sons of Canadian soldier Staff Sergeant Dermot McGrath, who served in Europe during the war. The connection resulted in in-person meetings in the Netherlands and later in Canada. The story can be seen on CBC.

Also in December, we shared the deeply moving story of John Moore, abandoned as a newborn in wartime London in December 1944, who finally uncovered his origins at the age of 81. The breakthrough came through a MyHeritage DNA test taken by Ella Borg, which revealed that John had a half-brother, Lucas Borg, and that both men were sons of George Borg, a Maltese immigrant and Merchant Navy veteran who had never known John existed. The discovery led to an emotional reunion, shared memories of growing up just streets apart, and the gift of a treasured family ring — a tangible link to the father John never met.

To end off the year, we shared the deeply moving story of Valerie Renault, a former principal dancer with the Béjart Ballet, whose lifelong sense of not fully belonging was rooted in a family silence about her origins. Raised in France knowing that the man who brought her up was not her biological father, Valerie spent decades carrying unanswered questions. After years of searching, a MyHeritage DNA test led her to her biological father, Guy Charles Auguste Kayser, and to a sister she never knew, Marie-line Akkisi Kayser. Their first conversation took place on Christmas Day, transforming a date long associated with loss into one of connection and healing.

More user stories

Here are just a few more of the many unforgettable stories from users whose MyHeritage discoveries in 2025 changed their lives in remarkable ways:

  • After decades without answers, a MyHeritage DNA test revealed Pia Falk’s biological father. She also discovered two half-siblings, took her father’s surname, and is now building the relationship she long hoped for.
  • While continuing his father’s genealogy research, Thierry Lamy followed Smart Matches™ on MyHeritage and traced his maternal line to the Bourbon family, identifying Gaston Jean Baptiste, son of King Henri IV of France, as a direct ancestor.
  • Adopted as an infant in England, Jill Lloyd was surprised when a MyHeritage DNA test led her to relatives in the U.S., identifying her birth father, Albert Edgar Brown, and four half-siblings, whom she later met during a meaningful journey to Florida and Georgia.
  • What began as a search for grandparents led Cathy Goodman to a far bigger discovery: a nephew her late brother never knew he had, allowing her to form a close bond with her newfound nephew and giving him the chance to meet his grandmother before she passed away.
  • Raised in London after being adopted from Hong Kong, Rachel Rollinson used MyHeritage DNA to identify her birth family/ She reconnected with eight siblings, learned her real birthday, and was welcomed as “sister” during an emotional reunion in Hong Kong.
  • Determined to continue his father’s Holocaust-era search, Henry Zanzer used MyHeritage DNA and records to find the only existing photo of his father as a child, as well as locate unknown cousins and rebuild branches of a family once believed to have no surviving relatives.
  • A MyHeritage DNA match revealed that Sandrine Berthoumieu had a half-sister, Sofia, in Sweden. After 55 years apart, the two met for the first time and now share a close bond shaped by striking similarities and a shared history finally uncovered.
  • One remembered family name was enough for Becky Lemke to reconnect with her Polish roots through MyHeritage, leading to a reunion with second cousins in Warsaw and restoring a family connection lost for more than four decades.
  • By organizing his family history on MyHeritage, Philippe Laine overturned long-held family myths, uncovered an unknown great-aunt from a first marriage, and reconnected with descendants while filling major gaps in his tree.
  • A surprising DNA match introduced Sharon Harper to an unknown Māori branch of her family, tracing back to a secret half-brother of her great-grandfather and connecting her with relatives who welcomed her across generations.
  • While honoring his parents’ heroic wartime legacy, Gerrit Vander Kamp traced his maternal line back more than a thousand years on MyHeritage, discovering a direct connection to Pope Callixtus II and uncovering deep historical roots behind his family’s values.
  • Everything changed for Marina Bopp when her MyHeritage DNA results revealed her biological father and three half-brothers, leading to an emotional reunion and instant inclusion in a family she never knew existed.
  • Longtime genealogy enthusiast Linda Pickle was stunned to discover through MyHeritage research that Tennessee whiskey founder Jack Daniel was her 3rd great-uncle, reconnecting her own roots to one of America’s most iconic figures.
  • An unexpected Smart Match™ led Carol Grant to uncover the remarkable life of her 3rd great-grandfather, Joseph Bartholomew: a Revolutionary War veteran, War of 1812 hero, and early American leader whose story had been lost to time.
  • While researching village history, Raquel Cañizares discovered that an 18th-century ex-voto painting depicted her own ancestor, now the oldest known image in her family history.
  • A discounted Black Friday MyHeritage DNA kit uncovered Christina Buckler’s biological father and seven half-siblings — and also provided the crucial match that helped Alison Spence, who was adopted, find her birth mother just in time; their double discovery was later featured in Newsweek.

Webinars

In 2025, Legacy Family Tree Webinars, led by Geoff Rasmussen, continued to deliver high-quality education for the global genealogy community. Throughout the year, 225 webinars were presented by 157 speakers, including 41 MyHeritage-specific sessions, with 256,369 people attending live. The library also expanded significantly with over 100 new webinars in French and Spanish.

Highest-rated webinars of 2025:

Top 10 Most-Watched MyHeritage webinars:

Great things are already set up for 2026, with a strong and varied webinar lineup on the way.

The MyHeritage Team

In 2025, our global team continued to grow, with new hires, shared milestones, and 44 babies born to employees during the year.

Throughout the year, our HR team organized events and initiatives that brought employees together across offices and time zones.

Here are just a few of the moments and initiatives that made 2025 another unforgettable year for the MyHeritage family:

Bring Your Parents to Work Day

Every year, we open our doors for one of our most beloved traditions: Parents’ Day at MyHeritage. Employees are invited to bring their parents to the office and give them a first-hand look at the work environment, the people behind our products, and the culture their children are part of.

Year after year, one moment always stands out: hearing Gilad share his vision for MyHeritage. Parents often tell us how meaningful it is to understand the mission their children contribute to — and nothing makes them prouder than seeing the impact and purpose behind the company their sons and daughters help build, no matter their age.

Volunteering

Giving back to the community is a core MyHeritage value. Over the course of this year, we organized many volunteer events to spread joy and support those in need.

In the photo below, for example, the team spent the day volunteering at a rehabilitation center in the local hospital.

Holiday toasts and celebrations

Team outings

Members of the Quality Assurance Team

Members of the Quality Assurance Team

Brand Marketing Team

Brand Marketing Team

Classes

As part of our continued focus on wellness, we offered employees hands-on CPR and first-aid training this year. The sessions provided essential life-saving skills and empowered our teams with confidence both inside and outside the workplace.

We promoted health and wellness with regular exercise classes for our employees.

Women’s community

Our women’s community continued supporting each other throughout the year, with meaningful sessions and opportunities to connect.

Hackathons

This year’s Moonshot Hackathon was a standout moment in 2025. This year, teams from across the company came together to explore bold ideas, experiment with new technologies, and push the boundaries of what’s possible. The creativity and collaboration on display were a reminder of how we continually evolve as a tech-driven organization. It was an inspiring milestone in a year defined by reinvention and forward-thinking.

Our first Marketing AI Hackathon brought teams together to experiment and build early concepts that showed how AI can transform our work.

“The Records”

This year came with a fun new highlight: the debut of the MyHeritage employee band, The Records, who performed live at our fall employee event and instantly became a company favorite.

Looking ahead to 2026

In 2026, we’ll continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in family history. We can’t wait to see the discoveries our community will make using the new products, historical records and technologies we will develop!

Wishing you a wonderful New Year from everyone at MyHeritage!