DNA testing: 23andme

[kwheaton]

I have tested at 23andme and at FTDNA.

23andme gives the most bang for the buck---but I'm not thrilled with their subscription model and Privacy policies.

FTDNA is a little more up front but I have lots more confidence in their organization.

Ther Y-dna test can not be beat. I run two projects at FTDNA and they have a sale for the next 2 days. Autosomal testng is interesting at lots of levels but for family tree work it is not all that helpful. Best for the first 5 generations where the relationship is already known.

https://sites.google.com/site/wheatonsurname/home

[degenerate]

My connection to g.grandfather is through his daughter (my gran) and her son (my dad), is anything possible where I want info on both a male and female line?

Autosomal testing (23andMe or FamilyFinder on FTDNA) is what you need but its reach is limited to about 6 or 7 generations back from the test subject at best. If your father is still alive it would be better to test him directly as that will improve your opportunity to match others.

The strength of genetic genealogy arises through matches on the respective databases AND on information provided by people that you match with. Sadly the latter element is the big weakness - often you can't get any information out of them or they are as in the dark about their ancestors as everyone else. However, if you accept that this is a gamble then you should not be disappointed - any additional information will help you and it may throw up something surprising.

I would encourage anyone interested in genealogy to consider genetic testing -  it depends on large numbers of participants for success.

[Skoosh]

folks,  there's a sale on, for two days, ending Saturday night, big discounts apparently,
http://www.familytreedna.com/

Skoosh

[LizzieW]

Degenerate - Unfortunately, my father is no longer alive.  I have male cousins on that side of the family, but they are the sons of my father's twin sister, so the opposite of my connection to g.grandfather.  I am only in touch with one of them and he doesn't live near to me.

Lizzie

ps.  We're hoping to have some major alterations done to our house, so even spending $99 (or equivalent in pounds sterling) will be put on hold for now, as the quotes for building we've had are double what my OH thought the work would cost, and about a fifth more than I thought. 

[kwheaton]

Lizzie,
Ancestral information is one of the better parts of Autosomal DNA testing. I have found some very interesting things. I have a 1% African result and two well defined segments. I also have had 4 Portuguese matches and 1 Brazilian and this suggests I have an ancestor probably in the 1700's who was probably an African slave or Free person of color. This may be through one of my English/Irish lines who were indentured servants in the Sugar Plantations in the Caribbean---that's one possible explanation.

I have done genealogy for forty years and this was a complete surprise.

What I meant in my earlier post is it is not as helpful with making connections unless they are quite recent. Testing a generation further back always helps better identify the genetic information from that side as it dissipates in each succeeding generation. However testing your father will eliminate the information on your mother's side. Testing you both would be ideal but expensive.

[degenerate]

Degenerate - Unfortunately, my father is no longer alive.  I have male cousins on that side of the family, but they are the sons of my father's twin sister, so the opposite of my connection to g.grandfather.  I am only in touch with one of them and he doesn't live near to me.

Ah, Ok.  Then your own DNA is the one to go for although anyone descended from your 'target' (parental g.grandfather) would obviously qualify and the more people you test, the fuller the picture you get.

Being male isn't significant for the autosomal tests in case you got that impression, although if you knew of a male from the purely paternal line of that g.grandfather that would be invaluable for Y-DNA testing. Y-DNA - while a strictly male pursuit - can get more immediate results as it links patrilineal surnames and is not restricted to a few generations.  It is a very powerful tool for we one-name study folks.

[LizzieW]

Unfortunately, there is no purely paternal line from g.grandfather.  He had my gran and her two brothers, but neither of the brothers had any children, so the only ancestors are the offspring of my dad and his siblings.

The other problem is that I cannot find out where he came from before he fathered by gran, so I have no means of tracing any of his siblings (if he had any) descendants, which is why I'd like to find out if what I've been told about him and what I suspect is true or not.

Lizzie

[kwheaton]

Lizzie
You might get lucky---It looks like the test would definitely give you some useful information. Your choices are currently 23andme or FTDNA with their Family Finder. The price with the FTDNA Sale today is about the same. The differences:

23andme includes medical info and has a larger database but charges you an on-going subscription fee
FTDNA is strictly for genealogy and once you pay its forever---but they do not include medical info or Haplogroup testing in the price.

Good luck,
Kelly

[LizzieW]

FTDNA sounds the best bet, but I don't think I can justify paying $199 (approx £123.38) at the moment.  I did put into their search engine, the name we think g.grandfather's mother had and as I suspected it came up as probably "Ashkenazi Jewish with Sephardic roots. There are Ashkenazi families from Eastern, Western, Northern and Central Europe who have Spanish or Portuguese surnames or an oral history of having Sephardic ancestors".

I've always been told g.grandfather's mother was Spanish and I, and others, suspect there is a Jewish background in the family too, which certainly did not come from g.grandfather's partner (he and g.grandma don't seem to have married), as I can trace her line back to 1300s and they are all English.

Lizie