Help finding best Family Tree DNA test for an Adopted Male

[Christina Maria]

Hello,

My son is an adult. He's adopted. I'm trying to help him with his first venture into DNA testing.

I'm trying to determine which test at Family Tree DNA would be best for him to learn about both his paternal and also maternal lines.

https://www.familytreedna.com/products.aspx

Does anyone have an opinions?

Thanks

[dublin1850]

I think the Autosomal test is generally the one recommended for those who are adopted.

[hurworth]

I'd start with a FamilyFinder (autosomal) test which is $59 US plus $12 postage at present.  It will match him with people from both sides of his ancestry. 

He's fortunate as a male to also be able to undergo one of the Y tests sometime in the future.

[Christina Maria]

Thank you.

Just to be clear, the mtDNA and the mtFull Sequence do not assist males? This is not an additional test that would help him?

[hurworth]

The mtDNA test would be less useful than the other two.

[Kimbrey]

also

Taking the Autosomal FF test with FTDNA {the test is a cheek swab one} will mean his sample is thereand  if you decide on further tests you can just upgrade.

If you do test with them they have a forum specifically to help adoptees.

The advice I have seen given for adoptees is to test {autosomal} at all 3 the companies if possible to get the  widest cover of data.

Has he applied for his adoption file ?

[Ruskie]

Would it not be better to take the YDNA test and MTDNA tests seperately? This will clearly show him both maternal and paternal lines, whereas with the FF test, he will have no idea which side of ancestry the results come from, possibly adding an extra element of confusion.

If money is no object it might be useful to take all three.

Do not get your hopes up though as sometimes results can be disappointing or, if unlucky, zero.

[Christina Maria]

Ruskie, that's a really good point.

He wants to know the geographical / ancestral background of each parent, so the combination of 2 tests may be the most useful in that respect.

I can see at Family Tree DNA that "Family Finder" is available with any test as an addon, so that would cover the connection aspect, regardless, I think.

Thanks

[Ruskie]

The Family Finder test can be good for finding close cousins such as 2nd, 4th etc, however if your son does not know the names of any of his biological relatives, then I don't know how he will be able to work out where they may fit into his family history.

At least with a YDNA test if he happens to get lots of matches with men with a particular surname originating from a particular area, then he at least might have something to work with. Similar with a MTDNA test.

Kimbrey asked if he had his adoption file. Do you know the names of his biological parents? If you do then you may be able to find a paper trail for them. By all means go ahead with the DNA tests but they are generally best used in conjunction with conventional family history research.

I don't know whereabouts in the world you are, but due to the popularity of DNA testing in the USA you generally get more matches with Americans - it is simply a numbers game. Just something to be aware of. 

I'm sure others will have more points to raise and opinions and advice to pass on to you.

Best of luck with the tests - the results are always interesting.