Which test should mum have to determine "ethnicity", please?

[Lisa in California]

I apologize for asking a question that most likely has already been answered (and probably multiple times).     My mum probably will only be able to take a dna test one time.

My mum's friend recently had a dna test done and now my mum is very interested in having one done as well.  I've been researching many, many years and this is really the first time that anyone in my family has shown real interest in genealogy.

While it would be nice to find distant relatives, both my mum and I are mainly interested in finding out our "ethnic mix".  She is Canadian and has Irish and English ancestors.  My mum has been told that her father's ancestors were from Norway.  Would a test have results for her father's side?

May I ask, please, if someone can recommend which test she should have done?  A friend of mine (male) did have the dna test done by National Geographic and is quite happy with the findings.  He mentioned that it was more expensive than other companies, but he feels that one gets what one pays for.

Also, I would be very interested in finding out about my father's ancestors.  May I ask please if my brother has a test done, would it give findings for just our paternal grandfather, or would both of our father's parents' lineage be included?

Thank you for reading this long post.

[Ruskie]

I'm sure many more knowledable people than myself will help you with advice but it is said that the FTDNA test has more uptake than others:
https://www.familytreedna.com/

Results on all tests have an American skew because more Americans take DNA tests.

Your Mum could take a Family Finder test which gives results, mixed from both her maternal and paternal lines. It shows percentages of ethnicity. Results are fairly vague, but you will be able to contact "cousins" and use a paper trail to try to find out how you connect. You will not necessarily know which side of her family any connection comes from, so a bit more detective work may be needed.

The other test she could take is an MT- DNA test but this will only trace only her maternal line.

She cannot take the Y-DNA test - this is only for males.

I believe that once they have the sample, you can upgrade the test at a cost if you wish, so no further tests are required. Someone will correct me if that is wrong.

The test your brother could take to trace the male line, is the Y-DNA test. It follows the same line as the surname would. It is more useful to take the more expensive tests as they give better results. He can also take the other two tests.

Hope that helps a bit. I know very little about DNA and find the whole subject overwhelming, though myself and a couple of family members have been tested. It is quite interesting.

I believe some tests seem cheaper but postage is more expensive, so check the fine print before ordering.

[Lisa in California]

Hi Ruskie:

While I've heard/read very little about dna testing, I had not heard about postage costs - thank you for the head's up!

Thank you very much for explaining the various tests; it is very helpful.

It is too bad about the American skew, but understandable I suppose.  (I also was born in Canada; my "last" ancestor to arrive in Canada was in 1870.  So, having an American skew isn't beneficial for me.)   

Through the decades, I've actually been able to find all of my gggrandparents and on some lines, at least one generation prior to that, so at least contacting and identifying "cousins" might be a little bit easier for me than if I had just started researching. Who knows how detailed "their" research might be which could provide a stumbling block for us.   

On my mum's side, I can only trace her ancestors back to England and Ireland, so it would be very interesting to read her dna results.  (She also believes, in addition to the Norway connection, one ancestral line was from Holland.)  My dad's side is English and Irish and I know at least one branch can be traced to the Netherlands.  I would be very interested to see if my Irish Stuart's were in fact from Scotland, if that is possible to pinpoint, of course.

Thank you again, Ruskie.  I really appreciate your help.

[Ruskie]

Lisa, don't expect results which are country specific. The family finder results will just give vague areas, so Holland and Norway will most likely be covered under the same "umbrella". Similar with English and Irish and Scottish.

Some of your 'cousins' may give clues - so for example you may find a lot of matches with people whose ancestors come from Holland.

It is worth doing, but don't expect miracles. Some people have success in finding connections with others but I haven't been that lucky. There are no guarantees.

 

[Lisa in California]

Lisa, don't expect results which are country specific. The family finder results will just give vague areas, so Holland and Norway will most likely be covered under the same "umbrella". Similar with English and Irish and Scottish.

Yes, I had forgotten that part!  My friend's results were not country-specific.  Thank you for pointing it out - now I won't be disappointed when we get my mum's results back.

While it would be nice to try to find "cousins", our main interest is in finding out in which regions our ancestors "originated", so I think we will be satisfied with any results (keeping in mind that there could be errors in the results).

Thank you again, Ruskie.   

[Kovens]

Hello Lisa,

I have collected some decent information about DNA testing for genealogical purposes and dedicated a portion of the ovensfamily.net web page to the subject, If you are so inclined you could review some of the information there (http://www.ovensfamily.net/#!ovens-dna-project/cazc) and then make an informed decision. I hope you find it helpful.

FTDNA tests tend to be a little more expensive then Ancestry or 23 and me but, do seem to provide  more thorough information along with the option to upgrade the test later without having to submit a new sample. I wouldn't worry too much about the number of participants with a particular testing agency. Once you receive the results you can obtain a digital file of the data and upload it to gedmatch.com which is a site which allows results from all of the various testing agencys to be pooled and queried.    I have attached a screenshot showing a quick overview of what the FamilyFinder results would look like from FTDNA. I also attached a screenshot of my Ancestry DNA results so you can get an idea.  Keep in mind these are combined results of maternal and Paternal lines and neither testing agency provides an indication about which results are from your mother vs. Father. You would have to order individual more specific tests to get those types of results. The DNA info page I mentioned at the beginning of this post provides some information about the various types of tests.

I hope this is helpful and not info overkill. Have a great day, Kyle S. Ovens

[Lisa in California]

Hi Kyle:

Thank you for sharing the information; it is very interesting.  We will determine which test would be the best for my mum and also consider the costs.

Thank you so much for your guidance, it is appreciated!

[Kimbrey]

Lisa

Just to add something about the tests

AncestryDNA collects the sample as a "saliva"
FTDNA collects using mouth swabs

Older people find the "saliva" test more daunting - I did !! {about a teaspoonful required in the vial}
FTDNA send 2 swabs per pack.

Kim

[Ruskie]

Good points Kim.

The FTDNA mouth swab is a scraping inside the cheek with a rough plastic swab.

My local post office were a bit nonplussed when I told them what was inside for customs purposes. 

Excellent images Kyle - I didn't know how to include mine.

See what I mean Lisa about how vague the results are?