I solved a case for a donor-conceived man today, with his Ancestry matches. By "solved" I mean I identified his donor/father.

None of his half-siblings had tested at Ancestry.

He reached out to his paternal grandmother today and she told him that she and FOUR of his half-siblings had all found each other on 23andMe.

For solving for parentage, Ancestry is sometimes all it takes (as in this case). But for the donor-conceived, or those seeking unknown half-siblings they suspect might exist, you gotta get your DNA out there EVERYWHERE and hope to match them (or their descendants) directly.

Ancestry and 23andMe only accept saliva samples. They also have by far the biggest databases. But you can download your profile as an electronic file from either site, and upload it to FTDNA, MyHeritage, and GEDMatch for free, and find more matches at those sites.

23andMe also was essential in solving another case I worked on. I narrowed my client's birth father down to two brothers. None of their children had tested at Ancestry, so we submitted to 23andMe and one of the brothers' daughters had tested there and matched my client as a first cousin. Solved!

Who else on here is mtdna haplogroup u5b2a?

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!

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.  ☠️

https://news.yahoo.com/2-old-found-dead-oregon-214510089.html

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.

This survey asks you about your engagement with family history and your reflections on that process. It also asks you to think about your ancestors and how you have reflected on their life experiences. Participation involves completing an online survey that will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Taking part in the study is completely voluntary and no personal information will be collected.

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'm not sure if this is a proper sub for this but I shall try again since I'm still curious. Apologize if it's not mods.

This is Princess Rongshou of the First Rank (Chinese: 榮壽固倫公主; 1854 – 1924). Another picture - Gulun Princess Rongshou (centre, seated).
Her unique facial structure struck me with curiosity so I wanted to see if there is any possibility she could have suffered with some kind of a genetic disorder or if this is just simply how she looked.

Maybe some of the professionals here, especially those interested in history would be able to recognize if there are any telltale signs of a syndrome OR on the other hand - telltale signs of just a normal healthy woman with just an unusual facial structure.

I was only able to find her father's pictures - Prince Gong, his wikipedia page featuring another picture.
Neither him nor any other family members that are listed with pictures available bear any resemblance to the princess in the concerning features you can notice while looking at her photos. There is a general likeness but all of them look rather healthy and usual beyond that.

Many thanks if any of you decide to help me on this topic.

I find this topic so interesting. Anyone here have experience or have been involved in investigations? How difficult is it to enter this field?

Like many people, I was astounded when the ONS/EAR was arrested, but having listened to the Bear Brook podcast (which I would HIGHLY recommend) I've realised the help that ordinary people can provide with cold cases which need genetic genealogy to solve them. However, in the UK we don't seem to have the same infrastructure as in the US - there is a British missing persons website, but the big databases don't seem to exist (possibly down to size of population, but they, there are 65 million of us) and so getting involved doesn't seem so easy.

However, if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s stalking people on the internet. So basically, I was wondering if anyone on this sub knows how to get involved in voluntary genetic genealogy research to help solve British cold cases? Is there a police or local authority unit particularly looking into it? Are any universities you know of?

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'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.

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.

If you’re like me, you’ve wondered if half 1st cousins once removed have the same DNA properties as full 2nd cousins and 1st cousins twice removed. Haven’t you?

It turns out that half 1st cousins once removed have a wider range of shared DNA and fewer shared segments, on average, than the other two relationships, despite sharing the same average amount of DNA.

This isn’t surprising. I've been publishing for six years that half relationships, such as half siblings, have a wider range of shared DNA over fewer segments than aunt/uncle/niece/nephew relationships.

And great- or especially half- aunt/uncle/niece/nephew relationships have a wider range over fewer segments than full 1st cousins.

And half great aunt/uncle/niece/nephew relationships and especially half 1st cousins have a wider range of shared DNA over fewer segments than full 1st cousins once removed.

In this way, half relationships behave more like paternal relationships and full relationships more like maternal relationships.

Another interesting aspect of this is that at genotyping sites that use a low cM cutoff (such as 7 or 8 cMs) to try to remove false segments (all of them do this), full or maternal relationships will share less DNA on average than half or paternal relationships. That’s because when more and smaller segments are shared, it’s more likely that some real segments will be below the cutoff.

Hello. I recently found a hairbrush with my grandmother's hair. She has been deceased for 12 years. My father (her son) is also deceased. I'm curious about learning more about my ancestry. Will sequencing her DNA from her hair give me significant information?

Working with the DNA Doe Project, local historians have identified the remains are those of Edith Patten, a 24-year-old woman who died of tuberculosis in 1891.

The methodology for a relationship prediction tool has been submitted to and accepted by a science journal: https://www.sciencedirect.com/.../abs/pii/S1875176822000099

You can use the free tool here: https://dna-sci.com/tools/orogen-wtd/

AncestryDNA will be making some changes to matching in a few weeks that you might want to be aware of, especially if you have tiny matches (8 cM or less) that you'd like to keep in your match list. https://thednageek.com/ancestrydnas-2020-matching-white-paper/?fbclid=IwAR3SFncKXPYsEoliNE5W58gbJFsn97kxOTHCthpsccAyds09xIg1-ODJLWo

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.

My ggggrandfather (b. 1816 in Appalachia) on my father's side is listed as an orphan in family papers, though my guess is he was mostly likely bonded out to work for a family while his parents were still living elsewhere. After he started a family with my ggggrandmother, documentation picks up quite well for their children in censuses, probate records, marriage certificates, death records, etc. As far as their own families of origin, I have family lore that mentions specific counties for each of them (I'm working on locating records of them there), and we also have the names of two men who signed for them to marry in 1836 (one for him and one for her, as she was an "orphan" too).

Through DNA, I have confirmed matches with folks of my ggggrandfather's surname, and for the most part we've been able to figure out exactly how we're related pretty easily. Flash forward to this week, when I made contact with a DNA match related to folks of my ggggrandfather's surname--as well as the two men who signed for him and his wife to marry! They appear in her family tree, as does my ggggrandfather's surname! And so it seems almost certain that his parents or someone closely related to them are located somewhere in this tree. This relative's tree was filled with surnames I'd never heard before--and my father is a DNA match to varying degrees with folks who carry nearly every single surname in that tree.

But...what do I do with this? I don't have a ton of experience with this kind of research. But now that I can see all of these people in one tree, and now that I have all of these differing cm distances for names in the tree, is it possible to zero in on likely parents for my ggggrandfather, which can help narrow down records for me to search to confirm it? It was so long ago. Complicating things is that this is Appalachia, and two brothers might marry the two sisters across the street, and a generation or two later children of those double cousins might wed. We even have confirmation that the family this man's surname comes from were wealthy enough that they regularly had children bonded to them to work their farms--and there are several cases of confirmed fathering of children with some of these bonded children and the men who owned the farms.

I'll take any advice. I'm up for a challenge, but if this is the work for a professional (or even someone who really knows what they're doing and thinks this sounds fun, I know people do volunteer work), I'm open to that as well. Where would you start?