DNA testing

[Biggles50]

Ancestry is best as you can download your results and upload them to My Heritage for free. I have very different matches on both sites so it’s been really useful.

Rebecca’s advice is the way to go.

Test with Ancestry.

Download a copy of the DNA test results and upload the file to My Heritage, Family Tree DNA and My Heritage.

Depending upon where the mystery parents were from a DNA test with 23&Me may yield results (they are the second biggest) but you cannot upload to them you have to buy one of their tests.

Your Husband received half his DNA from each of his biological parents.  From his Father he would receive his Father’s yDNA and from his Mother, her mtDNA.  He would pass on the yDNA to your Son but not his copy of his Mother’s mtDNA.  You passed on your mtDNA to your Son but he in turn will only pass on his Father’s yDNA.  Hence at some point in the future your Son could also take a yDNA test, this only looks at DNA that is passed Male to Male to Male to Male etc. & it could give a lead as to the Biological Paternal line of you Son.

For now reading the book and reading up on using DNA will be quite a task in itself.

Once the test is analysed you will be presented with a list of DNA Matches, that is people who you share family DNA with and a value will be given such as 449 cM, the cM means centimorgan which is the unit of measurement. 

The higher the cM value the closer the relationship. 

I chose 449 cM as an example as that is the value you will be looking at for DNA matches with your Son’s DNA test.  If either of your Husband’s biological parents had any other children they would be a Half Aunt or Uncle and the children of these would be a Half First Cousin to your Son and the 449 cM value is an average of the shared DNA between Half 1C’s.

With either your test or your Son’s then to get unknown close matches linked into your tree can require a waiting game so do be patient and stick at it, results will come.

Good luck in your quest.

[ValJJJ]

There is great advice in a DNA masterclass and newsletters on the Lost Cousins website. You can sign up free to the website and newsletter.  Or a very low annual subscription.

https://www.lostcousins.com/

The newsletter is produced about twice a month and is full of fascinating tips plus links to previous newsletters.

Enjoy.

And...
You can also upload your Ancestry DNA file to Gedmatch in order to compare with people's tests from other sites.

[Glen in Tinsel Kni]

Has to be an Ancestry test in my book, the sheer numbers of results in their database dwarfs every other company by a very large margin and it's the most portable of all so can be added to multiple other sites.

I'm adopted but know who my bioparents are (both long deceased), and have 20 years of traditional research under my belt. Both my mother and paternal grandmother have certs claiming their parents to be married,  through DNA that I know the paper trail is wrong but without the DNA result I'd still be adding the wrong family to a flawed tree, buying worthless certificates and chasing down items on ebay connected to an unusual surname. The amount I've spent on ebay alone could buy a dozen Ancestry tests but alas they won't take land indentures, codd and stoneware bottles or a collection of ovr 15 postcard portaits by one photographer as payment.   

[Zaphod99]

Anyone not finding Blaine's book absolutely essential and useful has probably got it upside down.

Mrs Zaph

[rosie99]

Anyone not finding Blaine's book absolutely essential and useful has probably got it upside down.

Mrs Zaph

Surely that would depend on the results people get from their DNA tests.  If they find that what they have already researched is correct or the information that is forthcoming from the results of the test is really helpful and gets them the information they were after then purchase of the book would not be necessary.

People do tests for different reasons, some get really involved with further research once their results come others can't be bothered.  All I was saying was .....

I would wait and see what results and matches you get before spending more money on books, I bought the book and have not found it useful so far. There is plenty of good advice on here.

To some the price of the test itself was an expense that was a luxury and to spend a further £10 plus on a book when they first do the test that they may not need is to my mind not necessary.   Wait and see what the results bring and see if your queries can be answered on here, after all there must be enough of you with the book to help others with their queries.  I have passed my book on for the time being to someone who is more interested than I am. 

[Zaphod99]

"calm down dear" as my distant cousin Michael Winner used to say in that advert. I wasn't addressing anyone in particular I was just commending the book.

Mrs Zaph

[rosie99]

Not sure why you felt I need to calm down, like you I was just posting a comment 

[carol80]

For me, the tests are a big outlay.
I do not belong to any sites as they are outside my budget.
If I do not have an Ancestry sub will I still be able to see matches?
I have the biological mother's side. Had help from his cousin through Ancestry when I had a sub.
Father's side is unknown. The only information is New Zealand Soldier.
I am based in New Zealand, but I have to pay for everything in Australian dollars which incurs extra charges.

Carol

[Biggles50]

You can view certain aspects of your DNA results without a subscription, read this article from Ancestry for the detail.

https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/AncestryDNA-and-Memberships

There are ways around it if you are sharing research with another person and they have an Ancestry subscription, you take the test and assign them as the test manager.  My Cousin and Sister have done this and I manage their test results, I can see the matches, compare etc. I then share the results with them.

Alternately, you could sign up on a monthly subscription bases, blitz everything and cancel the auto renewal.  The downside is that you need an understanding of DNA to be effective in using the results in the limited time period you have everything available.

Being in NZ may complicate things slightly with the terms and conditions of using Ancestry possibly being different plus offers may be different to what we have here in the UK.  As a guide we can get years subscription to Ancestry Worldwide for £89.99, and to get this we can do this online or via contacting ancestry Support by telephone.