Possible to contact someone with just UserName on Ances*?

[Lisa in California]

Thank you, Margaret.  I've been preoccupied with a problem (not genealogy) during the past month, but I will write to my brother and mum today, asking for permission.  I know my brother won't mind and may actually be pleased to pass it on; luckily he has experience with websites, so he should be able to do it somewhat quickly.     Thank you again for posting.

[fallingonabruise]

Have you tried Gedmatch ? you upload all your raw DNA files (easier to do than it sounds !) As you have your mums test and your own, you can 'phase' them to make a test kit that only contains the DNA you received from your father and use that to look for matches too, I have had more success contacting people on there than on Ancestry

[Lisa in California]

Hi fallingonabruise:

I have not tried Gedmatch.  Actually, my mum and brother had the tests done (I thought it would be more helpful to have my brother try it, rather than me) but I would like to do so eventually.  I will try your suggestions as it would be very interesting to see if we can find matches.  While I am fairly satisfied with the (few) distant relatives we've found on my mum's side, I've located very few unknown relatives from my father's side.  Thank you for your suggestion.