Are other surname projects having difficulty in getting significant participation in their names' countries of origin? Have any cracked the nut? I'd be interested in observations & ideas on the subject. In Taylor Family Genes, we have only 5 members from the UK out of 374 total. For a (mostly) British-origin surname, that's embarrassing. We'd like to at least reduce the level of embarrassment. We also have a few in Australia, Canada & New Zealand -- along with a smattering of other countries. I imagine our present members would be thrilled to connect with their British cousins and trace their ancestors to their origins. (But, the feeling may not be reciprocated. See below.) Corresponding with the English representative of FTDNA help lay out some difficulties: 1. English Taylors are less interested in connecting with American cousins than their British ones. Getting British connections would be possible only with greater UK participation -- a "chicken-and-egg" dilemma. 2. They are more suspicious of DNA testing than Americans seemingly are;; it's seen in a negative -- or at best, neutral -- light. Perhaps, "genetic genealogy" doesn't appeal to them as much. 3. DNA testing costs more than other aspects of genealogy and this may be more of an issue in the UK. Subsidizing at least part of the cost was suggested, but our project fund could buy a few tests at most -- as I suspect other projects' funds could. We'd need a fund-raising effort. What wasn't mentioned is that, perhaps, our American attitudes and approaches are ill-suited to the British culture. (I thank him for his politeness.) It was suggested that posting on British genealogy forums could help. Have any tried this? Did it help? Any thoughts? -ralph