Adoption DNA searches
DNA is the easiest way to find out your family history. This is how it works. The more sites you test at, the better chance you'll have to find your family. Also see my blog post Family tree and DNA general instructions I explain how to upload your raw data from Ancestry, 23 and me or Family Tree DNA to other sites free.
Best advice I can give you is to consider doing your DNA at the 3 main sites. Many birth parents and adoptees have done DNA to search for their family, especially after the new show on TLC Long Lost Family.
A few years ago 23 and me was doing a package with a sale price that was family finder with DNA, many people took advantage of it, buying multiple tests, so their database got built up. They stopped selling the health test for a while, recently started selling it again ($200 for family finder with health), a lot of people test just for health reasons alone. You can read about how adoptees are finding their birth parents on both Ancestry and 23 and me.
A lot of people have also taken an interest in doing their family tree on sites like Ancestry. I've also done the same after seeing the TV show Who Do You Think You Are. My hub, kids and myself have done our DNA, mainly after watching the 2 shows and seeing the Ancestry DNA commercials. I got curious to see what ours would show.
Here are the link to the main DNA sites
Ancestry 3+ million people in their database $89 with coupon in the thread linked below
23 and me $99 Ancestry or $199 Health/Ancestry DNA tests *Note doing health later will be $125
Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) $79. Transfer your autosomal DNA free - from other databases and discover new matches. You can also upload your family tree GEDcom file to see common names of matches. Note that you don't get an ethnicity report. You have to pay $19 to gain full access to all of Family Finder's interactive tools and features
including myOrigins, ancientOrigins, and Chromosome Browser. MyOrigins - A unique visual mapping tool that provides a highly detailed ethnic and geographic breakdown of where your ancestors came from. AncientOrigins - Unlock your deepest origins going back to ancient times by comparing your DNA to DNA from archeological dig sites throughout the European continent - Chromosome Browser - Chromosome Browser page allows you to compare your matching DNA segments (blocks) with your genetic matches.
transfer now FTDNA is the only company to have a male specific test if you are male. See this post if you are uploading multiple samples
Once you test with one of them, I used ancestry 1st, go to My Heritage to start a quick family tree with your bio family, then upload your raw data for free to get matches. They will eventually be charging to upload raw data. They're also going to add a surname feature where they will give surnames. Upload the raw results at FTDNA free too. I had a lot of close matches at FTDNA.
Be sure to see the Geneology & DNA Sites - Free Dates & Specials Thread
Blogs
AncestryDNA for Adoptees: Search Strategies
Ancestry - Can DNA Help You Find Your Birth Parents? – Part I
Can DNA Help You Find Your Birth Parents? – Part II
23 and me stories
DNA Searches - There are groups of DNA search angels who will help you and educate you on how this works so you can then help others. Once you've used Ancestry, 23 and me or FTDNA and have your results, save the raw file to upload to FTDNA.com for about $99 and to GEDmatch - gedmatch.com and DNA Tools - dnagedcom.com both free. See the DNA adoption Yahoo Groups below where the DNA search angels will give you help.
GED Match- FREE Tools for DNA and Genealogy Research *Note; some of site down
DNA Tools FREE - has all of the links you'll need
___ Facebook Pages and Groups ___
DNA Detectives group
DNAAdoption Community page
___ Yahoo DNA Groups ___
DNA adoption Yahoo Groups
adoption DNA Yahoo Groups
Groups on Facebook
DNA Detectives website
DNA Detectives FB group they help you figure out matches once you do DNA.
___ How I Started My Family Tree ___
I had posted in a thread here on how I started doing my family tree. I'm going to post it here in case someone that's new to doing family trees needs help on how to get started.
I started my family tree on My Heritage a year ago, it gave me matches and some times smart matches where I looked at the match, was able to take what I needed to add to my own tree. At one point someone copied my kids relatives; so I ended up going to Ancestry to work in private; so far it's been great. I keep my main tree there. I've gotten pretty far because Ancestry gives you hints too. With the free account you can't save the hints, you have to type the info out yourself which is no big deal. I really do not do much with the tree at my heritage any more but that may change after I do my DNA there or if I run into a relative road block. I'll enter them to see if I get a match on someone elses tree.
I've used Family Search for records in the past. At some point I realized they gave free family trees too, so I started a basic one there. The tree view itself takes some getting used to but the person profiles are what I mainly use it for; I then go to their records search page to get info on a relative I'm working on when I get stuck at ancestry. The only time I add more relatives to my family search tree is when I run into a dead end so to speak. What's nice is they let you attach those records to the person profile in the tree. I have found more records at family search for some relatives then I have at ancestry. What I like about family search is that when you're entering say parents for your mother, it will do a search to see if she's already listed there; you may get lucky with a full tree branch as a result; which you then attach there, and when you have time, enter it into your tree at ancestry. It's not going to be a quick process; but you'll get rewarded with knowing more about your family and who you're working on.
When you do your tree, make sure you pay attention to privacy settings. Some people make their trees public but mine is private because I have relatives that are private people, they do not want their info to be public. I personally do not want my info public either. As a matter of fact, check out the thread 'Creepy' genealogy site knows a lot about you, it's about the site Familytreenow.com. In the search, enter your name; parents, grand parents, see what you come up with. That will give you an idea of what a public tree is like; info at anyone's finger tips. If you keep your tree private at ancestry or my heritage, people have to ask for an invite to view your tree. I didn't know about security when I started. By the way, I have not paid any site and have not used my free trial at ancestry yet. I'm doing everything as a free account
Now to the DNA. I have my tree started, I keep seeing the ancestry commercials, they seem to be taunting me to do my DNA because I'm told I'm Hungarian with various mixes; where else am I going to get some idea of what is actually in me? I have asked the people I can, it got me no closer. Ancestry had a $79 sale for mothers and fathers day so I jumped in with buying 4 tests (kids, hub and myself); it has given me answers. Are they accurate? I'm not sure and am going to do 23 and me when I have $200, I have a kit from My Heritage that I won for participating in a founders project. I'll probably also get Family Tree DNA at some point because it's fairly cheap at $79. Since writing this they started offering free uploads with $19 to unlock various features.
Once you test with one of them, go to your My Heritage profile to upload your raw data for free for matches. Their database appears to be small right now as they're new at DNA. They will eventually be charging to upload raw data. They're also going to add a surname feature where they will give surnames at some point.
FTDNA (Family Tree DNA) is the only company to offer various other testing such as male only Father's Line testing that you may want to take advantage of if you're a male as well as full mtDNA (mothers line) See here for their tests
Next, see my blog post Family tree and DNA general instructions
Best advice I can give you is to consider doing your DNA at the 3 main sites. Many birth parents and adoptees have done DNA to search for their family, especially after the new show on TLC Long Lost Family.
A few years ago 23 and me was doing a package with a sale price that was family finder with DNA, many people took advantage of it, buying multiple tests, so their database got built up. They stopped selling the health test for a while, recently started selling it again ($200 for family finder with health), a lot of people test just for health reasons alone. You can read about how adoptees are finding their birth parents on both Ancestry and 23 and me.
A lot of people have also taken an interest in doing their family tree on sites like Ancestry. I've also done the same after seeing the TV show Who Do You Think You Are. My hub, kids and myself have done our DNA, mainly after watching the 2 shows and seeing the Ancestry DNA commercials. I got curious to see what ours would show.
Here are the link to the main DNA sites
Ancestry 3+ million people in their database $89 with coupon in the thread linked below
23 and me $99 Ancestry or $199 Health/Ancestry DNA tests *Note doing health later will be $125
Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) $79. Transfer your autosomal DNA free - from other databases and discover new matches. You can also upload your family tree GEDcom file to see common names of matches. Note that you don't get an ethnicity report. You have to pay $19 to gain full access to all of Family Finder's interactive tools and features
including myOrigins, ancientOrigins, and Chromosome Browser. MyOrigins - A unique visual mapping tool that provides a highly detailed ethnic and geographic breakdown of where your ancestors came from. AncientOrigins - Unlock your deepest origins going back to ancient times by comparing your DNA to DNA from archeological dig sites throughout the European continent - Chromosome Browser - Chromosome Browser page allows you to compare your matching DNA segments (blocks) with your genetic matches.
transfer now FTDNA is the only company to have a male specific test if you are male. See this post if you are uploading multiple samples
Once you test with one of them, I used ancestry 1st, go to My Heritage to start a quick family tree with your bio family, then upload your raw data for free to get matches. They will eventually be charging to upload raw data. They're also going to add a surname feature where they will give surnames. Upload the raw results at FTDNA free too. I had a lot of close matches at FTDNA.
Be sure to see the Geneology & DNA Sites - Free Dates & Specials Thread
Blogs
AncestryDNA for Adoptees: Search Strategies
Ancestry - Can DNA Help You Find Your Birth Parents? – Part I
Can DNA Help You Find Your Birth Parents? – Part II
23 and me stories
DNA Searches - There are groups of DNA search angels who will help you and educate you on how this works so you can then help others. Once you've used Ancestry, 23 and me or FTDNA and have your results, save the raw file to upload to FTDNA.com for about $99 and to GEDmatch - gedmatch.com and DNA Tools - dnagedcom.com both free. See the DNA adoption Yahoo Groups below where the DNA search angels will give you help.
GED Match- FREE Tools for DNA and Genealogy Research *Note; some of site down
DNA Tools FREE - has all of the links you'll need
___ Facebook Pages and Groups ___
DNA Detectives group
DNAAdoption Community page
___ Yahoo DNA Groups ___
DNA adoption Yahoo Groups
adoption DNA Yahoo Groups
Groups on Facebook
DNA Detectives website
DNA Detectives FB group they help you figure out matches once you do DNA.
___ How I Started My Family Tree ___
I had posted in a thread here on how I started doing my family tree. I'm going to post it here in case someone that's new to doing family trees needs help on how to get started.
I started my family tree on My Heritage a year ago, it gave me matches and some times smart matches where I looked at the match, was able to take what I needed to add to my own tree. At one point someone copied my kids relatives; so I ended up going to Ancestry to work in private; so far it's been great. I keep my main tree there. I've gotten pretty far because Ancestry gives you hints too. With the free account you can't save the hints, you have to type the info out yourself which is no big deal. I really do not do much with the tree at my heritage any more but that may change after I do my DNA there or if I run into a relative road block. I'll enter them to see if I get a match on someone elses tree.
I've used Family Search for records in the past. At some point I realized they gave free family trees too, so I started a basic one there. The tree view itself takes some getting used to but the person profiles are what I mainly use it for; I then go to their records search page to get info on a relative I'm working on when I get stuck at ancestry. The only time I add more relatives to my family search tree is when I run into a dead end so to speak. What's nice is they let you attach those records to the person profile in the tree. I have found more records at family search for some relatives then I have at ancestry. What I like about family search is that when you're entering say parents for your mother, it will do a search to see if she's already listed there; you may get lucky with a full tree branch as a result; which you then attach there, and when you have time, enter it into your tree at ancestry. It's not going to be a quick process; but you'll get rewarded with knowing more about your family and who you're working on.
When you do your tree, make sure you pay attention to privacy settings. Some people make their trees public but mine is private because I have relatives that are private people, they do not want their info to be public. I personally do not want my info public either. As a matter of fact, check out the thread 'Creepy' genealogy site knows a lot about you, it's about the site Familytreenow.com. In the search, enter your name; parents, grand parents, see what you come up with. That will give you an idea of what a public tree is like; info at anyone's finger tips. If you keep your tree private at ancestry or my heritage, people have to ask for an invite to view your tree. I didn't know about security when I started. By the way, I have not paid any site and have not used my free trial at ancestry yet. I'm doing everything as a free account
Now to the DNA. I have my tree started, I keep seeing the ancestry commercials, they seem to be taunting me to do my DNA because I'm told I'm Hungarian with various mixes; where else am I going to get some idea of what is actually in me? I have asked the people I can, it got me no closer. Ancestry had a $79 sale for mothers and fathers day so I jumped in with buying 4 tests (kids, hub and myself); it has given me answers. Are they accurate? I'm not sure and am going to do 23 and me when I have $200, I have a kit from My Heritage that I won for participating in a founders project. I'll probably also get Family Tree DNA at some point because it's fairly cheap at $79. Since writing this they started offering free uploads with $19 to unlock various features.
Once you test with one of them, go to your My Heritage profile to upload your raw data for free for matches. Their database appears to be small right now as they're new at DNA. They will eventually be charging to upload raw data. They're also going to add a surname feature where they will give surnames at some point.
FTDNA (Family Tree DNA) is the only company to offer various other testing such as male only Father's Line testing that you may want to take advantage of if you're a male as well as full mtDNA (mothers line) See here for their tests
Next, see my blog post Family tree and DNA general instructions
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