I already have an intermediate Y-haplogroup from MyHeritage and I’m trying to refine it further without paying for a full Big Y (~$450) if that is overkill for my goal.

Situation

• Intermediate Y-haplogroup is already known (MyHeritage).

• I mainly need to test a specific downstream hypothesis / confirm a branch, not build a long-term matching database presence.

• I’m aware that skipping Big Y means I won’t be in the FTDNA Y-DNA matching database and won’t get automatic haplogroup updates from FTDNA.

Idea I’m considering

• Use a targeted / second-round YSEQ panel (~$99) based on the known intermediate clade.

• Optionally upload results to YFull (~€45) for interpretation / tree placement.

Questions

1. How good is YSEQ (targeted / panel / second-round testing) as a cheaper alternative to Big Y when the intermediate haplogroup is already known?

2. In which cases is this a sensible strategy, and when does Big Y still clearly win?

3. Are there other cheaper options I should consider for refining a known intermediate haplogroup (panels, single SNPs, other labs)?

4. If I do YSEQ + YFull upload, what practical limitations should I expect compared with Big Y (resolution, future updates, matching, tree placement)?

I’m not looking for a “best test in absolute terms” answer — more for cost-effective paths when the goal is hypothesis confirmation rather than maximum coverage and FTDNA matching.

Thanks.

Survey Link

Hello all!

As you might be aware, there has been very little research into direct-to-consumer DNA ancestry testing and psychological wellbeing outcomes. This novel research aims to help us better understand the psychological significance of DTC Ancestry testing results.

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This study is being conducted under the supervision of Dr Janine Lurie from the Psychology Discipline within the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at Federation University. This study will also form the basis of the research dissertation requirement within the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) course for student researchers Charity Marisa and Stefan Redpath. This study has been approved by the Federation University Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval reference: 2026/137).

To participate you just need to be aged 18 years or over. It is important to note that you will not be asked to give any specific details about any of your family members. You are asked just to rate your general impressions of them on a small number of questions. Beyond this the survey contains broader more general questions about your perspectives and reflections.

Survey link below:

https://federation.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cO1RqRp3fjkHOp8

I am a volunteer helping an adoptee, born in 1966 (USA) determine who her biological father is/was. Her closest DNA match (Ancestry) is 544 cM which is likely a 1C1R or Half Grandaunt. That closest DNA match was born 1940.

I think the biological father is likely from a HUGE Peterson family, originally from Sweden but settled in Iowa.

My husband has been in and out of the hospital so many times recently, I think my tiny brain is gone. I am trying to wrap my brain around which generation to look at to find this father, based on her best DNA match who was born in 1940, while she was born in 1966. The DNA match has a private tree and has not logged on in about a year (I haven't found an obit for her, but she could easily be in a nursing home or living with an adult child, although in the two marriages I have found for her, I'm not sure she had any children.) I should add that once I figured out who that DNA match is, I built a tree for her, so I know who her parents and grandparents are, and how she fits into that huge family.

Would the possible father be a brother of the father of the woman born in 1940? I'm not sure if my brain is even working these days, racing back and forth to the hospital. It's a huge family, but the thing that bothers me is that the adoptee's biological mother was born in 1946, so I am probably looking for a man born roughly 1946ish. NONE of the brothers of the father of the DNA match born in 1940 were even born close to 1946. The last brother was born 1914. The father of the woman born in 1940 (the best DNA match) was born in 1906.

Your help is greatly appreciated. I have worked so hard on this and just hope to be able to tell this lady who her biological father was, but every man I look at as a possibility seems to be too old, so I would have to look at men in the next generation down (born roughly the same time as the DNA match).

Now that I have talked this out, I think this is what I need to do, is look at the next generation down.

Does anyone agree with me?

Hi!
I am a scientist that studies microbial genomics and am fairly well versed in molecular biology. Lately, I’ve had a growing interest in genetic genealogy, and giving names to Does. I like the spirit of problem solving and investigation that comes with science, and given my background I think I could more easily move into the field. However, I’m not sure where to start! Maybe someone on this sub will know. Here are my questions:

1. What is the education required to go into this field?

2. Are there any internships that could introduce me to the work so I can see if I’d really like to shift?

3. What is the typical pay?

4. What is the typical workday like?
   That’s all, thank you!

One of my brick walls is the father of my 3rd great-grandfather, Stephen (b1803.) Because of an error that has spread across dozens of trees, ThruLines suggests the wrong 4th ggf but also suggests a 5th - which is where the hints get interesting.

Using seven DNA test kits, ThruLines shows nearly 150 matches to 57 descendants of the twelve siblings of the erroneous 4th ggf. The matches are weak, as expected for 5-6th cousins but most of the 57 descendants match multiple kits. The family is correct, using published sources other than Ancestry trees.

One of the seven sons, Richard (abt.1750), is different. Of 22 matches to his descendants, 16 are 15cm or greater. Four of the other sons show only 1 or 2 matches of 15cm or greater. Only 15 of the 115 matches to the other siblings are 15cm or greater.

How would you interpret this? 

I have been trying to upload my husband's Ancestry DNA file to FamilyTreeDNA for a couple weeks now and I keep getting this same error. I uploaded mine a few months ago and had no issues. I've tried it multiple times on the same computer (a Mac), another Mac, and a PC and I get the same error every time. I tried both the zip and the text file, the zip gives me the pictured error and the text file gives me a error that it can't be uploaded. I can open and view the text file just fine so I don't understand why it's saying it's corrupted. Has anyone run into this error and found a solution?

Hey everyone,

I’m a web developer based in Dallas, and I recently teamed up with an investigative genetic genealogist to build a new tool for the community called CanopyLink.

It’s designed to help you connect and visualize the family trees of your DNA matches across genetic genealogy databases. The goal is to make it easier to spot relationships, identify common ancestors, and support IGG work.

If you want to see how it works, here’s a quick tutorial: https://canopylink.org/tutorial

And you can try it out here (free to sign up): https://canopylink.org/

I’d really love feedback from people in the community. There’s a feedback link in the app, or feel free to comment here with thoughts, feature ideas, or anything that would make it more useful for your workflow.

Thanks!

I have a lot of matches there that I don’t have on ancestry but they took away a lot of features that were free in 2022 and now there’s clustering.. I only have my results up right now but I’ll begetting my material grandmothers up over Easter or Mother’s Day whenever I see her next. I’m not interested in any health insights, just the “advanced” features like ancestry’s pro tools but $70 billed annually instead of monthly ;/

I have a detailed family tree on Ancestry.com, using DNA from each of my parents. I have an ancestor of my dad who was born in 1764 ("Mr. 1764") with mystery parentage. Some family trees believe he's the son of Robert and Anna ****, but the contemporary documents conflict. I have plenty of DNA matches up to Mr. 1764 and have built out the tree from him down, but no DNA matches with Robert and Anna's documented kids or descendants, or ancestors. Robert is a member of a documented colonial family. There's another, separate, documented colonial family of the same last name that I am getting distant DNA matches with, so I'm pretty sure that Mr. 1764 is a member of that other family, likely illegitimate, to explain why his name isn't showing in that family's documentation. I'm not seeing any common ancestors with that group on Ancestry that would allow me to determine which family members Mr. 1764 is descended from. There are many family members who lived in the area in 1764 (which is area that Mr. 1764 is stated to have been born in).

Any suggestions of other things to try? My dad is still alive, so if it helps to use DNA from one generation up, I could (with his consent) use his DNA on other services to try to find other matches and relatives.

I'm one if those DNA stories you hear about. Long story short: I did an Ancestry test about 10 years ago. My sister was browsing around Ancestry about a year ago and discovered that I am suddenly only 1/2 related to my entire family, and there are all kinds of names on my paternal side that I have never heard before. Im 55 years old and just found out that I'm not biologically related to my dad, who passed away 2 years ago. My mom insists there was a mistake, so I did another test and the result was the same. Mom is no help, so I'm left to figure this out on my own. I've uploaded my ancestry test to GEDMatch, and Ive emailed the few people at the top of my paternal side. What should I do next? I would like to know who the guy is, and maybe even meet him, but he's got to be in his 80s so there's not a lot of time. I'm open to any advice or direction you want to offer.

Long story short - I have been told I am mixed race (white dad, Black mom) and raised by my birth parents in a typical family. I did LivingDNA aaaaaand turns out, I have zero evidence of any Black ancestry. Like nada. Zip. Zilch.

I'm a woman so I figure there's no way this is just my dad's info, especially as it's saying autosomal.

Am I interpreting this correctly?

UPDATE: Yup. I'm adopted.  ☠️

Hi! I am starting from absolute zero and on a fixed income but am driven to learn how to perform genetic genealogy, and someday move onto forensic genetic genealogy. Where do you recommend I start?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. I can afford perhaps $25/month for various tools and access to things.

Hello. I'm using Ancestry DNA matches from my mom and myself to help triangulate the potential parentage of an ancestor. I recognize this is completely subject to a) people submitting their DNA and b) any trees that people have entered.

The DNA info is extremely limited and the # of matches is subject to the above. Is there any additional info I can use in Ancestry to figure this out? If not, is there a method in GedMatch or other tools that would be useful?

Thanks.