What DNA programs are easier to use for the novice ?

Lynda Hill2

What DNA programs are easier to use for the novice ?

I have done the Ancestry DNA test got some hits mostly maternal family

Uploaded my raw data to "Familytreedna" but totally confused by it

Is there a program that will give you a better way of matching up people or at least easier to navigate?

What programs are others using?

 

I am searching for paternal side of my family

I have very little to go on so DNA seemed like the best option at the moment

Comments welcome

 

Thank you

Lynda

 

Brett .

@Lynda Hill2​ 

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Lynda

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I am "Tagging" this 'Question' of yours, in the 'Group' being "Adoption and Unknown Family Research", in this "Community.FamilySearch" Forum, to the 'Group' being "Genetic Genealogy Research", in the Forum; so that, the members of that group can answer/assist you.

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Brett

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ps: That Group is "Public", which you can join, if you wish.

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@Genetic Genealogy Research​ 

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Lynda Hill2

Thanks Brett

did not think to look for a group for DNA 😎

Robert Givens

@Lynda Hill2​ Of course the best site to use is the site where your dad's brother tested. Seriously Ancestry has the largest data base 16+ million test kits. The thing that is nice is that with an Ancestry test you can upload your DNA file and download it at several other sites - GEDMatch, MyHeritage, and 23andMe for example.

The thing, in my opinion, that will help you the most is to have a tree at Ancestry and link it to your DNA. Then start looking at your closest ranked matches that don't fit into your maternal lineage.

Lynda Hill2

Thanks

I did the Ancestry DNA & linked to my tree

No close matches like my half siblings got BOO HOO

I have one person who is a 2-3 cousin with no shared connections to siblings

 

Put my raw data on GEDMATCH & he put his up as well

but I have no idea what I am looking at there

 

He does not have much in the way of a tree & no info on his grandparents siblings which is where I think I connect

Hoping with the number of people doing DNA tests someone with a close match will pop up

 

 

Robert Givens

• At GEDmatch do the tool People who match both, or 1 of 2 kits. Put your kit numbers in and run the program. Concentrate on the kits that match BOTH of you. In there you may find someone who can solve your problem.

 

Lynda Hill2

I have done that

There are 38 people that match both of us

they are 4.5 to 5.2 generations

 

 

The trouble is I do not know what I am looking for

Thanks

Lynda

Robert Givens

@Lynda Hill2​ - I feel for you as you do have a delima here, that is for sure. It would really, really, really be helpful if some closer relatives would test. For that you may just have to be patient and wait.

What you are looking for - well with the cluster of people who match you and this 2nd-3rd cousin. Then these people are probably all in a wedge of your father's ancestry. Maybe like the all connect to you through one of your great or 2nd great grandparents. If you could determine how some of them are related then down the line when you start to close in on your father you will know his ancestry has to include this wedge of relatives somewhere in his tree.

 

Assuming you know your mother's side of the family fairly well - how does Ancestry's ethicity results vary from what you would expect. Like if she is mainly say Northern European but your test says you have a lot of Iberian or some other region that doesn't fit your mother's family. Are there any clues there?

 

Lynda Hill2

Thanks Robert

I think you are right I may have to just wait to see who may come up in the future

The ethnicity is as expected except for Sweden

Lynda Hill2

sreenshot

LegacyUser

Linda,

Last year I helped a sixty-three-year-old woman find her birth mother. She was able through ancestry to make contact a second cousin who had a pretty decent family tree. Since second cousins have one set of great-grandparents in common I did descendant research from each set of this man's great-grandparents. Using this and other non-identifying information that the adoption agency was willing to give I was able to eventually identify the mother. The other information we had in addition to the DNA and the second cousin's family tree were the towns of her biological parents' residence at the time of her birth, the ages of her parents at that time, and the fact that she had two older half brothers. My point being that even if the closest DNA match you can find is a second cousin, if there is a second cousin willing to share their family tree and you can get as much non-identifying information as possible from the adoption agency, it is possible to find a biological parent. The research becomes more difficult as it comes closer to present times but it can be done. In 2022 when the 1950 U.S census is released that might help. If your biological mother is still living, sometimes the best way to find a biological father is to ask. That depends on her being willing to answer but it's worth asking.

Lynda Hill2

Thanks Genee

My situation is I was not adopted so know my maternal side

All i got from mother that b father was a policeman

We lived in Toronto with many policemen LOL

I found 2-3 cousin DNA match on Ancestry that has no connection to anyone in my maternal side & he has a small tree mostly relatives from the UK where he lives

Asked if anyone was in Canada late 40's ... he did not know

 

So unless something obvious jumps out or someone else in my paternal line tests

I will never know his name

After 72 yrs I do not think it is too important it would have been nice to see if I had other sibling on that side of my tree

 

Lynda