My mother’s family (Colman) has a history going back to the 1700s, and their wives’ families are equally interesting. The family name Williams is Welsh, I am told. We also have a strong concentration of Dutch ancestry, with some Belgian connections. I should get my brother to be tested... as I remember, it was for male descendants, wasn’t it?
Actually, this particular project is for both females and males. :) You can read more about it at the link blam shared here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1423472/posts
I’m thinking of asking my husband to get tested as well. His family is Polish on both sides as far back as we have been able to trace thus far. It would be interesting to see from his DNA if there was indeed a migration or intermarriage, or if they had always lived in that area (at least as far back as scientists could tell from this! LOL).
You have the same DNA as your brother.
The only difference is that he will pass on his Y-Chromosome (male) DNA to his children but not his Mitochondral(female) (mtDNA) DNA. If you are a female, you will pass on your mtDNA(female) but not your yDNA(male) DNA to your children. You (and your brother) have your mother's mtDNA and your father's yDNA.
My father and his mother are both dead. I was able to test my dad's mothers DNA by checking his sisters daughter...my cousin. BTW, my dad's mother was a Smith and she had DNA haplogroup U5a1a. Her relatives were from Scotland when it was still possible to walk (no North Sea) and visit her relatives who are still in Finland.