When you get your DNA test results, there's a good chance your DNA matches aren't as straight-forward as you had hoped, and there's a lot of room for misinterpretation. Here's some helpful things to consider as you begin your journey into the world of genetic genealogy! If you’ve gotten involved in genetic genealogy at all in the last few years, you have probably heard the phrase “DNA doesn’t lie.” This is meant to imply that, while records left behind by our ancestors can sometimes be … [Read more...]
Foundations for Genetic Genealogy Success: Profiles and Family Trees
Our own Paul Woodbury follows up on his article about the journey of a DNA sample with a discussion of how profiles and family trees are the foundations for genetic genealogy success. This article is a reprint from a recent issue of the National Genealogical Society Magazine and is published here with permission. In my previous article, "From Spit to Screen: The Journey of a DNA Sample" I described the journey of a DNA sample from the moment a sample is taken to the moment a test taker … [Read more...]
Shocking Ethnicity Estimate Leads to Life-Altering Discovery
A surprising ethnicity estimate leads Tom to explore the possibility that the father who raised him was not his biological father. Sometimes, genetic genealogy test results don’t fit with what you might expect given what you know (or think you know) about your family tree. These anomalies can sometimes be explained by the way in which estimates are generated. Other times, surprising ethnicity results are instead due to cases of recent misattributed parentage. Such was the case with Tom. We … [Read more...]