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Position:Home>Genealogy> Has anyone done DNA testing for genealogy purposes?


Question:I'm thinking about doing this and would like to read other people's experiences with this.


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I'm thinking about doing this and would like to read other people's experiences with this.

I'll give you the downside:

The database from which they're drawing ethnic information is unproven and not well-populated. Statistically, they can't prove many of the claims they're making.

The only accurate test is the one telling where your mother's mother's mother's mother's....mother's mother originated. It can give clues that you might have ties to other lands, but not much accuracy in there. It's not going to tell you that your mom's mother's family was from Belgium and her husband's family was from Sweden. It's not going to tell you much at all about your dad's lineage. They make a lot of claims, but have yet to develop the technology to deliver.

The test is very expensive, especially since the results are so vague.

The biggest drawback is that the privacy laws haven't caught up to this sector of technology. It's very likely they can sell information about you and you have no control over it. They can also be compelled to produce your DNA if there's ever a court case. As things stand, it's dicey to play with these tests.

Someday it may be better. But there aren't many people rushing to do it...for good reason. It's not ready for prime time.

I have not as of yet but would like to do that when I have the money as I know it is on the pricey side

I have had it done.
What you need to know about DNA testing for genealogy,is that it is really rather limited in what it can tell you.
It can tell you your Haplogroup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup

For a male,he can trace his father's y DNA line.Father,to grandfather,to great-grandfather etc...
He can also do his MtDNA.
A female can only do her MtDNA.Mother,back to grandmother,and on ,female to female.

You can only do these lines.Remember you have many ancestors this will leave out.

It depends on what you want to find out.In my case I did want to trace my maternal line back to a woman who came from South Carolina in the early 1800's.
No one could find her maiden name.She had married a man with an English last name,and had a large family.
There was some question that she could have been a Native American.No one knew.
The test revealed that she was of European origin.So she would have likely come from the English population of the state like her husband.
Now all the descendants of this woman know something about her they would not have known before.Or,perhaps ever.

In my case it did bring some new information.
The testing can be expensive,so you have to decide if it would be likely to be worth it to you.

I have. It has thus far raised more questions than answers. Some services allow you to search for DNA "matches," but I haven't run across anyone who could be related any time in the last 500 years. My son and I are the only males left in our family, and I'd hoped to get representatives of the 2 or 3 other families with the same name to compare their DNA to see how close we are; they unfortunately have NO interest in seeing if DNA would show relationships that we can't find in the very few available records.

I have had it done and found some very close matches. This lead me to discover cousins.

http://www.familytreedna.com/