A tv program yesterday said you can get different genealogy relative contacts fr

Question:so which DNA company have you contacted to locate your relatives? And which do you think has the most or most accurate family line contacts?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: so which DNA company have you contacted to locate your relatives? And which do you think has the most or most accurate family line contacts?

This is the FAQ page of the company I used.

http://www.familytreedna.com/faqtip.html

How it works in my case is that my 4th great grandfather, Samuel Pack, shows up in what is now West Virginia and doesn't say where he came from or why. We suspect he was the son of a George Pack, who died in Maryland in 1754.

Another Pack, whose ancestors didn't move west and who can prove the 1754 George was his fifth great grandfather, also got tested. Our DNA matched on 34 out of 37 points, so it is likely (but not sure) that 1754 George was the father, grandfather, uncle or a close cousin of my Samuel. Now, if we get determined, we can hire a researcher to dig through land records in Maryland to see if we can find out exactly what relation they had.

1754 George willed some land to his son Samuel. We've speculated that his son was "My" Samuel, but didn't want to hire someone to go on a wild goose chase. Now we know it is a definite possibility.

Note some things;

1) This particular test only works for sons of sons of sons . . . because the "Y" chromosome doesn't change much as it is passed along.

2) The chance of someone who wasn't interested in genealogy getting his DNA tested is very very small.

3) If two people who were both 4th grandchildren of someone get tested by two different companies, they would never match, since the DNA companies just match within their own clients.

4) The company I used said 2% - 5% of the time they uncover a problem due to "hidden adoption or infidelity".

So - if you belong to a surname-based genealogical organization, you can ask all the men with that surname to get tested by the "ABC" DNA company, and maybe untangle some questions of who was who in the 1800's. If you just walk in and have your DNA tested, your chance of finding a cousin is negligible.

Stop and think...
people have been researching their families for way longer than computers or dna has been around. Finding ancestors or relatives by DNA is (I think) hugely overrated, because you are forced to rely on 'connecting' to someone else who already has submitted their dna (not to mention, paid money to do it). I think that number is relatively small.
And, to sound further 'politically incorrect'... I don't research to find living relatives. I use historical records to find ancestors. Any record from the 1800s is not guaranteed to be online.. it usually will be at the courthouse, the cemetery, the library, etc. The internet does make it easier to find some of it, but it really is not necessary.
My advice is to use the normal route to find ancestry, THEN decide if you want to go the DNA route or not.

You cannot contact others without their permission. They do not release anyones names without a written release. The basic reason for the DNA projects is to discover your ancestral background but it does not provide names. Only areas. If you are a female you can only get a maternal background through the mitochondrial DNA.