Richard: It certainly is about more than the genes and, I think, that is why we do it. I began about twenty years ago when my father died without telling me much of anything about his origins and, in fact, obfuscating and making up a good deal which I have been trying to unravel. In the process, I have learned a great deal about the geography and history of England, met some wonderful people, some of whom are related and generally enjoyed the process. I have discovered, for instance, with the help of a distant cousin, that my ggg-gf, Edward Layton, produced three litters. His first wife produced four sons before she died, most probably in childbirth. He then took up with his first cousin, Sarah Browne, my ggg-gm. They never married and, hence, their two sons carried their mother's surname, which is why it is mine, also. Without genetic testing, I would never have known for sure that Edward was my ggg-grandfather. Edward subsequently moved on to wife number two and produced two daughters and a son by her. In 1820, Edward was convicted of stealing coal from a wherry transporting it from Gt. Yarmouth up to Norwich (it had put in for the night at his inn on the river Yare). He was subsequently shipped off to OZ for the better part of ten years and returned to Cantley shortly before his death. He lies in the Cantley churchyard between his wife and daughter. My wife and I have made the journey to visit him and other relatives in Halvergate and surrounding area, something which I surely would not have been prompted to do without my genealogical searches. My wife, who is the more accomplished genealogist, has traced her matrilineal line back 17(!) generations when our granddaughters are included, so I have a ways to go to match her. At the same time, my investigations have uncovered some truly heart-breaking situations, so one must be prepared for that as well. Nevertheless, such things are just as important, if not more so, as the genes. Cheers, Tod ================================================================================ I have been at it for nearly a year now, and it was all started when I retired and my wife gave me a genealogy tree maker program with a free (short) subscription to Ancestry. Now, I am not claiming it is 100% good - there are some software "bugs" in it still, and things happen in history it can't sope with. For example, in the past, when a child was unlikely to survive, or who had already died young, it was quite common for the parents to neme a subsequent child with exactly the same name. The tree maker software can link husbands/wives to the dead child, using only the name as reference. The only way round this is to delete the child reconnect the husband or whatever to the adult Then reenter the child info. If using this software my advice (with hindsight!) would be to keep several, smaller trees with different branches kept separate. It is a can of something; not always worms. I have found three first cousins living in the UK that I had no idea about! I also found that my ancestors from Gunton Hall were close to the king of the time and also found little snippits of information about their kindnesses to the poor etc. I think it is about more than DNA. It is certainly teaching me a lot about history that I didn't learn at school. (I was terrible at history partly because it wasn't about real people.) My wife, on the other hand, is, being a writer, setting her family tree down in a series of historical novels, so there is more than one way to "skin a cat" Anyway - good luck with your decision. Richard