Hi Amanda As most people taking a Y DNA test are looking to find other people that share their Y DNA FTDNA provide a Release form within their Test Kit which you can sign. This allows your test results to be placed in their searchable database and then your results are checked against all other test kit results. This is the only way that you get any *scientific* results which are of genealogical value from a DNA Test. Otherwise all you get, as Roy says, is some vague details of your *possible* distant origins. So there is no privacy issues - all you get is a name and an email address through which you can contact other matches. If you want to see what is available to the general public then have a look at my DNA Project here: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Rowberry/ If you look at the Y DNA Results here all you will see is a Test Kit number, a surname and the details of the earliest known male ancestor (by documented research). The only way that you can get details of a test which matches is to have a set of test results of your own. As this is Y DNA testing of course you will need a close male relative to take a test for you. As regards Non-paternity events, I must say that I have been surprised so far to find several matches on one of my ROWBERRY Trees that all go back at least 10 generations before they link up - so proving that there were none in all those generations - so while this of course can be a problem - and really you yourself need to get at least two matches to prove that you have the true direct male line - it is not as common as some people claim. However I do have two known cases of an illegitimate descent, and as expected their tests do not match the main tree! However in time we may be able to suggest the possible family that the non-ROWBERRY father belonged to. Kind regards Polly ----- Original Message ----- From: "Amanda Kerby" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 8:10 PM Subject: Re: [B&S] DNA testing for Family History thanks Karen, .....close matches with distant family members ....did you know those people before you did the test? They don’t offer up connections with other people do they? Would be huge privacy issues. I’d be happy just to confirm areas of origin so that I know I am looking in the right place, but then also would expect it to confirm what I already know. I guess we would all hope for some new lead or some new piece of information which might lead our researches in another direction. A surprise finding would be good! Amanda From: Karen Francis Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2012 12:08 AM To: [email protected] Cc: mailto:[email protected] Subject: Re: [B&S] DNA testing for Family History Hi I have no pecuniary interest in this company, before someone slaps my wrist, but I submitted (a male cousin's) sample to FamilyTreeDNA. It's a US company and probably the biggest there is. I received three close matches with distant family members and assured myself of my family's place within a larger clan. The process was very simple, communication good and cost very reasonable. Being the biggest DNA company means that tens if thousands of people are 'on their books' such that you have a good chance of making connections. Also one receives a HUGE amount of very in depth information about the probable origins of one's lineage. You can test paternal (y)DNA, maternal (mt)DNA or probably autosomal samples. Google them and see for yourself. In a nutshell, this was a worthy investment for me. Good luck! Regards, Karen Sent from my iPhone On 9 Oct 2012, at 11:02, "Amanda Kerby" <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi List > > We have a Family History Expo on here in Christchurch this weekend and a > special speaker on DNA studies whom I’m looking forward to hearing. > Has anyone out there had any good experiences with DNA testing for family > history research? > I’m going to begin looking into who is currently offering testing and at > what cost, for what sort of results, before deciding where to spend my > money! > it would be great to hear from anyone who has tried it and whether the > results justify the cost? > > I remember reading in a magazine that Oxford University offer a test. I > know Ancestry do and there seem to be wide variation in pricing for the > service. > Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. > > Cheers > Amanda > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected]sweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi and thanks everyone for input on this thread. I’ve had a good look at three sites tonight; FTDNA, Oxford University (because I read abt it ages ago in a magazine then read the seven sisters of eve book!) and another local NZ one. There seem to be quite a few offering Y DNA testing and Mt testing, but at a higher cost! What I really want is to find the maternal line before my paternal great grandfather! I have joined a forum and will ask the question once they’ve accepted my registration. I have always meant to do one for my Dad for his birthday and even if it doesn’t turn up much useful data genealogically , it might be fun to see what it does does up! Curiousity caught the cat. And of course any results are only as useful as the size of the sample used to compare them to, ie the bigger the database, the better. Don’t even mention quality control issues, whether a lab produces low human error rates in carrying out the analysis and writing up results for you. A few little slips and you could end up related to Bigfoot or yeti (as I see Oxford Uni are hoping to test)! I was interested to read about the surprise non matches between two supposed family members and the reasons they might not match, and the subsequent obvious problems it can cause! Do we need to bring the milkman into this! Also the following story of Niall of the Nine Hostages was a fascinating one. http://www.familytreedna.com/landing/matching-niall.aspx Night all – it’s lights off down under. Amanda From: Polly Rubery Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2012 5:02 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [B&S] DNA testing for Family History Hi Amanda As most people taking a Y DNA test are looking to find other people that share their Y DNA FTDNA provide a Release form within their Test Kit which you can sign. This allows your test results to be placed in their searchable database and then your results are checked against all other test kit results. This is the only way that you get any *scientific* results which are of genealogical value from a DNA Test. Otherwise all you get, as Roy says, is some vague details of your *possible* distant origins. So there is no privacy issues - all you get is a name and an email address through which you can contact other matches. If you want to see what is available to the general public then have a look at my DNA Project here: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Rowberry/ If you look at the Y DNA Results here all you will see is a Test Kit number, a surname and the details of the earliest known male ancestor (by documented research). The only way that you can get details of a test which matches is to have a set of test results of your own. As this is Y DNA testing of course you will need a close male relative to take a test for you. As regards Non-paternity events, I must say that I have been surprised so far to find several matches on one of my ROWBERRY Trees that all go back at least 10 generations before they link up - so proving that there were none in all those generations - so while this of course can be a problem - and really you yourself need to get at least two matches to prove that you have the true direct male line - it is not as common as some people claim. However I do have two known cases of an illegitimate descent, and as expected their tests do not match the main tree! However in time we may be able to suggest the possible family that the non-ROWBERRY father belonged to. Kind regards Polly ----- Original Message ----- From: "Amanda Kerby" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 8:10 PM Subject: Re: [B&S] DNA testing for Family History thanks Karen, .....close matches with distant family members ....did you know those people before you did the test? They don’t offer up connections with other people do they? Would be huge privacy issues. I’d be happy just to confirm areas of origin so that I know I am looking in the right place, but then also would expect it to confirm what I already know. I guess we would all hope for some new lead or some new piece of information which might lead our researches in another direction. A surprise finding would be good! Amanda From: Karen Francis Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2012 12:08 AM To: [email protected] Cc: mailto:[email protected] Subject: Re: [B&S] DNA testing for Family History Hi I have no pecuniary interest in this company, before someone slaps my wrist, but I submitted (a male cousin's) sample to FamilyTreeDNA. It's a US company and probably the biggest there is. I received three close matches with distant family members and assured myself of my family's place within a larger clan. The process was very simple, communication good and cost very reasonable. Being the biggest DNA company means that tens if thousands of people are 'on their books' such that you have a good chance of making connections. Also one receives a HUGE amount of very in depth information about the probable origins of one's lineage. You can test paternal (y)DNA, maternal (mt)DNA or probably autosomal samples. Google them and see for yourself. In a nutshell, this was a worthy investment for me. Good luck! Regards, Karen Sent from my iPhone On 9 Oct 2012, at 11:02, "Amanda Kerby" <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi List > > We have a Family History Expo on here in Christchurch this weekend and a > special speaker on DNA studies whom I’m looking forward to hearing. > Has anyone out there had any good experiences with DNA testing for family > history research? > I’m going to begin looking into who is currently offering testing and at > what cost, for what sort of results, before deciding where to spend my > money! > it would be great to hear from anyone who has tried it and whether the > results justify the cost? > > I remember reading in a magazine that Oxford University offer a test. I > know Ancestry do and there seem to be wide variation in pricing for the > service. > Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. > > Cheers > Amanda > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message