Big-Y DNA - is it worth it?

[kjmck]

Hi Folks,

I am considering buying a Big-Y 700 kit for my father and also the mtFull Sequence for my mother from FTDNA.

It's a big investment, so I just wanted to get some advice and opinions to see if you all think it is a worthy purchase and maybe some info on what you found out from these tests.

I have covered both paternal and maternal lineages back 5-10 generations through paper trail and documents etc. but would like a bit more information further back.

Many thanks,
Keelan

[David Nicoll]

Keelan,

   Hi, it kind of depends what you are looking for. It gives a fascinating insight into your deep ancestry. Showing your ancestors wandering over the globe out of Africa.

   YDNA is much higher resolution than MTDNA, with a much higher likelihood of finding people with shared paternal ancestry within historic timeframes. Mutations happens every few hundred years.
   MTDNA is much more stable so you will absolutely be able to see deep ancestry, but you are much less likely to find matches in a historic timeframe, who knows though you might be surprised.

   If you have not already done it, autosomal testing might also provide interesting information as your paper tree is so deep.

On a personal note my own YTDNA has shown me links to a family that has been in the USA since 1670, so has given me some fascinating knowledge I would have no other way of getting.

Happy hunting

David

[Biggles50]

If neither of your Parents have taken an atDNA test with Ancestry then I suggest that buying this test is the way to go.

OK you have a well documented Family Tree but unless it is validated generation by generation then it is not necessarily a Biological Family Tree.

I have been researching for 20 years and the Paternal line went all the way back to King Edward III and beyond.

The thing is this Paternal line is not mine, it is the line of who is now my 1/2 Brother as we share the same Mother but my biological Father was a person I have never met.

DNA can unleash the skeletons and if say you have no DNA matches who link to a common pair of ancestors then that line is questionable.

Now assuming they have taken an atDNA test then a y and mt test “may” yield results, but in the case of a yDNA test you will probably find male relations with a whole gamut of surnames.

The Big 700 will give a few more matches but a 111 test can be taken first and upgraded by payment of a fee if the results look interesting.

My own 111 test gives matches with a probable MRCA in Ireland in the early 1700’s which for means I have very little chance of linking them into my tree given the poor availability of Irish records.

The Big 700 will also give a more recent Haplogroup, my own 111 gives RM-269 which is about 10,000 years ago so not really of much use in Genealogical terms.

Edit

My 111 yDNA test did give me matches who have the Surname that I was expecting (which is not my own nor that of my Biological Father) but this is not necessarily the case with all.

[David Nicoll]

Hi again,

   Personally I think that if you are going to go down the YDNA route there is not much point going less than Y700, 111 as Biggles50 says only get you to about 10,000 years ago and you don’t really get to understand how close or far the link is between people with common ancestors actuallly is.
   Yes it is a big investment, but like all DNA tests, it is an investment that carries on giving, albeit more slowly with YDNA And MtDNA.

[Ruskie]

The results of Y tests are complex to unravel, so you need to put in the hard yards to comprehend it. Depends what you hope to get from the test, but don’t necessarily expect any useful familial matches.

People have said that the mt test is the least useful. It doesn’t seem to be discussed much here on rootschat.

An autosomal test will give you many matches on both maternal and paternal lines. There have been some decent sales on all companies products recently. I don’t know if the offers are still active.

You could dip your toe in the water and buy one of the cheaper Y tests (presumably you will go with FTDNA?) to see how you get on with the results - you can always upgrade to a higher spec test at a later date without having to take another test.

The same sample can also be used for an autosomal test, so no retesting required.

FTDNA raw data can be uploaded to My Heritage, but not Ancestry. Ancestry don’t play the sharing game.

Keep in mind that anything you test with Ancestry will require ongoing subscription and additional payments in order to see all matches, trees etc etc etc. and is almost useless without the sub.

My experience of Y testing my father and husband many years ago. Pretty useless - get a few 12 matches for my father. Never had anything of any use for my husband (surname is Wright) - he still has the same five or six matches he’s had since day one, none with the surname Wright. It is vaguely interesting but no help family history wise.

Just my two pence worth.