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Millmoor/William - I suggest you download a copy of the raw data for the kit that doesn't have access to the tools, then during RootsTech in March you should be able to upload that raw data during their expected 'free unlock' period.

With MyHeritage, there is 'unlock' and 'subscription' - two very different things. Unlock provides you with access to the DNA tools - for a modest price. Subscription provides you with access to family history information, plus the DNA tools - much higher price.

If you are only interested in DNA matches, the cheapest thing seems to be an AncestryDNA Plus membership. Ancestry hides the cost somewhat, but it used to be $USA30 (about 25 pounds) for six months.

https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/AncestryDNA-Plus-Membership?language=en_US

https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/AncestryDNA-and-Memberships?language=en_US

Forgive me if you have already done this...

AncestryDNA and MyHeritage both provide a colour-coding system for DNA matches. Beginning with my closest matches, I have gone through systematically giving at least one coloured dot/square to each match (down to about 30 cM). As a starting point, my paternal matches get a blue dot/square and my maternal matches get a pinkish dot/square. In addition, I have a different coloured dot for each set of great grandparents. And I have coloured dots/squares for various other people/areas (e.g. Galway), where it is useful/interesting.

This means that any new match can almost always be instantly allocated as paternal or maternal. And very often I can also tell from which family line they come. If I want to work out more details about the match, I can look at their name (I have a few ancestors with rare names), their tree (if they have one), who they match and how much DNA they share with our shared matches (I have an Ancestry ProTools subscription). Some times the dots/squares show a mix of paternal and maternal dots/squares, which might indicate that it is a distant and/or dodgy and/or unreliable match.

If you have done this with your matches, you should be clear as to whether your match is paternal or maternal. And, unless you have recent mysteries in your family lines, you should have somewhat of an idea of which line they come from. Even with a recent mystery, you can allocate matches to coloured dots/squares - for example, the unknown grandfather might have a dot/square labelled Mystery Grandpa.

I have access to the DNA matches of someone whose ancestry is Norfolk going back several centuries. That person, interestingly, has far, far fewer matches than any other kit to which I have access.

You need to have a 'proper' membership/subscription to be eligible to purchase Pro Tools.

I suggest people log out of Ancestry. Then try to purchase Pro Tools using this link:

https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Ancestry-Pro-Tools-Membership?language=en_US

I didn't have the Beta version when I tried this - and I only went looking for Pro Tools because someone said they had the new tools.

It's possible that Ancestry is still rolling it out - and that I got lucky.

brigidmac - The new DNA tools available with Pro Tools are very easy to understand and make life so much easier. The only trick is when looking at the matches you share with a match, in the bottom left hand corner there will be 1 and an arrow or 1 of 1 - the former means click on the arrow to go to the next page.

I think we do need to be careful when doing family history (especially with DNA). And I also think we should be kind. Given that you value your relationship with your Nan, that is probably your key consideration. But if Nan hated one or both of her parents, then that is another consideration. A thing to remember is that once the genie is out of the bottle, there is no going back. Take care.