Should I do a DNA Test

One of my first posts, updated with some new information and links.

I did my first DNA test with Ancestry.com about six years ago. They, as I think most people know, have one of the largest networks. I have to say that I was very surprised when I got my results that I was not as Italian as I thought I was. Ancestry has a lot of tools to build family trees and look up potential family members and records from various places around the world. All of this comes at a cost of course, and it really depends on how deep you want to go.

Recently, I came across Living DNA. I decided to do a test with them, as they are based in Europe and have a more granular approach. Plus, for one price, they give you your autosomal, maternal and paternal DNA. They also give you migration routes and haplogroups. They also have a unique way of building trees, in that they plan to do it through DNA, as opposed to you having to build your own.Since doing my DNA, I have found several cousins that I did not know about. Several friends have found half-siblings and adopted siblings. My wife found out that our adopted son is her fifth cousin! Our adopted daughter has found an aunt that was adopted many years ago, as well as an adopted cousin. All very interesting stuff, although I do know a lot of people that are quite afraid to find out. See my post on DNA Comparison.

Since I did this first post, I have also sent my results to My True Ancestry. They compare your results to DNA found at archeological digs from around the world. You can click here to see my post on the results that I received from them. Quite fascinating.

If you are just starting out researching your family, check out our links page.

I did one test, should I do more?

You can, however, most of the DNA sites allow you to download your GED file so that you can then upload that file into another site to find more relatives. I took my Ancestry DNA and uploaded to GEDMatch, My Family Heritage and several others. GEDMatch for example, matches the DNA samples from all the other ancestry sites that they support, so that you can contact them, if you want. My Family Heritage does similar, but takes it a step further, by giving you the relationship that you have with other DNA matches.

Most companies do this for free.

New News from My Heritage! Just! AutoClustering organizes your MyHeritage DNA Matches into shared match clusters that likely descended from common ancestors. Each of the colored cells represents an intersection between two of your matches, meaning that both individuals match you and each other.

These cells are grouped together physically and by color to create a powerful visual chart of your shared match clusters. Each color represents one shared match cluster. Members of a cluster match you and most or all of the other cluster members.

So, Should I do a DNA Test?

In the end that’s up to you. I know a lot go people are concerned about DNA falling into the wrong hands, being used by police or reported to health insurance companies, I have not had bad experiences myself, nor have I heard of anyone else being compromised. Here’s a great article on testing from Genetics Digest. Another great site for beginners is Fortify Your Family Tree.