Adoption

[Seztratt]

Hi myself and my sister have recently had two DNA matches on ancestry marked as very high for both of us.  I messaged one of them 52 centimorgans across two segments.  She then told me that the second match was her father who was adopted.  The fathers DNA is 56 centimorgans across 3 segments.  We do not share any DNA from the birth mothers family, so she feels we are from the birth fathers family.  From information she has given me the birth father would have to have lived in the area where all my fathers family came from.  My question is how do we narrow things down to get any closer to who this was.  Her father was born in 1943, conception would have been may 1942 so it would count some out due to the war. Any ideas ?

[sugarfizzle]

This might not be the best place to ask, as few adoptees have responded in the forum as far as I know.

However, for what it's worth, I think you and your match will just have to go on plugging away at it, hoping for further shared matches with same background/place/name where given.

As so few matches at Ancestry seem to have trees, this may be a protracted process.

It is perhaps of more importance to her and her father than you, and you may never find out exactly who his parents were​, but it is a start. As more and more people get tested, one day you may find first or second cousins to narrow it down a bit further.

Uploading the DNA of all of you to other sites will show you exactly where you match and could give extra shared matches, could be very helpful.

Good luck, Margaret

[Seztratt]

Which site do you suggest we upload to?

[sugarfizzle]

As far as I know, the only sites that don't allow upload of DNA are Ancestry and 23andme.

All the other major testing companies allow uploads, and gedmatch, though not a testing company, lets you upload for comparison purposes.

At gedmatch you see closest matches, as at other sites, but you are given a kit number which you can share with anybody else. I have shared my kit number with those I know to be related via paper trails, but perhaps they have tested at another company, so I can't see if they are a match.

Both of you upload to gedmatch and compare kit numbers, or you can upload to the same company that they have tested at.

It is persuading people who have tested at ancestry to upload elsewhere which is the biggest problem, but perhaps you won't have those problems if your match is keen to find the connection as well.

Regards Margaret

[Seztratt]

Thank you for that I will suggest and see what happens from there.

[sugarfizzle]

This is from ISOGG site,plenty more on the topic there -

https://isogg.org/wiki/Utilizing_DNA_testing_to_break_through_adoption_roadblocks

Take an autosomal DNA test at all three major companies (AncestryDNA, Family Tree DNA, and 23andMe) if you can. Transfer at least one of those kits to GEDmatch.com (a free site supported by donations). Males can also do Y DNA testing at Family Tree DNA
Starting from the closest match, build out that match’s tree at Ancestry.com (make it private and non-searchable) in order to use the AncestryDNA hint system.
Identify the in common with (ICW) matches/shared matches with the match in step 2.
Build the trees of the ICW/shared matches and find the common ancestors between these matches. NOTE: The closest match may be at any one of the three companies.
Determine who is descended from all these common ancestors.
Connect your AncestryDNA to these descendants; see if you get matches through all of the branches or only some of them.
Repeat for each match working back through all your match lists.
Eventually, you find the same people in the trees of your various matches. This will be pointing toward birth family. Remember to consider all the information that you collected during the preparation phase.