Latin American ancestry can be challenging to research due to the lack of comprehensive and easily accessible records. Available and surviving records can be challenging to access due to their location or language or because they have not been digitized and made available online. Because of these challenges surrounding the availability of records, many people in Latin America and of Latin American descent turn to genetic genealogy and DNA testing to learn more about their ancestry and … [Read more...]
Autosomal DNA Test Results: Using Ethnicity Estimates to Generate Genealogical Hypotheses
The material in this autosomal DNA blog article was originally published in the October-December 2021 issue of NGS Magazine. It is updated and republished here with permission. Autosomal DNA test results at the major genetic genealogy testing companies (23andMe, Ancestry, Family Tree DNA, LivingDNA, MyHeritage) include two main elements: ethnicity admixture estimates and genetic cousin match lists. While genetic cousin match lists are the most helpful resource for solving genealogical … [Read more...]
How to Understand Your Closest Autosomal DNA Test Matches
This article is based on a similar article from the January - March 2022 issue of NGS Magazine and is reprinted here with permission. We hope it helps you know how to better understand your autosomal DNA Test matches and what it means for you. Autosomal DNA test results at the major genetic genealogy testing companies (23andMe, Ancestry, Family Tree DNA, LivingDNA, MyHeritage) include two main elements: ethnicity admixture estimates and genetic cousin match lists. Ethnicity estimates are a … [Read more...]
6 Signs of Misattributed Parentage in Your Genetic Family Tree
While DNA testing and genetic evidence are certainly useful for breaking down challenging historic brick walls, the implications of DNA testing can also hit closer to home in the modern era when it comes to research on misattributed parentage. In cases of adoption, unknown parentage or misattributed parentage, genetic genealogy methodologies enable identification of close biological ancestors whose identities might otherwise remain unknown, and which represent immediate brick walls for any … [Read more...]
Top 5 DNA and Genetic Genealogy Blog Posts in 2022
The use of DNA and genetic genealogy have become widely used strategies for solving challenging genealogy research projects since DNA testing became available to the public in the early 2000s. With our team of expert genetic genealogists at Legacy Tree, we can break through brick walls, discover unknown parentage, and make family tree connections that were impossible just a few short decades ago. In case you missed them, below are the top five DNA and genetic genealogy blog posts of 2022 … [Read more...]
How Genealogy Research Provides Comfort After a DNA Surprise
A DNA Surprise is an event in a person's life where they find out their parentage is not what they had always believed. In this article we talk with Right to Know founder Kara Rubinstein Deyerin about her own DNA Surprise and how genealogy research and other tools can provide comfort during this challenging experience. Tell us how you felt when you had a DNA surprise. I felt like a unicorn. Who grows up thinking they are half Black and learns they're not? I felt very much alone when I … [Read more...]
Five Ways to Use the New DNA Coverage Estimator Tool at DNA Painter
The DNA Coverage Estimator is now available and makes the process of identifying matching ancestors through DNA much simpler than ever before. In April 2018, Legacy Tree Genealogists published an article by Paul Woodbury introducing the concept of DNA coverage – the amount of an ancestor’s DNA represented in a DNA database through the test results of their tested descendants. Different descendants of an ancestor inherit different portions of that individual’s DNA. Therefore, they have … [Read more...]
Eight Steps to Pursue with New Autosomal DNA Test Results
Paul Woodbury is a DNA team lead and professional researcher at Legacy Tree Genealogists where he has helped to solve hundreds of genetic genealogy cases. In this article, a reprint from an issue of NGS Magazine, Paul discusses steps a researcher could take to begin using DNA test results. This article is published with permission. Several weeks after the submission of a DNA sample, the results finally arrive! An email appears announcing that the test has completed processing. It includes a … [Read more...]