Family Finder at FTDna

[webwiz]

Has anyone else tried this service? I came up with one match which indicated that we were probably 2nd to 4th cousins. However we have compared trees and can find no match up to 3g-grandparents, where our trees are fairly complete, nor in older generations where the trees are admittedly only partially complete. I can think of the following possible explanations:
1) Our most recent common ancestor is older, so our relationship is more remote than 4th cousins
2) There has been a non-paternal-event in one of our trees
3) One of our trees is wrong

At the moment it looks as if I have wasted my money, but FTDna will keep checking against new subscribers so I live in hope.

[garstonite]

I had a 67 marker DNA test with Family Tree DNA 6 years ago ......FTDNA have sent me over 1000 "possible matches" ...but I haven`t made any connect to my tree yet - and I honestly don`t expect to ..a waste of money in my eyes ....but I hope you are luckier than me in the future ...
allan

[webwiz]

You had the y-DNA test which will only find matches in your male line, ie only one ancestor in each generation. Frankly it is mainly of use to address specific issues, not to find matches as it will only match one of your 32 3g-grandparents for example (normally the one with your surname). I used it to identify which of two possibles was my gg-grandfather. Family Finder is a recent addition. I had to send a fresh DNA sample. It aims to find all your cousins, so is much better -in theory - for finding matches.

[PhotoFamily]

Yes, I'm using ftDNA family finder, with both my parents' results and my maternal uncle's. Another cousin or two have also tested there. I'd also suggest loading your results into gedmatch.com (free, donation appreciated). Thru results from the three testing companies and gedmatch and the cooperation of several cousins, I've finally been able to cement the paper record from my g'g'grandfather to his parents.

I'd also suggest joining the yahoo group, DNA-NEWBIE. Genetic genealogy is complex, and the group has many helpful hints and suggestions.

And Y testing for both my father and my uncle were very useful

[webwiz]

Is gedmatch.com still up and running? The home page is there but the page to register is not working.

[PhotoFamily]

Gedmatch is entirely a volunteer operation - with occasional hiccups

I just checked - it has its "temporarily down" message on display. The last time it was displayed the site was down several days. Keep checking back.

There's several other sites to check out -
A beginner's guide to genetic genealogy:

https://sites.google.com/site/wheatonsurname/beginners-guide-to-genetic-genealogy

The guide for adoptees, which is useful to non-adoptees, also

http://dnaadoption.com/Methodology.aspx

The yahoo group that I mentioned puts out a weekly "FAQ" list, as well as they have several "gurus" answering questions on the group.

Finally, don't forget to check out projects on familytreedna. Some of them offer free or reduced price testing if you meet certain heritage criteria. For instance, there has been (and I think there still is) an offer to test any surname Brooks with family origins in Devon (male/Y-DNA). And I'd be happy to assist any London Coverly descendant (autosomal/Family Finder/either gender).

[PhotoFamily]

1) Our most recent common ancestor is older, so our relationship is more remote than 4th cousins
2) There has been a non-paternal-event in one of our trees
3) One of our trees is wrong

... FTDna will keep checking against new subscribers so I live in hope.

* yes, quite possible that it's older than estimated - it's just a statistical guessing game. If you came from a line that intermarried a lot, it is especially prone to over estimating.

* my father's genome results (the one with the most questions) had been on 23andme for several months. I would search by surname (members may choose to list surnames or not) and no one would show up. I almost fell off my chair the day the name I was looking for appeared on my search!

* The three databases (Ancestry, 23andme & ftDNA) are reportedly the largest "ponds" to go fishing in, but they are overrepresented with US participants. There are efforts to recruit more UK (and beyond) participants.

* I consulted a genetic genealogist. Happy to give a referral.

[PhotoFamily]

BTW - gedmatch is back up & accepting new genome kits

[PhotoFamily]

And it just started "tokenizing" those kits - you would be able to run one-to-one comparisons if you have another kit #, or wait a few weeks to get a list of matches.

[PhotoFamily]

And - gedmatch.com just started accepting gedcoms again. You don't have to have genome testing to utilize the service. It's free. It runs comparisons between trees and lets you know if there are common people amongst them.

[PhotoFamily]

Info about gedcom comparisons - not just at gedmatch.com, but also wikitrees - and additional info:

http://blog.kittycooper.com/2013/12/finding-common-ancestors-with-automation-compare-gedcoms-or-use-a-one-world-tree/