I have my Ancestry DNA results. Where do I go next?

Question

I have no understanding of how DNA matches work, triangulation, etc. Briefly, this is where I am: I have my Ancestry DNA results and they are uploaded to WikiTree. I have uploaded my test to GedMatch. I have my mother’s dna tested on Ancestry. I do not have my mother’s DNA uploaded to WikiTree. (I do not know how to do it. I have tried.) 

Here is where I may have an issue...I have no brothers to test and my father and grandfathers died before DNA testing started for the genealogist. (I am 50 yrs old and one of the youngest grandchildren on my fathers side, though I am the oldest on my mother’s side. LOL.). I do have male first and second cousins on my father’s side who have come up as first and second cousins on Ancestry, respectfully (Thank God for that! ). What should I do next? Where should I test next? Do I need to test at three different places and have my mom test at each place too? How do I confirm my fathers DNA when the closest male I have is a first cousin (My father’s brother is dead too.)? Are there places on WikiTree that explain triangulation? Are my questions even related to each other? 

I am not going to even start with how to read DNA results yet! I appreciate your help!

Missy

Answer 1

If you have a male line problem to solve, then get one of your paternal male first cousins to test Y-DNA. Their Y-DNA will be pretty much identical to what your father had. Y-DNA changes very slowly.

Testing at multiple places depends on what you are trying to do with DNA and where you are trying to find matches so you should wait a bit on multiple testing services until you understand DNA a bit more.

Stepping back a bit, DNA can be quite complicated to explain. If your library has "The Family Tree Guide to DNA" by Bettinger, that is a good place to start in understanding. DNA for genealogy has two functions: 1) matching you to relatives who may have information on your family and 2) helps solve problems. For 2, you need to have a problem that DNA will solve - adoption, some brick walls, etc.

Answer 2

Create an account at Gedmatch.com, enter your test, make sure to select 'enabled' for each test for wiki tree (pencil icon.  That will allow some checking for relationships from their site.

On wikitree on your profile, select Family Tree & Tools Tab, then WikiTree Tools tab, scroll down to Tests of Missy's DNA and select it,  and scroll to the bottom to the Add New Test information and add each test using the Select DNA Test dropdown.  It takes a day or so, I think, for wiki tree DNA to connect to GedMatch

Comments

Hello Linda, thank you!! Since I am already in GedMatch, am I able to make an account for my mother? She is 72, has cancer and has no interest in genealogy, so I MUST be the one to do it. I will check it out. Thank you for your help.

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On GEDMatch you can upload her data to your account if you have her permission.

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To add her information on wikitree, 'she' will have to have her own account to add her tests to her profile.

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Thank you, Linda! 

Answer 3

Hi Missy,

I'll try to answer your question "How do I confirm my father's DNA when the closest male I have is a first cousin?"

You mention you have 1st cousins on your father's side who are DNA matches on Ancestry.

That's it - you've done it ! You just confirmed that Alan is your father using DNA.

How and why? Here's an example. Let's say your father had a sister (like Beatrice). And let's say that Beatrice has a daughter (like Linda). And let's say that Linda (your 1st cousin) tested at Ancestry, and is a DNA match for you. The DNA you share with Linda must have come from your paternal grandparents, Raymond and Madeleine. The only way for that DNA to get from them to you is through your father.

So, with one DNA match you just confirmed:

you are the daughter of Alan;

Alan is the son of Raymond and Madeleine;

Beatrice is the daughter of Raymond and Madeleine;

and Linda is the daughter of Beatrice.

(Please notice that in this example I'm using sisters and daughters. You don't need male DNA matches to confirm your father).

I hope this answers your question "How do I confirm my father's DNA when the closest male I have is a first cousin?"

Look here for more about DNA confirmation:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:DNA_Confirmation

Thanks,

Robert

Comments

There is ONE detail to be aware of, however. It probably doesn't apply here, but for anybody else coming up to speed, simply having that match is not enough - you need to have the right amount of centimorgans (cM) in that match as well.

The thing is, if the cM number isn't high enough, it could mean you're really a half-cousin, or some other more distant relation. a 1st cousin (1C) should come in between about the low 500 cMs to the low 1100 cMs. A half-1C can go as high as the low 600 cMs, so there are some cases where the cM value won't really tell you (which one reason is why it's good to have a 2nd 1C tested).

Really, though, this seems like a pretty normal case, as she shouldn't be worried about these close-in relatives so much. For DNA confirmation, the key thing you should try to find is a 3rd cousin (3C) corresponding to all 8 sides of your family (all your gt-grandparents). with that, you can confirm back to all your gt-gt grandparents. THEN you can start looking at the far more advanced and difficult procedure called "triangulation", which is usually for confirming further back.

The MAIN THING is to take notice of that discretely-located - but all-important - "Shared Matches" tab that you'll see on your matches page. That tells you who you're BOTH related to - which tells you what side of the family they're on.

It's very much like a jigsaw puzzle - once you get a few key pieces figured out, it makes more than a few MUCH easier to figure out, and it just snowballs from there.

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Thank you so m much for your explanation! That helped a lot.

Missy 

Answer 4

You've done so much more than most in the entry point of your genealogical DNA journey!  That's fantastic!

A good place to start is to identify and list some concrete goals rather than end goals. When you do this, you are then able to come up with a plan of action that will help direct just how you can use DNA to reach your goals.

In AncestryDNA, you can compare your top matches with those shared with your mother and begin to group them as being maternal line connections. As you get better able to determine from which maternal line branches these matches share a connection - you can assign more specific groups.

Another place you can upload your raw DNA file (and your mother's as well) to is FamilyTreeDNA, which has a great tool for sorting maternal and paternal line matches.  

Yet another place is MyHeritage, which has a very cool triangulation tool.

Both my Dad and my paternal grandparents had passed before autosomal DNA testing became widely available. I was lucky that my Dad's only sibling and three of my paternal grandmother's first cousins are still alive and all agreed to test. 

Do try to test whomever is the oldest living generation on your paternal line (it looks like you may still have a paternal aunt who is alive).  

Comments

Indeed! And yes, any earlier generation member tested is a huge "leg up" - they have twice the DNA for that side! Sometimes they can be used to confirm gt-gt-gt grandparents in the "conventional" way - if there happens to be another member of their generation out there who tested. Their DNA confirmation is also YOUR DNA confirmation!

Answer 5

Hi Missy,

You have some excellent answers that I will not belabor. However, if you just want to learn more about DNA in general and genetic genealogy in particular, may I suggest to you the classes at DNAadoption.org? The First Look classes are free PDFs that introduce you to the different testing sites. You might also consider DNA 101 which is an introduction to using autosomal DNA results for genetic genealogy. You need not be an adoptee to use the website or take the classes.

I would also recommend Roberta Estes' blog dated August 6, 2019 entitled, "First Steps when Your DNA Results are Ready-- Sticking Your Toe in the Genealogy Water". Her blog is called DNAeXplained- Genetic Genealogy.

All the best,

Pam Tabor

Comments

AWESOME! Thank you for the links!! I will check them out.

Missy 

Answer 6

Sounds like you don't know it yet, but you're in GREAT shape! You have a well-developed pedigree (going back to gt-gt grandparents and beyond), and the fact that they're all in America should make it pretty likely that you have plenty of relatives out there who have tested.

Right off the bat, you mentioned that you have a 2nd cousin match, on your paternal grandfather's side. So that means you can automatically (upon demonstration of the "paper trail" confirm back to, and including, your gt-grandparents on that side. The hardest part is making sense out of the directions! 

That being said, it'd be best to look for suitable 3rd cousins on each of the 8 branches. If you confirm back to there, then the closer-in  ancestors are "along for the ride" as far as also being confirmed. If you can't find that 3rd cousin, than you settle for a 2nd cousin, and can't confirm back as far (at least YET!).

Don't get too worried about YDNA. Mostly, it's just going to tell you which Berryann families you ARE distantly related to, and which you're NOT. It's cool to do, but it's more expensive, and isn't likely to do all that much for you that auDNA - that you've already done - isn't already going to do for you.

GEDmatch is of more interest, but is of secondary concern, I'd say. Get yourself confirmed out to your gt-gts first (and use your mom's to go a generation further back on her side, if you can). THEN look into triangulation, and GEDmatch, and mapping out what parts of your genes you got from whom, second.

That being said, sometimes its best to use a GEDmatch DNA match for your DNA confirmation, if that key 3rd cousin happens to be on there (or you can talk them into  getting on there).

I hear the other sites allow you to upload an AncestryDNA test to their sites for free (or for a nominal fee, for full functionality). I've managed to keep busy enough with the AncestryDNA tests I'm looking at, that I haven't done that yet (but I do a LOT with this stuff).

Just make sure you mostly ignore the "ethnicity" stuff, for the most part. But it they tell you a "region", without giving you a percentage - THOSE can be extremely accurate.

Enjoy!!

Comments

Oh, and our prolific correspondent on here, Edison, recently assured us that the next new thing in testing is only a year or two way, so if this test an keep you busy enough you might want to hold off for a while before doing a bunch more.

I guess the gist of it is that not all useful bits of DNA are currently tested - but that may soon become available, and then standard.