What motivated you to get DNA Testing?

Question

Was it to find a specific connection, or was it to confirm ancestry in general? Please choose one or the other, don't respond both-Thanks

Comments

Other

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I previously inferred that most people taking a DNA Test are looking for a specific connection, not an overall genetic make-up or geographic origin. A simple survey of "genealogist" to test this premise.

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I donʻt think you test the premise if you only offer two alternatives.

As usual I am a trouble maker and you should ignore me.

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The last time I Wikied while impaired I got flagged. Til we meet again you twice removed trouble-maker.

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Hey Kristina, the advil has kicked in and my hangover, I mean head-ache, is gone so we can play now. What other reason can there be testing unless your on the Maury Show? Maybe that's why I didn't sleep well last night, wondering what other reason could there be for testing.

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I wanted to find cousins, simple as that. I got my father Y dna tested when that was the only choice, and learned so much about his Cowans and our unknown, distant relatives, and thus, more about our Scots origins. It is another wonderful way to find our part in the human story.

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Reason one was to provide my genetic "explanation" for my great grandsons who are lucky enough to list : Native American (ie. Mexican for them), Chinese, Portuguese (Iberian Peninsula, Pacific Island (Polynesian), Filipino, English, Scottish, etc.) I suppose that fits confirming genetic make-up, but I did not care for myself because I knew what it would be (Great Britain, Northern European) and it is!

Second reason was for the sketchy (at the time) genetic health indicators which have expanded over the years. I actually havenʻt learned a lot that I did not know or suspect!

Regardless, it was an inexpensive fun exercise and I can tell everyone about it (no one is astounded!). And I did find a cousin with whom I share a great grandfather (but not the great grandmother), and thatʻs been fun.

Oh, my DNA is in the big data base so that it can be used for forensic investigation. Coming from a Attorney family with law enforcement members, I think thatʻs a good thing.

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I've been in trouble so many times for being curious I forgot that one. Besides, I know where it got the cat, and this cat has spent seven or eight lives so far. Testing may be on my bucket list, I'm not sure. As a recovering parole officer, I do like the forensic aspect of DNA. It's been a while since I ended an argument with, "I know you think you're right, but, you still have to go to jail today".                     I guess if surprises, short of kids and grandkids, are in order, I would be OK with that .

Answer 1

I wanted to confirm the lineage that I was finding online, and be a part of the Crawford Y-DNA project.

However, I found that my Y-DNA did NOT match to the branch I expected, which led me to research and find a point at which it should be disconnected (details on my profile for further reading). Along the way, I learned a lot about DNA testing, about the branches of the family and spent a lot of time ruminating on what it meant to be a part of a particular surname as opposed to just celebrating ancestors.

I have also found some other interesting auDNA and X-DNA matches that I can't make sense out of yet, but it has been a rewarding journey and one I will continue to learn from as more and more people test.

Comments

Thanks for your answer. Should I do testing, it will be after mom is gone. If she is hiding any secrets, I will let her take them to the grave. Who am I to deprive her of something she feels so strongly about, after 90 years, if there is anything.

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If you can talk her into it, get her to take the test first. Then you can do you later.  She would still be able to take her secrets to the grave, but it will make finding things out for you easier down the road.

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I think my niece has talked her into testing already. I will test eventually.

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Yes! Get her to test if you can. I recently had a 90-year-old male cousin on a line I was trying to crack take a test and his DNA just broke down the brick wall of my 5th great grandfather (his 3rd great grandfather).

Answer 2

I just wanted to know. An I can find genealogical links to alot of the Royal,Noble and Clans that my dna matches its pretty cool even if it doesn't get me much. Yet It has caused a new mystery or two.

Comments

I'll put you in with the Genealogical curious folk. Thanks for your answer.

Answer 3

My sister & I tried to find information about 1 of our great grandfathers but he was a total brick wall.  DNA testing let me find 2nd & 3rd cousins that let me solve the question of who he was & what family he came from.

Comments

I see you have continued your search of ancestors. Was the gr grandfather discovery the catalyst for genealogy, or did your interest in genealogy motivate you in finding gr grandpa? Which was the chicken, which was the egg?

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What started it was a project in high school where we tried to research civil war ancestors.  It always bugged me after that that I couldn't find anything about his line, so my sister & I would occasionally try to solve the mystery (she even had a friend in Georgia try to find records that weren't online).  After 30 years of banging heads on brick wall it took DNA to solve this as my Great grandfather changed his last name when he left Georgia - once I had his real last name records started popping up.

Answer 4

Find a specific connection - in my case my mothers father.

Comments

Did the unknown grandfather motivate your interest in genealogy?

Answer 5

In the old days, there were a lot of disagreements about where the ancient Bulgarians came from and who was related to whom. I took a test very early to do my part in contributing to the pool. Back in 2003, the analysis was all sorts of confused. They took the results that today would be placed in Central and West Asia and designated it as Native American. (This was around 20% of my DNA) I would categorize this as growing pains for the industry. Many of us discussed this in newsgroups at the time and still discuss this over on the group located at the site.

As far as determining connections, soon after testing I did have a need to find a genetic connection to a state of Virginia female line where myself and another researcher had plenty of circumstantial evidence but the paper trail was agonizingly giving us roadblocks. Luckily enough of us descended from this female ancestor and her sisters did take DNA tests to be able to confirm the connection  -- which was a very satisfying feeling.

Does this mean I responded both? I'm not sure but as you can see there are good uses for testing.

Comments

Am I correct to say connecting to an individual was secondary?

Answer 6

Neither! Overall curiosity was the driver.

Comments

Yes indeed.  Curiosity and getting older.  Also, old relatives getting even older, and no-one in their families' interested in following the family tree paper trail lines back in time, let alone genetic lines back in time.

Answer 7

My purposes have been to confirm or disprove the lineages that the paper trails provide and to break down brick walls.

I've had decent success with the former (in many cases not documented on Wikitree, yet). As to the latter, no big winners, yet.

In autosomal land, I need to be more systematic with my approach, and in particular, to develop maps of my parents' chromosomes, before I'm going to be able to isolate matches, if my parents have any, to my most troublesome brick wall people.

My family's y-dna might eventually help me with the patrilineal line, but I will probably need more people to test before it yields anything.

I have an on/off research project to find the common ancestor my dad shares with a match on the mitochondrial side, and I feel like I'm a generation or two away from finding the MRCA, but presently bogged down in the match's genealogy and that project has been dormant for a while.

Edit: just saw you said, "don't respond both," which I guess I did. Sorry!

Comments

I can see a "genealogist" choosing both.-good answer! I think the recent surge in interest in DNA testing is due the ever increasing number of NPE's and adoptions. I'm curios if the Julia Roberts/Mitchell publicity increases demand for DNA testing or interest in genealogy.

Answer 8

I had been working on several potential lines for my male surname connections. I did the Y-DNA test and then worked with several living individuals to get them involved and have confirmed. Used FT-DNA surname groups to aid in the process.

Comments

Looking for a specific person, not necessarily ancestral roots?

Answer 9

I wanted to get over the brick walls and in two cases was successful, but it didn't feel as good as I thought it would because there still are no paper records and you know what they say. "pictures or it didn't happen."

Comments

Just because there is no paper trail doesn't mean it didn't happen or a lot of people would not exist. DNA proves that the paper trail is not exactly a litmus test either. Someone once claimed genealogy without sources is mythology. I think sources help validate mythology to a point. A method to the madness.

Answer 10

Doing the paper trail family tree quickly lead back to the 1864 Griffiths Valuation of Ireland, which equally quickly showed a lot of like surname families in the Corcreeny and Bleary townlands of County Down and other townlands in Lurgan and the adjacent area. Proximity indicated male line relativity which Ydna testing would easily prove, but was on the margin for autosomal testing. Family anecdotal evidence was that the our origin was Welsh and perhaps French or even Spanish beyond that, though the surname name is of German origin. BigY became cheaper so there was a possibility of finding a SURNAME MDCSA (most distant common surname ancestor) - if not by name, then at least by SNP number. At present it’s R1b-FT32960, but a lot more testers are required to resolve it. So far there are only 6 and 30 or more might be needed. It won’t happen in my lifetime !.

Looking at BigTree and BlockTree charts, with great help from FTDNA volunteers, showed the Big Picture under R-DF27 > R-FGC29721 and the migration trails leading to those SNPs became a very interesting diversion.

Autosomal is in the ‘to hard’ basket, so beyond my direct family paper trail, I’m doing a lot of ‘click to add’ genealogy with close and distant cousins providing strong paper trails along selected lines.

Edited to MDCSA.

Answer 11

I wanted to know if th3 Native American tales I heard were real. Apparently not as much as was told. I also was told I had more Irish, but found more Scotch or Scots Irish than previously knew. Found way more German than expected, as well as way up north in Europe, Norwegian, Sweden etc.

Answer 12

General genealogical interest really coupled with an interest in the pursuit of truth. First I wanted the DNA to confirm that my parents, the people my birth was attributed to, were actually my parents. DNA, you know, doesn't always do that. Second I wanted tangible biological evidence supporting the documentary evidence, that is, the so called paper trail. or disputing it, if that should be the case. Third I wanted to see the DNA connect me, in some fashion, to the lands from which my ancestors emigrated as well as to. potentially, help me break through some brick walls I've reached. I wanted to see it extend those lines further than the limits of my previous knowledge of them. I think it has done so to a certain extent.

Comments

Would you have confronted your mom (parents) with DNA findings had they proved a NPE or adoption?

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I would've crossed that bridge when I came to it. People assume, but there are always those "what ifs". Being the first born of a young couple in my case, a different parentage was highly unlikely, but you never know, right. Science itself is based on the desire to know without making assumptions. The outcome might have been better were I adopted (one thing you can say about oouples without children is that often they actually want children), but my DNA says my cousins are my cousins and so my parents must have been my parents, no matter how much one would want things otherwise.

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Mom. and her side of the family are full of surprises! I think I should wait before I find out for sure. You know what they say, "You can't choose family". That's why I choose friends with caution.

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Waiting can be a good thing. Also, some things might be better left unsaid. The decision is up to the person who finds him or herself in that kind of a spot.

Answer 13

I myself wanted validation that the lineage that I was working on online would somehow match the five different DNA tests that I took.

I am a strawberry-blond ginger with blue eyes, so I pretty much knew what my ethnicity was going to be.

What I am most surprised about the DNA testing is finding out where cousin connections fit into my family lineage.

One mystery that I am trying to figure out is that I have a group of cousins that are all connected to a family that I have no knowledge of, and where in my mother's family do they fit into the picture?

Anyone who might be able to answer that question is gone, and my mother has no clue how she could be connected to them.

DNA doesn't lie, people do, and testing is filled with surprises.

Answer 14

A maternal cousin wanted to confirm that our mtDNA was the same (tested ftDNA) plus I was trying to find paternal cousins (AncestryDNA).

Answer 15

I have an interesting and unusual (but not rare) surname, "Ireland."  I started meeting people who shared the surname and wondered which, if any, were related to me.

I convinced both of my older parents (and four of their siblings) to take an AncestryDNA test, plus took one myself.  Because both of my parents tested, I focus on their results and matches (instead of mine) - as they have about twice the autosomal DNA (atDNA) that I do in any individual line.  My atDNA is a subset of theirs, so mine doesn't provide any additional historical information.  Key lesson: test as many of the oldest living generation of your families as possible.  [I don't use atDNA testing for health assessment, so I don't have a special interest in which individual genes I personally inherited.]

I also took a Big Y-700 test.  I currently match two other Ireland surname men whose families also trace back to the Belfast area.  We have a somewhat unusual (for the Irish Isles) R1a haplogroup, so that distinguishes us quickly from other Ireland-surname lines.

In my opinion, only one male in an extended family (out to third or fourth cousin) needs to take a Y-DNA test unless there are paternity questions.  But have that one male take the Big Y-700 test if they can justify the cost.

Answer 16

For me it was a request due to a study that Crohn's and Colitis foundation was undertaking on the feasibility if those digestive disease are hereditary.  My daughter was tested at 23 and Me as part of their study and I hopped on as a suggestion from my daughter.  In searching my family history, I have found that great-grandma died of Colon cancer.  

So then it exploded from that point and has enabled me to connect with many long lost family.

Answer 17

I wanted to prove my research and the stories that had been told. After taking the DNA tests, two of my lines fell apart at the great grandparent level. They were definite surprises. But I wouldn't have known these cracks in the tree without DNA.

Comments

Human nature has been what it is forever. DNA has confirmed that NPE's have existed for quite some time. I'm thinking forever. I am interested in genealogy, but I hold reservations about overall accuracy regardless of sources. One skeleton in the closet, changes the true identity of the skeleton I leave to eternity. Until I change my opinion, I thank everyone that participated in my existence.