Help

helix graphicI’ve always made it a policy to reply to every e-mail or information request that I receive.  The good news is that my blogs have become very popular.  The bad news is that I now receive literally hundreds of e-mails and inquiries every day, many asking questions or for advice, and I just can’t keep up anymore.  So, I’ve assembled this information which provides direction for most of the types of inquiries I receive.

First, let me tell you what I do and don’t do, and provide some guidance for you to find the resources you need.

I am not a DNA testing company and I don’t do DNA testing. There are no free DNA tests unless a private individual wishes to pay for your test for genealogical reasons. Consumers must pay the testing companies for the testing service.

I no longer accept personal clients.

I have written several articles to help you and you can find them right here!

My Blog

This blog is free and fully searchable by key word and there are more than 1400 articles available. Just enter the word or words you might be looking for and you will receive a list of relevant articles.

The search box is in the upper right portion of the screen.

The Different Kinds of DNA Tests

There are different tests for genetic genealogy. I’ve explained the differences here: http://dna-explained.com/2012/10/01/4-kinds-of-dna-for-genetic-genealogy/

DNA Testing Companies

Some companies are more reputable than others and some are outright scams. http://dna-explained.com/2016/01/22/genealogy-and-ethnicity-dna-testing-3-legitimate-companies/

If you are considering ordering a DNA test from either Ancestry or 23andMe, be sure you understand that both of those companies sell your DNA – and you authorize them to do so when you sign to order your kit. Make sure you understand what you are authorizing. Read this:   http://dna-explained.com/2016/02/10/ethnicity-testing-a-conundrum/

And this: https://dna-explained.com/2015/12/30/23andme-ancestry-and-selling-your-dna-information/

If you’re looking for a DNA testing company, I recommend Family Tree DNA at this link. They are the only DNA testing company that offers all of the different types of genetic genealogy tests and they do not sell or otherwise disclose your DNA.

Which Test is Best?

I’ve written two articles that compare the various tests and the vendors providing different types of test:

Which DNA Test is Best? here: https://dna-explained.com/which-dna-test-is-best/

Which Ethnicity Test is Best? here:  https://dna-explained.com/2017/06/20/which-ethnicity-test-is-best/

For Beginners

Kelly Wheaton provides a great series for beginners at: https://sites.google.com/site/wheatonsurname/beginners-guide-to-genetic-genealogy

Adoptees and Parent Search

First, check the help link which includes adoptee and parent-search information.

http://dna-explained.com/help/

I’ve answered the most common questions there.

All adoptees and people searching for a birth parent or missing grandparent should visit www.dnaadoption.com and utilize their methodologies.

Native American Heritage

If you are searching for your Native American heritage or your tribe, read these two articles:

http://dna-explained.com/2012/12/18/proving-native-american-ancestry-using-dna/

http://dna-explained.com/2015/03/31/finding-your-american-indian-tribe-using-dna/

This article provides a summary of many Native resources: https://dna-explained.com/2017/11/01/native-american-dna-resources/

My blog, Native Heritage Project is fully searchable. https://nativeheritageproject.com/

The Native American Ancestry Explorer group for Native American or minority DNA questions is at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1514942452068475/

African American

Confirming Enslaved Ancestors Utilizing DNA webinar by Melvin Collier through Legacy Family Tree Webinars – available to watch anytime.

Melungeon

If you are looking for Melungeon information, read this paper: http://www.dnaexplain.com/Publications/PDFs/MelungeonsMulti-EthnicPeopleFinal.pdf

Ethnicity in General

If you are looking for your ethnicity, read this:

http://dna-explained.com/2015/08/19/ethnicity-testing-and-results/

If you are trying to understand your ethnicity results, read this:

http://dna-explained.com/2016/02/10/ethnicity-testing-a-conundrum/

Assistance with Autosomal DNA

If you are trying to figure out what to do, and how, with autosomal DNA results, read these two articles:

http://dna-explained.com/2015/08/07/autosomal-dna-testing-101-what-now/

http://dna-explained.com/2015/08/11/autosomal-dna-testing-101-tips-and-tricks-for-contact-success/

If you are looking for someone to walk you through “what to do” with autosomal DNA, you can take a “how to” class.

http://dna-explained.com/2015/02/10/finally-a-how-to-class-for-working-with-autosomal-dna-results/

If you are looking for someone to personally walk you through your DNA results, Diahan Southard provides that service online through her firm www.yourDNAguide.com and you can contact her at Guide@yourDNAguide.com.

If you are looking for someone to help you work through your autosomal DNA results and associated genealogy, Jennifer Zinck provides that type of combined service. You can contact her at jenzinck@gmail.com.

Both Diahan and Jennifer provide a “tutoring” service.

There are two Facebook groups where you can ask questions as well. The ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy) group for general DNA questions is at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/isogg/

DNA Newbie at https://www.facebook.com/groups/dnanewbie/

Professional Genetic Genealogical Services

I have made a referral arrangement with Legacy Tree, a company offering professional genealogical research services. Their staff includes an exceptional genetic genealogist, Paul Woodbury. Paul is both a certified genealogist as well as a genetic genealogist and he is excellent. Legacy Tree has offered a $50 introductory coupon if you mention my name (Roberta Estes), which assures that my genetic genealogy clients are directed to Paul. To take advantage of this offer or to receive a quote from Legacy Tree, click here.

For other genealogical assistance, please visit www.apgen.org.

Online and Social Media Resources

Facebook Genetic Genealogy Tips and Techniques group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/geneticgenealogytipsandtechniques/

The original genetic genealogy list:
http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/DNA/GENEALOGY-DNA.html

The DNA Newbie group: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/DNA-NEWBIE/info

FaceBook has an ISOGG group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/isogg/

Other mailing lists:
http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Genetic_genealogy_mailing_lists

Books and Education

Kelly Wheaton provides 19 free lessons in her Beginners Guide to Genetic Genealogy at: https://sites.google.com/site/wheatonsurname/beginners-guide-to-genetic-genealogy

Other Blogs

Affiliate Links

Last, if you are going purchase anything from the following entities, will you please do me the favor of clicking through the following affiliate links when you purchase. It doesn’t cost you any more, but I receive a small commission which helps fund free educational initiatives in the DNA community, such as this informational page and hundreds of free articles on the DNA-explained blog.

Thank you so much and best of luck on your DNA journey. I hope you unlock the mystery of your ancestors!

Roberta Estes

331 thoughts on “Help”

  1. Pingback: 800 Articles Strong | DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy

  2. Thank you so much for an informative, precise ,and well written article. I have a question. I had my DNA tested by Family tree DNA. My wife swabbed my mouth, could her DNA be mixed with mine and therefore alter my results?
    Thank you for your time,
    Regards Hugh

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  3. I enjoy reading your email/blog articles, have learned so much from them, thank you Roberta. I have a question about administrating my 2 cousins DNA results. They tested with AncestryDNA, as I did. I am thinking of downloading their autosomal results to Family Tree DNA, as I have done. But I am not sure how to set it up so I can monitor them. I know you have mentioned administrating several family members results. Could you assist me with the proper steps for the Family Tree DNA site, do I set up an account for each one? My Kit # is B86612 I have done the full spectrum mtDNA, my haplogroup is K1a10a
    Thank you for your help
    Linda Sue Smith (Cole)

    Reply ↓

    • Each kit has its own number and password. You just sign in as them. Otherwise, you can set up a private project and as administrator you can see their accounts. It just depends whether they want to be involved at all.

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  4. Hi trying to reach FTDNA from your site but when I go to purchase it just says error occurred. wanted to do it through your site .

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  5. Hi

    Your one article mentioned the following:
    “There are also niche players for the more advanced genetic genealogist or serious researcher”.
    Could you please advise who these companies are?

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  6. Thanks for the informative content. I am pretty clueless about DNA/genealogy and have recently started my own research to confirm my suspicion about my biological father. I believe that my mothers step father is my biological father. As both are deceased, my sources of information are limited. Is there a way to do comparative tests with my mothers half sister to uncover any information that could help me resolve this question? My mother and her sister have the same mother and different fathers. If my suspicions about my biological father are correct, that would mean that my mother’s half sister is my half sister as well, and my aunt at the same time. Is there a test that could predict the relationship between by aunt and I to see if we are also half sisters with a common father? Thanks for your time and any direction or insight about how to proceed.

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  7. Roberta, I apologize, I offered advice on DNA to a post about Palatine Ancestry forgetting about who’s blog this was. Secondly, we have a Facebook group with about 850 members and 950 GEDmatch kits for people who descend from a small ethnic group that originally lived in the Carpathian Mountains between Poland and Slovakia. We use DNA to help our traditional genealogy research to connect our members. Because the geographic area and population was small and mostly lived in small isolated villages a good number of our members have 4th and 5th gen matches with anywhere from a tenth to a fifth of our total number. Do you think anyone doing research into DNA genealogy would find this an interesting subject?

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    • Don’t apologize Bruce. I welcome posts like yours. I didn’t know about the FB group and went and applied for admission. We’re all in this together. As for your Polish group, I find it interesting, but if you mean the companies, I really don’t know. I wish my husband’s line was from there. His line is from the Banat in what is now Croatia. How did you find enough people for that group?

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      • Hi Roberta,

        I apologize for my tardiness in replying.

        Regarding the FB group. I was invited into a genealogy group started by an adoptee who realized that DNA was a ticket to results and then found out she was Lemko. We grew slowly until I realized I could use GEDmatch to identify like candidates for membership.

        I use a tag group and the Tier 1 ‘one-to-many’ tool to identify matches of our members who who have numbers matches to our members. We now have over 1,000 DNA kits in our data base.

        At a conference in Pittsburg we realized that many of us also had German Palatine connections and now some of us have started a similar group for German descendants mostly from PA.

        In the Lemko group when someone new joins I put their 2,000 GEDmatch matches and our 1,000 kits into a spread sheet and sort for kits in common. Then I can give the new member a list of their matches with the details and I can notify all of our members of a new match.

        I haven’t had time to organize the Palatine site the same way yet so they just have a load of GEDmatch numbers. I think it will probably be quite different for the Germans as their connections will probably be further back in time.

        My original question to you is does 1,000 DNA kits for a relatively small isolated ethnic group pose any interesting research in DNA genealogy?

        Regards,

        Bruce

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  8. I WAS WAITING ON RESULTS FOR OVER THREE WEEKS FOR MY DNA TEST, INSTEAD I RECEIVED A SECOND TEST TO DO, WHY IS THIS. WHAT HAPPEN TO MY FIRST RESULTS. CAN I PLEAS HAVE A PHONE NUMBER..

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    • It probably means that your first swab didn’t provide sufficient DNA. That’s why they would send a second kit. At the bottom of every page is a “contact us” link.

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  9. Thank you for all that you do to further my understanding of DNA genealogy. I have a question, do you have a preference for PC or Apple computers?

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    • My personal preference is for the PC, but that’s because I’ve used one since they first came out years ago. For a long time, they were the standard in a business environment and Macs were considered to be for graphics and schools. I have used both and one of the things I don’t like about Macs is that they don’t allow you to put the cursor in place and press delete and delete the character in front of the cursor. You always have to backspace. I know this sounds trivial, but when you’ve been deleting and backspacing both for years, and you can no longer do that, it’s horribly frustrating. One of the good things about macs is that they seem to be more intuitive once you learn to use them and backups are easier.

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  10. Hi Roberta, I think this is the way to contact you, just wondering about the “X” matching. My first cousin who is a female is an “X” match with me, just wondering how this is possible as my cousins mother is not my family only her father who is my fathers brother, and obviously my mother is not a blood relation to my cousin, just wondering as I thought the “X” was past on by the female to a son and the “Y” by the Dad, so it is a bit confusing how I have shown up as an “X” match with my first cousin with “FamilyTree DNA” Best regards Terry.

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    • Because of the SNP density of the X chromosome, a match needs to be about twice as large as measured my cMs to be relevant. So, it’s quite possible that it’s not a valid match or that you are somehow related on both sides.

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  11. Before my father passed I was told my grandfather (Dad’s Father) was 100% Native American. I had a DNA test and the test showed I am 48% Native American. The story is that I am Navajo/Apache. I had mother tested and she is 44% Native American. I would like to find my tribal affiliate. My Mom is 95 yrs old and the last of the elder family member. Any ideas on who to contact. Email is unklroy@hughes.net

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    • If you read through the help link, there are two articles listed that explain how to work to find your affiliated tribe. I would suggest that you test your mother’s mtDNA, to begin with, at Family Tree DNA and work through the process described in those two articles.

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  12. Quick question. You likely already have a post somewhere that you could just direct me to. Could you explain how it is possible to have a higher match with someone than your parent? For the sake of argument, let’s assume you have no siblings or children so the match in question connects through an ancestor as opposed to a descendant.

    For example:
    Me + Mystery Relative = 25.2cM total, 20.5 longest
    Mystery Relative + My Father = 19.6cM total, 19.6 longest
    Mystery Relative + My Mother = 0cM

    Or could it simply be that these matches are weak enough to just be unreliable?

    Thanks!

    Reply ↓

      • Thanks Roberta. What about someone who matches 39.6 cM on 3 segments (25.7 cM on largest segment) on MyHeritage, yet they match neither of my parents. That seems rather unlikely to be IBS?

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        • Yes, it does. But remember that My Heritage uses imputation, so that may be affecting the results in this case. I would upload to either Family Tree DNA or GedMatch, or both and see how they match there.

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  13. Roberta, I have the autosomal ethnicity test results (FTDNA) for myself and my parents> I’m a bit confused in comparing them. My results: (100% European: British Isles 74%, Southeast Europe 11%, East Europe 8%, Scandinavia 5%, Iberia 2%), My Father: (98% European: West & Central Europe 59%, British Isles 32%, East Europe 7%, Trace Scandinavia <2%), My Mother: (98% European: British Isles 88%, East Europe 6%, Southeast Europe 4%, Trace Central Asia <2%). Among other anomalies, how can my father have West & Central Europe 59% and I have 0%? Thanks for any insight!

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  14. My mother died this week and has already been cremated. i didn’t think to get a DNA sample. Today i realized that she always wanted DNA testing done and it would be a nice memorial to her.

    I’m going to call the hospital and see if they still have her blood stored. In addition to possibly having some of her blood, there are used tissues and nail clippings at home (i think) dentures that have been in the car for a few days and her glasses – do you know of a private company that tests these items?

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      • Family Tree DNA & MyHeritage no longer does special arrangements, although they do transfer autosomal tests RAW data from the other big companies. They suggested i contact GEDmatch to transfer autosomal testing from smaller companies. I found two other websites that will do their own ancestry tests from objects such as dentures, toothbrush, hearing aids (earwax), hair with the root attached. Other items have less success such as used kleenex and nail clippings. Those companies are called iTestDNA and DNAmemorial – although i do not know if they are reputable. I am wary to use these other websites because i do not know their reputation, but have not found any other choices, so far and time is running out for me to choose one.

        Reply ↓

        • Just because a company extracts the DNA doesn’t mean they run any tests on the DNA. Many people are putting DNA laden items aside, not stored in plastic, but paper, for technology to develop further in the future. Don’t touch them. Store them in a temperature controlled environment, meaning not the basement and not the attic.

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  15. Hi.
    My name is Skyler. I was wondering if you could help me figure out something? Is there a way to preserve, at home, a family member’s DNA after years their death? Personal belongings that might still have enough DNA on/it in that could be used later in the future as science gets more advanced?
    Thank you!

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  16. I had several companies tell me time is of the essence due to possible DNA degredation. I tried researching it and come up with mixed results. In ideal conditions DNA can last thousands of years. But in real world scenarios it can break down quickly – but how quickly?

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  18. Roberta,

    Thanks to two newly discovered 3rd cousins that got me involved in doing DNA with the intent to help us try to solve a family mystery, I had myself & all my three siblings tested with Ancestry. I have been pleased with the results and information even though I do not have a membership with ancestry.

    Now, I am planning to have my 2 older brothers do the Y-37 & mtDNA test with Familytreedna. Thanks, your article has made me feel much, much better about getting their tests done with Familytreedna. The tests are so expensive but my brothers are older and in poor health & I don’t want to take a chance to miss this opportunity. Ancestry results for our family showed Ireland and I didn’t know we had ethnicity nor do I know where it comes from because our family genealogy has been done back several generations. It is a new and fascinating mystery as to how we are Irish. As I have been reading about Familytreedna I found a new company called “LIvingDNA” Your Ancestry. This company says it can give results especially for the British Isles and Ireland. I am hoping it might give us areas in Ireland and British Isles that could give us a place to try to connect to and maybe look at the matches in that area to trace back to the lines we know.

    Question: 1] ‘Genetics Digest -Your Right Place If You Like Science’ wrote an article & gave this “LivingDNA” as one of the best companies, placing it just under FamilytreeDna. Do you know anything about this company? Can they give me more specific connections to our DNA and specific areas of Ireland and the British Isles?

    Question 2} Are they reliable and a good source to help me with this goal in mind?

    Thank you for sharing your knowledge,
    KC

    Reply ↓

      • Thanks! I’ll get reading.
        Is it better to do the Familytreedna mtDNA Plus or the mtfull Sequence? I am a bit strapped for money because I just retired. Could I do the less expensive test now and update it later if I to get more money and want or need more information?

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          • Roberta,

            I have visited with you multiple times and each time thank you so much for your thoughts and help. Hope you are doing well.

            I just recently lost one of my brothers. This has made me think about the Y-DNA testing I have done on my brothers. I did get both of my brothers Y-DNA done. Since we have no matches with our surname. I wanted to make sure both brothers were matches to each other and they are! That’s good news.

            We don’t have any close matches for either of them at the 111 level. The closest is 5 steps in the Genetic Distance. Losing this brother has made me think about upgrading my remaining brother’s Y-DNA even further, just in the case I need more of his DNA for the test.

            So …
            Do I do the upgrade to the 700, am I correct they no longer do the 500 level, which is what I believe they currently have on sale for $229 ($10 off). None of any matches for my brothers at (111, 67, 37, 25) have done this level of testing.

            Do you have other suggestions?

            Karen

          • I suggest you upgrade to the 700. The 500 is no longer offered. The 700 is much better. Also, call and ask for additional swabs so they can archive some DNA for later and be sure you are the designated beneficiary on his account. My condolences.

    • There are lots of these jumping on the bandwagon. I would be very skeptical of any of them. If you’re inclined to consider, read the conditions, privacy statement and legalities thoroughly.

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  20. I’ve been reading articles about tracing family via the female line and the questions I’ve seen usually involve testing only back to a father or grandfather, and I need to trace back to a great grandfather. My family story is that it is believed my great grandmother was raped by someone she knew. My grandmother was an only child, and she always wanted to know who her father was. Both my grandmother and my mother are deceased so I can’t use their DNA to find out who my great grandfather was. I would like to know which DNA test or tests would be best to take to learn who my great grandfather was and if it is even possible to learn his identity.

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  22. I have the same question – this time it is with an autosomal test from Family Tree DNA to GED Match. I got the message: “This kit has an unusually high number of no-calls, which usually results in a larger number of false matches.” Can I trust the autosomal ethnic percentages?

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  23. Hi,

    Can you tell me please if in the DNA test of 23andMe (only Ancestry version, I live in Italy unfortunately: https://www.23andme.com/en-int/) it is also possible to check for the common FMO3 variants?

    I suffer from more of 20 years of a bad body odor and I’m trying to understand, at the level of genes (FMO3), if I have TMAU or not. It can test for FMO3?

    Thank you very much

    Reply ↓

      • Hi, thank you for the replies.
        I have not yet understood what specifically control DNA tests. for example there is a laboratory (in Poland I think) that can test specific genes, such as FMO3, but for $700 .. a little too much for me at this time 🙁
        Others instead do “Whole genome sequencing WGS or WES” tests. So if I want to know an exact gene I have to take the test at $700 (only for FMO3) or the whole genome, so I can find that specific gene too?
        I don’t understand what controls the “cheap” kits like AncestryDNA and 23andMe, they randomly take the genes? Do they screen the entire genome and then report only the common variants?
        The only thing that maybe I realized is that there is a low percentage that can control a specific gene like FMO3, you have to be very lucky.
        I don’t know anything about these things, I started doing research since 2 days but they are all very difficult concepts for me that I have never studied these things 🙁

        Reply ↓

        • They do not scan the whole genome. They are chip based and scan certain addresses. They are focused on genealogy not medicine. Furthermore the genealogy tests and the medical tests are different. Genealogy tests can misread locations. A few misreads don’t matter for genealogy. Medical tests use different technology to drill down to that specific location. It matters in medicine.

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  24. Hi, thank you for the replies.
    I have not yet understood what specifically control DNA tests. for example there is a laboratory (in Poland I think) that can test specific genes, such as FMO3, but for $700 .. a little too much for me at this time 🙁
    Others instead do “Whole genome sequencing WGS or WES” tests. So if I want to know an exact gene I have to take the test at $700 (only for FMO3) or the whole genome, so I can find that specific gene too?
    I don’t understand what controls the “cheap” kits like AncestryDNA and 23andMe, they randomly take the genes? Do they screen the entire genome and then report only the common variants?
    The only thing that maybe I realized is that there is a low percentage that can control a specific gene like FMO3, you have to be very lucky.
    I don’t know anything about these things, I started doing research since 2 days but they are all very difficult concepts for me that I have never studied these things 🙁

    Reply ↓

  25. I did my DNA test on ancestry and now I have a big problem and unfortunately there are no marriage records or census or will to help I have Mary Magdalene Clark
    1849–1927
    BIRTH 20 DECEMBER 1849 • Evansville, Owsley County, Rockcastle Kentucky, USA
    DEATH 13 JUNE 1927 • Bixby, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, USA
    2nd great-grandmother a person knew her a refers to her as aunt megs. married to Issac Anglin everyone including my self had her mother as Eliza jane and her birth is when Isaac was married to Eliza jane, no documentation, one census just says mary age 0. when i got my DNA test it said the second wife Celia Laswell is who I am related to not Eliza I don’t know what to trust or how to figure out the truth also Mary’s grave stone says Mary F. I thought DNA would help instead it messed me up and no relative will even listen to there being a problem. If youhave a momont can you direct me to a solution. thank you Brenda

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  27. what does it mean when Heritage give DNA results with segment matches some 2 or 3 some 10 or 11. my brother has been given a list of people all over the world with segment matches but does not know what it means in terms family tree and relationship. I do not know how long these matching segments are? Can you tell me what these segments mean plse ?

    Reply ↓

    • Those are the segments that you receive from a common ancestor, some time back in your tree. The next step is to look for that common ancestor. Compare your tree, theirs and other people you both match to see if you can find the link. It’ s kind of like a big jigsaw puzzle.

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  28. I desperately need help unraveling my 35%Native American DNA! I was adopted age 10 days. In calif a sealed state. I have a few clues inc links my NA lineage paternally. I need to hire help with this before my journey outlives me.
    Thank you for your consideration,
    Andrea Lawrence
    ravendrea@yahoo

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  29. Trying to find where your mention of Nicolas Bouchard dit Jolicoer occurs. He is also my ancestor. Thank you. Barb

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  30. I reading so much and getting so confused, I just did my MTDNA because I cant get more the 4 generation back in maternal line, It just stops with gggr grandmother born in Norway. My group is T2a1b1a1 I don’t know how to use this to find what I need , her mother, also you mentioned in a post your J…. had better results then someones H…. so does that mean mine being T.. the results would be more trust worthy. any direction on simple to understand would help. I cant use your search because I don’t know what article I need to search. I appreciate any help I know your busy.
    Brenda

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  31. I[‘m trying to get some help. I can’t login. I haven’t changed anything so there shouldn’t be an issue.

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  32. I don’t know how unusual this might be but I had my brothers done with 3 companies: 23 & Me, LivingDNA, & FamilyTreeDNA. When the results came back for their Y-DNA they had three different results:

    LivingDNA: Haplogroup R-U106, Subclad – R-U198
    23 & Me: R-M467
    FTDNA: R-M269

    My questions are:
    1] How are these Haplogroups and Subclads related?
    2] If they are not related then how did we get three different results?

    I’m so very confused,

    Karen

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  33. I did the ancestry DNA Test Which said I was 42% Native American. How Can I find out which tribe my family came from etc. Henry

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  35. Roberta, I hope you see this in time. I believe I’ve heard you mention Jones Cove Road in Tennessee? I have a chance to go that way on Friday Aug. 31st. If you can give me some pointers on what to look for on that road or area I would appreciate it. Thanks,Vickie

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  36. FTDNA asked me to ask Roberta about Mtdna k2a6.. My grandma’s mtdna had one more mutation which was C7468T than the Irish/Northern Irish base haplogroup k2a6. Therefore, it was told that my grandma’s K2a6 was 1900 years ago.. No one at FTDNA knows where my grandma’s mother’s line was from or where it went… I only know about 300-500 years ago they made it to the east coast of the United States. There are only two other females that has the this exctra mutation. … one is from Fresia/ Netherlands the other did not know where her line was from either… Can you help me out here please? Thank you very much. Barb H.

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      • Roberta,

        Some were from VA, NC, Ohio and 2 from Scotland and 2 from Northern Ireland all 8-10 matches were from the 1700’s. Most were in VA All I know is that my grandmother Maude Myrtle Bennett was born 1890 Springfield, MO. Her parents were: John Russell Bennett and Martha Sibiline Barnett 1866 MO. Martha’s parents were: James Preston Barnett 1827 TN and Milly Rebecca Lord 1826 Coffee County, TN… Her parents were either Thomas Hobart/Hobert Lord 1805 Christian County, KY ( if he is Milly’s brother he was 20-21 years older than Milly ) and Tilitha Barnett 1808 KY or TN Milly Rebecca Lord lived with them ever since she was a couple months old until she married in 1848. If not Thomas Lord then William E Lord 1775 GA. and Milliford Whiting 1780 no one knows who her parents were at all ! Milliford is a quite different given name for sure but she died TN 1827……….So, no one knows for sure if Milly R Lord’s father and mother was Tilitha Barnett and Thomas Lord or William Lord and Milliford Whiting !!!! I just don’t know… 50/50 chance…….either way. So, Roberta, That’s where we are at right now. What I do know is my grandma’s k2a6 is 1900 YEARS AGO so her branch broke away from the so called Irish k2a6 way back she is not of the irish Baseline haplogroup in Ireland. So, Scottish or maybe Northern Irish maybe? Maybe by what I just sent to you some of this might ring a bell? I just don’t think my grandma’s female line was English
        She has very dark brown hair and grey/blue eyes and was 5ft. 2″ This is all I know ! Thank you so much ! Barbara Hawkins

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    • Hi Barbara, Haplogroup K2a6 is extremely rare. I found mentions of it in the Levant, in the Druze population specifically, and in Neolithic sites in Anatolia. The National Geographic database shows 2 in Denmark, 1 in Germany, France and Australia, plus a few in the US. There just isn’t much out there.

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      • Roberta Estes,

        Oh my gosh… Wonder what could have happened to all my grandma’s Mtdna Haplogroup k2a6 ancestors….. too many wars or were rounded up as slaves….. What would be your Personal Opinion kinda off the record for them to be soooo rare?

        Thank you Roberta Estes for getting back with me on this.

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  37. Roberta, It’s Barbara Hawkins following up on what I sent you. I guess finding my grandma’s female line is probably impossible. Therefore, 1700’s DNA matches were more than likely in VA.
    What have you found or heard that MTdna K2a6 came from basically? Also, my very last question: By what I sent you previously, does it seem Tilitha Barnett and Thomas H Lord Milly Rebecca Lord’s parents? Or William E Lord 1775 and Milliford Whiting 1779-80 her likely parents? That’s all….. Thank you Roberta.
    Barbara Hawkins

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      • Roberta Estes,

        Sorry it has taken me forever to get back to you on this….
        If you cannot email me with this reply and the one I just sent you
        before this one.. THEN IT’S TOTALLY FINE to enter on this very site.
        To answer your question….. Yes, The Male Lord’s are YDNA

        i1 M253 which is Scandinavian and newly found to be of VIKING
        stock. Kinda cool kinda not… it is what it is. Which Viking’s I am not sure… Could be the Danish Vikings could be Swedish or could be from Norway.. Would you have any idea about this Haplogroup?

        Also my male HULL line have the same exact YDNA Haplogroup
        i1 M 253

        Please let me know when you can. Take care,

        Barbara Hawkins

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  38. I don’t know what to do I have a 3xgreat grandfather, Wallace Clark that had 2 wives 1st wife, Eliza Walker, only 4 yrs she dies 1852 he then married in 1853 to Celia Lasswell, He had several children on in 1848 and 1849 Mary my ancester there is only the 1850 that shows and is the proof for the Wallace, Eliza and the 2 girls, Sarah Jane and Mary, the 1860 for rockcastle , Kentucky is not available, there is no marriage or birth records, so DNA my mom and i bothe link to Lasswell and no one will help because they say that would mean Wallace had sex with a 14 yr old. On Ancestry if I had the mother as Eliza like everyone said then after DNA i looked at the circles and it put me in Celia laswell and matches were 2nd to 4th cousins who were Lasswell, then on FTDNA i got Lasswell matches. the group doing Lasswell says Eliza is the mother, of my Mary magdalane Clark, because of dates, also there is another tiwst The husband of Mary is Mary with and F for middle name on all census, grave stone, marriage record, but the person who has the records says she knew this couple and she knew Mary as aunt Megs. I’ve been shut out because I insist there is an issue. Our DNA circles and Matches reliable one match is 26c.
    Any help would be appreciated, I don’t know what to trust.
    Thank you for your time

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  39. Roberta,

    I’m sorry, I was waiting for your response that you would be back in a few days….. Just wondering if you are back now so that I may receive the reply I am so waiting for. I believe, if you look again at Sept. 7th reply from me here are DNA explained, it will show you exactly where the matches MTdna were from but ! Just a quick reminder… most were in VA 1700’s already
    and that C7468T is the extra mutation that is separate from the Irish/Northern Irish baseline of k2a6 so, my grandma was not Irish at all. Besides, the Irish/Northern Irish that showed up was at least 800 to a thousand or so years ago…………. sure need your help here if you are back from traveling ! Also, my grandma was born 1890 MO. Thank you so much ! Barbara Hawkins
    P.S. is the extra mutation C7468T just a simple mutation back then or some kind of disease?

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Barbara. I’ve replied to your privately, but it sounds like you need a consultation. My rule of thumb is that if I need to look at your results to do research, it’s more than a quick question and falls into the category of a consultation. I apologize for the delayed reply. I have been back for a few days but am utterly swamped right now.

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  40. Roberta, there is someone who has contacted my family from AncestryDNA. She does not know who her father was, but she is app a 2nd cousin match to myself through Ancestry and FTNDA results. I ask her to download her data to Gedmatch and the results are perplexing. Here are the results, if you have the time we need some guidance. This lady matches my family members as follows, my great uncle is 480 cm’s and 2.4 generations X-match is 64.2, my mother is 344.6 cm’s 2.4 generations X match is 9cm, I am 230 cm’s 3.0 generations, no X-match. Here is what is strange, my mother’s 1st cousin, her dad and my mother’s mom were brother and sister. My mother’s 1st cousin is 300 cm’s and 2.7 generations but her X-match is 125 cm’s. I have checked and rechecked to make sure this is correct. How can my mother’s 1st cousin be an X-match at 125, when no one else is showing such a high number. What does this imply. Could my mother’s 1st cousin also be related through her maternal line to this individual?

    Also, by looking at the matches would my great uncle be a 1st cousin once removed? I have looked at several charts and the numbers do not line up for my uncle to be her 1st cousin once removed. Suggestions? Most of my family tested through FTNDA, I also tested through Ancestry so we have several tests uploaded on Ged and the results are the same.

    Thank you for your time,
    LW

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    • I would strongly suggest that she test at FTDNA on the same platform as the rest of your family. And I don’t mean a transfer. You need to be tested on the same chip to verify results.

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  41. Assume my 4th great grandfather, A, had three sons 1, 2 and 3.
    I find that I am descended from son 1 and my Y-DNA Halpogroup is R-M269. Will my male first cousins who are descendants of sons 2 and 3 also be R-M269 (assume we’ve all had the 37 marker test)?

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  42. Blog issues. I have started getting selective blogs copies (the one on “Concepts – Paternal vs Patrilineal and Maternal vs Matrilineal” my brother forwarded). I have checked my spam folders and the ones I was looking for were not there (though a few did get there). Should I just re-register or what?

    Reply ↓

  43. Hi Roberta,
    If I upload my raw dna data from ancestry to family tree, are the results as accurate as if I’d taken the test with family tree to begin with?
    Thanks very much,
    Gord

    Reply ↓

    • You will only receive about 20% of your matches. Just the highest ones. The chips aren’t compatible. I would test at FTDNA.

      Reply ↓

  44. Would the family finder autosomal findings still be as accurate? Or would it be better to do that test with them as well? Thank you!

    Reply ↓

  45. Pingback: 2018 – The Year of the Segment | DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy

  46. I have a full mitochondrial sequence results from FTDNA. I’m in a haplogroup that’s primarily found in Ashkenazi Jews, but sometimes found in non Jews. FTDNA on their site says that the full sequence would eliminate one or another group (Jews or non Jews), but I’ve yet to figure out how to ascertain that! I seem to have hit a wall understanding my data. Would a quick consult with you help (can’t afford anything more than that)? Or could you point me in a direction in which I could find out more. I’m not looking for family, just an understanding of whether or not I have any Jewish ancestors, and if so, how far back. My grandmother was from a village in Poland (now the Ukraine) that had a very strong mix of Jews and non Jews. Thanks!

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  47. I am helping my husband track down his paternal line but we have hit a brick wall. He tested with Family Tree DNA with Y haplogroup of M-269. He also tested with Living DNA and received M-269, subclade R-Z2109. The furthest we could trace back was his 3rd great grandfather who was born in Prussia around 1832 but do not know whose his parents’ identity. The only paternal matches we have found is his father and brother who tested, but no one else. Can you help?

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  48. Hi Roberta, and thanks for your website. I have been playing with DNA Painter after reading your blog about it. My Mom got her DNA test done and I went to compare it with mine by downloading from Ancestry and uploading to GEDmatch. Just for fun I painted a match on DNA Painter overlaying her match (which I know I’m not really supposed to do). But I saw that I only match 1/2 her X-chromosome and there is a bit on the matched end missing too. That freaks me out! I thought I was supposed to have a complete X from my Mother and another complete from my Father! Was I short-changed? LOL

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    • I can’t begin to interpret what you are seeing without seeing it and knowing what you did. I’m sorry.

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  49. Hello Roberta!
    I am a visual learner (stunk at math and science) and have made a chart of a dna problem / connections. Is there a way for me to email the chart to you for you to have a quick look at it? I’m not usually one of those people who bothers bloggers, but I am stuck and I feel like the answer is probably right in front of me. I just can’t figure it out though!
    Thanks!

    Reply ↓

  50. Prior to last month I was a subscriber of your site for a number of years. Twice in the last two weeks I’ve used your FOLLOW BLOG VIA EMAIL summiting my email address. No luck.
    I’ll explain further, I also subscribed to Dick Eastmen blog. After writing to him with my problem of receiving daily emails from him he explained that the problem was with WordPress, They took over my Eastmans account. I then had to delete my free subscription and sign in for his paid website. The problem was solved.
    I understand you use WordPress for your site. Not relizing I had must have signed onto wordpress. I have since deleted it because of Dick Eastmans explanation. This may be the reason I can’t sign on to your site as you use WordPress.
    Can you help me out and sign me on.
    By the way congratulations on your appointment to the newly formed FTDNA Citizens panel. I was one who opted out. I realize todays laws have not kept up with technology, but not to be notified properly not once but twice was hard to swallow. It was wrong! They still have a few more steps to take to make it completely right. I know you’ll do the right for us when serving on this panel.
    Thanking you in advance and an avid reader,
    Fran Tivey
    fmt.designer1941@gmail.com

    Reply ↓

    • The best thing you can do is unsubscribe and resubscribe. Bloggers can’t subscribe you. It’s a built in security measure.

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