38 minutes and 26 replies later, you have not responded to anyone for your own vanity.
Ancestry is a good one in that it has a huge user base. The biggest benefit of DNA testing is to find matches with distant cousins, network and share info.
I also used MyHeritage in order to get a 2nd test and compare. But I would start with Ancestry.
gedmatch is also a good site for analysis of your DNA and sort your distant cousin matches and identify those who you are closest to.
Good stuff. I just would not get too sidetracked by the so-called ethnicity analysis of these DNA sites as I don’t find them that accurate.
You couldn’t pay me to get one of those tests. With network security as bad as it is these days, I’d just assume that my genetic code would be in the public domain.
“You ARE the father.”
Islam is a war plan.
Thank you all for the interesting feedback. I’ve read it all, but may not comment on each and every one. Nice to find some genealogists among us, too.
I suspect, too, that different tests might report differently, and how odd that would be. Had a friend who got 96% Askenazy Jew (which he knew about) and 4% Neanderthal, which is a hoot.
I think I’ll stick with research at this point, too. I have vats of papers I need to write up and then get rid of bc nobody else will be able to read them anyway.
I use FTDNA.
Don’t believe they can tell you where you are from. Y chromosomes have a way of getting around (Any port in a storm).
Start with Ancestry.com as it has the largest database by far.
Then for free, post your results on FTDNA, MyHeritage and GedMatch. The idea is to fish in many ponds.
However, you need a classical paper & pencil family tree so you can match with others and find common relatives.
Probably won’t live more than 20 more years. And don’t plan to do any crimes. Not worried about public having access.
Genetic genealogy is a valuable tool to augment, and in many cases validate, traditional genealogy.
However, do not ask the question if you can’t stand the answer. You might learn your father is not really your father, or you might discover a half-sibling that no one ever mentioned to you. On the other hand, this is probably the easiest/cheapest way learn who your mysterious grandparent really was.
Regardless of your testing company, you can transfer your results for FREE to gedmatch.com. Results from all the DNA test sites are compared at no cost, and within a few days time you can access, again at no cost a list of close kin, complete with an e-mail address that the donor chooses to use.
That is also the site being used to track down serial killers and rapists. If they left DNA behind, law enforcement can match it against gedmatch’s huge and ever-growing database to find relatives of the guilty party. It is then fairly simple to find the doer.
Unfortunately for the many FReepers who do not want to tested, if one or more of your relatives have tested, then your own DNA is already “out there.” By combining a DNA sample with some basic information such as rough age, results can frequently be linked to a pool of fewer than 20 people. Yaniv Erlich, a computational geneticist at Columbia University, was the leader of a study that found an internet sleuth can already identify about 60% of white Americans from a DNA sample, even if they have never provided their own DNA to a database. “In a few years, it’s really going to be everyone,” says the geneticist.
I recommend ignoring the ethnicity results at all the sites. People simple move around too much for these predictions to have much validity.
With all that said, which is the “best” company with whom to test your DNA for genealogy purposes? Ancestry.com is great at meshing DNA results with traditional “tree” data, and for finding first/second/third and even fourth cousins. These cousins might know a lot about your mutual great-great-great grandparents.
If you are a male (or have a cooperative male relative) then the Y-chromosome testing at familytreeDNA.com is fantastic. The results give you accurate links to your biological father’s father’s
(etc) father.
Both sites can assist you in finding genetic kin, but remember that any DNA test may shock you if you learn that, genetically, you are not who you thought you are.
Technology advances but such privacy laws haven't.
Until then, I'd tread very carefully.
Think of it this way, in the very near future, it will become commonplace to produce human tissue, organ system or even an entire body by doing something like 3D printing out your exact DNA code.
I have tested or uploaded results at several places. Ancestry & 23andMe I would but, then transfer to FamilyTreeDNA & MyHeritage. Have to pay small fee at last two to get full details. I discovered my biological surname is not my name (one of my ancestors was attacked...). I find it very enjoyable.
Never in a million years.
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I have 2 concerns:
1. I am concerned about Security of DNA data bases. Everything and everyone can be hacked. Who might have access and for what purposes concerns me.
2. I am concerned that if I were tested, in the future, my results could be accessed by various entities—insurance companies or others (likely the government) to determine health risks of me or my progeny. As medical costs rise, I think DNA medical information will be a very valuable commodity—which is why I won’t have the test done.
My grandmother was born in 1889 and adopted later that same year. We never had any idea who her biological parents were, and neither did she. I had my 96-year-old mother take the ancestry DNA test in August. Within 3 weeks of receiving her results, I had identified both of my grandmother’s biological parents, thanks to several 2nd and 3rd cousin matches.
So, if you have a similar family mystery, DNA testing is the way to go. It is also good for verifying your paper genealogical research.
You can take your ancestrydna raw results, and upload them to myheritage, familytreedna, and gedmatch, and get more matches. Gedmatch is the database that the cops have been using to help crack cold cases. They can’t access ancestry without a warrant, I’m not sure about myheritage and familytreedna.
My daughter had their DNA tested, but it was done through medical doctor lab.
One was having issues, and we needed to find out if they were identical twins. They are identical.
I did it about a year ago, and it came back with a couple of results that I expected and maybe two results which weren’t. My family does trace itself mostly back to England, and part of this did agree with that.
For decades, one element of the family had talked of native American Indian ancestors (a legend in the family). Well...NO, there was zero evidence of that. So that legend was finally put to sleep.
But there was a fair amount of suggestion in the tests to lead back to France (actually finding later that two ‘strings’ of the family tree came from France). One element of the family lived in a remote valley in the south of France for a long, long time. And a second element had come out of Normandy, but was only there for two generations...having come from Denmark originally.
I will caution anyone taking the test, it opens some doors you might not like (you might find that of the four sons in the family...you don’t line up with your dad, and there’s some story that is best not to be told). The data with the DNA? Most companies say it’ll be held in a private way, but their intent is some massive database which they can eventually sell in some way.
I’m a mongrel and damn proud of it. I don’t need no stinking DNA test!
Why give the government your DNA?
If your son one day does something the regime frowns upon, and escapes by the skin of his teeth, you will have led them right to him.
Don’t think those results are not being centrally tabulated, and made available to the government.