How many DNA matches should I expect 5 years after test with Ancestry please?

[pughcd]

Yes @brigidmac GEDmatch ( a third party DNA comparison site) can be useful for connecting with other shared matches from across a range of DNA test platforms. You can also transfer from Ancestry to My Heritage DNA  and Living DNA. You may need to pay a small unlocking fee to get all the features and indeed GEDmatch has recently introduced a premium tier 1 option. Transferring your raw data is always worth the effort.

pughcd

[pughcd]

Hi @Braytons,

Yes Belinda 11,631 matches should be plenty lol.

pughcd

[Pheno]

I manage my sister's Ancestry DNA account.  We are full blood sisters.

She has 24,579 matches whilst I only have 13,528.  It has always been like this from the time we both took the test - she has always had at least 10,000 more matches than me.

It can't be anything to do with the numbers of people who have tested as that is the same for both of us.

Any explanation anybody?

Pheno

[Gadget]

I manage my sister's Ancestry DNA account.  We are full blood sisters.

She has 24,579 matches whilst I only have 13,528.  It has always been like this from the time we both took the test - she has always had at least 10,000 more matches than me.

It can't be anything to do with the numbers of people who have tested as that is the same for both of us.

Any explanation anybody?

Pheno

The simple answer is that  although you would have inherited 50/50 dna from your parents, it wouldn't have been the same 50/50 .  It seems quite a large difference though.

[Gadget]

Have you used a chromosome browser to see the differences between you?

[pughcd]

Hi @Pheno,

Whilst it does seem a big difference part of it could be explained by the fact that whilst we get 50% of our DNA from each parent, however siblings do not get the same DNA from each parent. We share about 50% DNA with our siblings and in consequence 50% is not shared. This 50% unshared could give rise to many matches from well represented lines inherited in only one sibling.

Although my sibling and I are half-siblings we know that we share a German mother (X-DNA etc). However at My Heritage I have 326 matches registered as living in Germany whilst my half-sister has only 265 German matches. If you scale that up it could make a difference to your matches.

pughcd

[Pheno]

Have you used a chromosome browser to see the differences between you?

No I haven't - must get around to it.

Pheno

[pughcd]

Hi @Pheno,

Another possibility for family differences can occur when DNA tests are taken over a period of time. If somebody tested with v1 chip at Ancestry and the rest of the family tested later with the v2 chip it might well skew your results. Roberta Estes covers this topic in her blog DNA Explained https://dna-explained.com/2016/10/05/ancestry-v1-vs-v2-test-comparison/

It is always worth updating to the latest chip if possible.

pughcd

[Pheno]

Thanks pughcd.

I read through that quite interesting blog and although the chip change date of May 2016 might apply to my sister and I (I certainly did mine earlier than her) the conclusion at the end of the blog was:

'Ancestry was correct when they said that the V2 chip wouldn’t affect matching much with the V1 chip customers, and that there was no need for V1 customers to purchase a new V2 test..

Pheno