If the first thing you thought when you read the title of this article was, “Well duh – test your father,” you would be right…unless your father is deceased. Then, it’s not nearly as straightforward, because you have to find other family members who carry the same Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA as your father.
These same concepts and techniques can be applied to testing for other men’s lines as well – so please read, even if Dad is sitting right beside you.
Before beginning this article, you might want to read “4 Kinds of DNA for Genetic Genealogy” to understand the very basics of how different kinds of DNA are inherited, and how they can help you.
I was inspired to write this series of “Who to Test” articles to help people determine how to obtain the DNA they need to solve family mysteries from ancestors in their tree. For the most part, those ancestors are deceased, so one must understand how to obtain their DNA by testing living descendants descended in special ways.
Click to enlarge any graphic
In this series, we’ll be discussing how to test all of the individuals above for their mitochondrial DNA and males for their Y DNA.
Y DNA lineages are shown by blue lines and mitochondrial DNA lineages are shown by pink lines. In the charts below, different colored boxes and hearts showing the descent of blue male lines and pink(ish) mitochondrial lines.
In other words, the son at the bottom inherits his father’s light blue Y DNA, but his mother’s pink mitochondrial DNA that is the same as his sister’s and his mother’s mitochondrial line. Hence, his pink heart.
What Can Y and Mitochondrial DNA Tell You?
Both Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA can tell you about your clan, meaning where your ancestors in that particular line were found. Many people have been surprised to find that these particular lines descended from Native American, Asian, Jewish, European or African ancestors. Some clan assignments, known as haplogroups, can be quite specific, but others are more general in nature.
You also receive matches and can communicate to find your common ancestor. Males can look for surnames the same or similar to their own.
You can read more about what mitochondrial DNA can do for you in the article, Mitochondrial DNA – Your Mom’s Story.
You can read more about what Y DNA can do for you in the article, Working with Y DNA – Your Dad’s Story.
Your Father’s DNA
Testing your father’s Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA is easy, if your father is living. You can simply test your father.
As you can see in the chart above, your father inherited his Y DNA from the light blue line, from his father, which is typically the surname line.
Your father inherited his mitochondrial DNA from his direct matrilineal line, meaning the magenta line – your paternal grandmother and her direct maternal ancestors.
Your father did NOT pass his mitochondrial DNA to either of his children and he only passed his Y DNA to his son. His daughter has no Y DNA and her mother’s mitochondrial DNA.
You can test both your father’s Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA by simply testing your father. However, testing becomes more challenging if your father is not available to test.
Your goal then becomes to find people who carry the same light blue Y DNA as your father, and the same magenta mitochondrial DNA that he carried as well. Let’s look at various ways to achieve that goal.
Testing Uncles and Siblings
If you are a male, meaning the son in the chart above, just test yourself for your father’s Y DNA.
Of course, you carry your mother’s mitochondrial DNA, shown by the pink heart that matches your sister, so you will have to find someone else who carries the same mitochondrial DNA as your father.
If you are a female, you can’t test for either your father’s Y DNA or his mtDNA line. However, all is not lost.
If your father has any full male siblings, that’s your next best bet, because they will carry the same Y DNA and the same mitochondrial DNA as your father, because they share the same parents. You can test the same uncle for both Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA. A brother and sister to your father have been added to the chart, below.
In the above chart, your father has two siblings, a male and a female. All three share the same mitochondrial DNA, but only the males share the Y DNA. Your father’s brother shares both. Your father’s sister shares his mitochondrial DNA, but not his Y DNA, shown above.
However, let’s say you’re the daughter and that your father and his brother are deceased. You can test your father’s sister for her mitochondrial DNA and you can test your own brother for your father’s Y DNA, shown below.
Don’t have a brother but your father’s brother had a son? No problem. Test the brother’s son who will carry his father’s Y DNA, which is the same as your father’s Y DNA, assuming nothing unknown.
You say your father’s sister is deceased too, but she had a child of either gender. No problem, you can test that child, whether they are a male or female for the sister’s mitochondrial DNA, which is the same as your father’s mitochondrial DNA.
In the chart above, all of the people with sky blue squares can test for your father’s Y DNA and all of the people with magenta squares or magenta hearts can test for your father’s mitochondrial DNA.
As you can see, you may well have lots of options.
Potential Testers
| Father’s Y DNA | Father’s mtDNA | |
| Your Father | Yes | Yes |
| You | Yes, if you are a male, No if you are a female | No – you inherit your mtDNA from your mother |
| Your sibling | Yes, if your sibling is a male, No if your sibling is a female | No – your father does not pass his mtDNA to his children |
| Your father’s brother | Yes | Yes |
| Your father’s sister | No – she didn’t inherit a Y chromosome from her father | Yes |
| Your father’s brother’s children | Yes, if male, No if female | No – he didn’t pass his mitochondrial DNA to his children |
| Your father’s sister’s children | No | Yes – both genders |
What Tests to Order
Family Tree DNA is the only testing vendor that offers Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA testing that allows you to match to others. Additionally, they provide additional tools to understand the message Y and mtDNA carries for you.
For Y DNA testing, you can order either the 37, 67 or 111 marker test. I recommend that you purchase what the budget can afford. You can always upgrade later, but the cost of the original test plus an upgrade is somewhat more than just purchasing the larger test initially. The greater the number of markers you purchase, the higher the level of specificity in the match results. The more closely you match someone, the more closely related you are to that person, and the closer in time your common ancestor lived. If you’re unsure what to purchase, 37 markers is a great place to begin.
For mitochondrial DNA testing, you can order the mtDNA Plus test, which is a subset of the mtFull Sequence test. In order to receive your full haplogroup designation, the entire mitochondrial DNA needs to be tested. I recommend the full sequence test be ordered.
For autosomal DNA testing, everyone can test, and as long as you’re placing an order, I’d suggest that you go ahead and order the Family Finder test. You can discover your ethnicity percentage estimates for several worldwide regions, including breakdowns of Europe, Africa and Asia as well as Native American and Jewish.
Additionally, while the Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA tests reach back deep into time on those two specific lines, and only those two lines, the autosomal test tests the DNA of all of your ancestral lines, but may not reach back reliably in time for matches before the past 5 or 6 generations. Think of Y and mtDNA as viewing recent as well as very deep ancestors on just those lines, and Family Finder as broadly surveying all of your ancestors, but just in the past 7-10 generations.
The fun of autosomal DNA testing, aside from ethnicity estimates, is to discover which cousins you match and find your common ancestor.
In order for Family Tree DNA to be able to provide you with phased Family Finder matches, which indicates on which side of your tree (maternal or paternal) your match is found, helping to identify common ancestors – it’s critical for known relatives to test. The older the relative, generationally, the more helpful the testing is to you – so test those older family members immediately, while you still can.
You can order your tests and upgrades here:
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You didn’t answer this: For YDNA father search, the only males living is my brother (already tested) and his sons. Would it help to have his sons test YDNA also?
Hi: Obviously I can’t answer for Roberta, but let me give you my thoughts. I do know that Roberta is extremely busy with hundreds of questions received everyday in addition to her other work. I’m guessing she can’t possibly answer or comment on every single post.
However, if your brother has had his Y-DNA tested his son’s would be the same. I think it would be a waste of money to have them Y-DNA tested as well.
Roberta posted a link in the article above, Working with Y DNA – Your Dad’s Story. You might follow that and I think it can give you some guidance. 🙂
I am adopted and recently found my half sisters almost by accident. My bio Mom was married to their dad but she has passed away and no one is alive that may know who my father was. Her husband died 20 months before I as born so not a contender. I would like to do a DNA test that would be the best choice for trying to find my bio dad’s family. Since we have no idea who he is can any DNA test help narrow the search?
Thanks, Sue Copeman
Yes, autosomal testing can help you. Also, contact http://www.dnaadoption.com and they offer help in various ways.
Hi Roberta,
I must tell you. I finally got my Y-DNA 37 markers results back and now I’m more confused than ever. 🙂
My matches have 40 different last names and 25 different earliest ancestor last names and not a single Kay or Mason among any of them. My misconception that I would get an immediate light bulb to go off was obviously incorrect.
However, now that I have my results back, I’m going to go re-read your article, “Working with Y DNA – Your Dad’s Story” myself and see if I can’t see a little bit of light. There is an offer on my results page: “Get 174 SNPs related to M253 for only $99!”. I’m thinking that might help, but I was wondering if I could link to it through one of your articles. Thanks!
That test will refine your haplogroup but not affect your matches.
Thanks, I chose instead to upgrade to Y-67. I will get the additional SNPs at a later date. Also, I found the link I needed in your article, Working with Y DNA – Your Dad’s Story.
Thank you for this article. I have a situation in which I’m unclear how to proceed. My paternal great grandfather was an only child, of his 6 children only one had a child, my grandfather who produced my Dad. My Dad is an only child, and is deceased.
He had one son, my brother. I’ve tested my brother on YDNA and autosomal. Six years, no viable matches.
Where in the world do I go next for testing? I’ve been tested, but don’t see the value in trying to track our paternal line. No Uncles or Aunts left. No cousins from that line.
I am stumped and my brick wall is my paternal 2nd great grandfather for whom I cannot find parents or siblings. 15 years and I thought DNA was the answer, but so far, it hasn’t been.
Any suggestions? Who in my family would carry mitochondrial DNA from my paternal 2nd great grandfather?
Thanks for any help,
Diane
You’ve done your homework. My suggestion would be to test both you and your brother at all 3 main testing companies.
Thanks Roberta. I know that is sound advice.
This is a tough one for me because my brother and I would both like to know where our Gould line came from. Are we even Gould’s? The few matches on his YDNA may indicate we are not. I’ll keep working.
Actually, the title just made me laugh. It kind of caught me off guard. My immediate question was, “Why would I test anyone for my father’s DNA? But, then, I wouldn’t. But, I suppose other people have problems that can only be solved by testing for their father’s DNA. LOL (Wow. But funny!)
Roberta, I tested my brother, his Y-DNA is T-M70, at 37 markers, With only two hits at 3 and 4 genetic distances. I upgraded to the 67 marker and still no new hits. I also tested my dna and I’m B2c2a. I was hoping to find out more on my dad’s line.
Did you read the article about working with Y DNA. If not, that might help you.
That would be helpful
This is great Roberta. I will remember this to refer others to. Thank you.
I HAVE NOBODY ON MY FATHERS SIDE TO TEST. WHAT DO I DO?
What are your testing goals and what were you hoping to do?
Just wondering about getting test done and if it is worth having it done
Yes, if you want to know about your father line history.
Thank you, Roberta, So how do I go about it if nobody available on my father’s side.
The reason I asked what your goal is is because there may be other ways to obtain the information. For example for Y and mtDNA other family members, even distant will carry the same lines. You have to go up the tree again to find them.
Ok thanks Roberta
My father and brother are both deceased. Can I use my brother’s son to test for complete y-chromosomal information from a DNA kit? I want to learn as much as I can about my ancestry.
Yes, you can.
My son’s paternal haplogroup is RCTS3402 and his dad’s brother is Paternal haologroup is R-M417. 23 and me stated my son’s uncle is the dad’s brother. But , they both have 2 different Paternal Haplogroups. I don’t understand. I thought all paternal males should have the same Haplogroup. Thank for you help
This article will help. https://dna-explained.com/2018/07/04/why-different-haplogroup-results/
If I don’t know my father, have no brothers, but have a son…could I get the paternal haplogroup from my son or would that me the paternal haplogroup to my husband?
That would be your husbands. Work your way up the tree and down from each generation to find someone.
You’ll need to identify your father first, and then follow his genealogy.
I am trying to determine the specific identity of my great-grandfather, who disappeared soon after the birth of my grandfather. I know his name but cannot identify him through traditional genealogical research, so far. He had just that one son (as far as I know), and his son had one son – my father, who is deceased. Am I correct in believing that my DNA test will not help me here?
I am female and have no brothers.
Your autosomal test may very well help you. I suggest you contact http://www.dnaadoption.com and utilize their techniques. They also have search angels to help you.
I was recently given the name of my biological father. In my research with the name given I have found and reached out to his son as the name given (of my father) was deceased. I was instructed to do 23&me testing and did. I am very confused with the many surnames given and over 1,000 second – distant cousins that share my DNA but none matched up to the brother that supposedly I share a father with. Ironically there were two names that came up on both of our profiles, showing the name as a 4th cousin for me and a 3rd cousin for him. How could this be if we didn’t match as being siblings?
You could both be independently related to the same person through different ancestors. But this is confusing because if you don’t match your half brother and he’s sharing, then he isn’t your brother. 23andMe is come. So he sure you are both sharing, otherwise you don’t see each other as matches.
Hello! My father is deceased. I have 2 paternal half brothers and one paternal half sister. They all have the same mother. One of my brothers has tested, so I have his paternal halogroup. Would his paternal halogroup be the same as mine? If so, how do I get it to show up on my halogroups? If not, who do I test? My father was adopted by a stepfather. His mother is deceased. His maternal half brother is deceased. He has a niece from that brother. There are no sisters. His bio father is deceased. From his obituary, I know he has a living son and a daughter, which would be my father’s half siblings. My grandgather also has a deceased brother. There are sisters, grandchildren, and great grandchildren listed as survivors, but I do not know the gender of any of the grandchildren. Can you provide some guidance?
“his obituary” = my paternal grandfather’s obituary.
Hi Charla. Females don’t have a Y chromosome, so it can’t show on a female’s kit. I don’t know if you are a female or not. I wrote this article, which you may find helpful. https://dna-explained.com/2017/07/19/concepts-who-to-test-for-your-fathers-dna/
If you would like more assistance sorting through this, I need to work with you to draw some charts to make sure I understand and give you accurate advice. I offer a Quick Consult which would be perfect for this and you can order one here: https://dna-explained.com/store/
If they test my paternal grandfather’s DNA, what will be the match between myself and my grandfather? Is it possible to tell whether my father or grandfather was my biological father?
Yes. You should match him closely. Be sure you really want to know before you test.
I am Admin for a group on FTDNA, currently I have a member who is matching with another person on their Y-DNA that shows an exact paternal match. One male is younger and was adopted at birth, the state he is in is not disclosing adoptions at this time. The older man is aware that the younger man is looking for his birth father and he cannot think of any occurrence that would connect him to the younger male. He does have a brother.
My question: Is there any test that could distinguish which brother is the birth father of this young man?
Both men need to take a Family Finder test to see how closely they match each other.
Thank you so much, just needed confirmation as to the right way for this family to find closure.
Hi Roberta!
I’ve been looking for BF, I hv uploaded my raw data to just abt every big dna websites. Have no information abt my father. My parents met in Vietnam during the war. My only sibling is a female. On a couple of the dna websites, shows that the closest cousins are 1st once remove – 2nd once remove. 3 are males cousins. I hv reached out to them but they have not answered. I have 3 sons but I don’t think their data will help. What to do now? I don’t understand all the results enough to know what to do. Any advise? Thank you so much for all you doing in regards to all this. It’s been very informative!
Contact http://www.dnaadoption.com. It’s free and they are very helpful.
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