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Geneanet, based in Europe, was also very helpful for me. I found a fairly close cousin in France who was glad to find out what happened to those who came to the US. He had a very detailed genealogy put up with photos and all. I also met someone who might have been a cousin but probably was very distant and we are still friends, by Email. Geneanet stopped being so useful when they decided to charge for access to much of it. I didn't want a monthly charge in euros on my credit card.
I did it. No surprises here. I am Italian and all dna points to Italy, turkey and Greece. As for family tree, I got nothing. I know everything up to both sets of Grand parents. It all dies there. So, other than confirming I was over 90% Italian, I learned nothing else. I am not interested in 3rd and 4th cousins.
I'm 71, and really want to do a dna test while I still have breath. There were so many secrets in our family that were kept. It was the thing to do back then. But I'm not sure which one I should use. Are there any dna tests that people are very pleased with, and would tell others to use? Thanks in advance.
The big 3 are AncestryDNA, 23&Me, and MyHeritage. MyHeritage has more European-based customers so if you are looking for relative matches in Europe, they would be the best for that. Ancestry has the biggest database and mostly from USA. 23&Me does limited testing for possible health issues. Watch for a sale around any holiday.
Since Judaism is a religion, how could your DNA possibly tell that?
Mostly because of anti-semitism and government limitations about where Jewish people could live in a host country, Jews are endogamous. Most DNA tests can reveal ashkenazi or European Jewish ancestry. MyHeritage is the most accurate for Jewish DNA (no surprise since it's an Israeli company) and breaks it down into sephardic, eastern, and ashkenazi groups.
You're very welcome. I had quoted your reply about your adopted cousin but didn't reply.. They should also upload everywhere. You can link them to my family tree help thread so they can upload to all the databases too; then they should consider doing 23 and me at some point.
My son has a 4th cousin match at Ancestry who's mother May doesn't know her father; her mother is in her 60's. When Mays mother was pregnant, her parents told her to put the baby for adoption or leave. She left. She refused to tell May who her father was. I'm the only match who has answered her. I thought I narrowed it down to one line of my son's family because he's the only one that came from England but I finally got a few hints at My Heritage that tells me I was way off. Your match may luck out too with someone that's a closer match then you. Figuring out a match as far as 8th can take forever but being in all the databases increases the odds of figuring it out because you're "fishing in all the ponds". She should also consider doing her mtDNA at FTDNA. mtDNa is her mothers line. It may tell her what her mothers last name was. Massachusetts allows adoptees to order their original birth certificates. See quote below. Also see Mass.gov Access to adoption records. She should also join the FB group DNA Detectives where helping adoptees is their specialty.
You also should go to DNA painter, see the shared cm tool. Enter the total number of cM for your match, hit enter on your keyboard, it will tell you what type if cousin is possible with that cm. I have a 4th cousin father/ son match at Ancestry, had him upload to all the sites too but it hasn't gotten us closer to knowing where we match. The DNA painter cm tool told me they're a 1/2 cousin which I think will match one line of my mothers. I had my Hungarian cousin take an Ancestry test, it's processing. I'll be shocked if they don't match my cousin because the son gave me about 4 family names, my cousin has FB friends with all of the names. What's weird is they do not match known cousins from both of my mothers parents but they may not be close enough cousins to have that strand of DNA like my cousin should.
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Originally Posted by BOS2IAD
Yes, I took a DNA test, as did my husband.
I discovered a first cousin once removed that I didn't know existed and got in touch with her. She was happy to learn about family history.
Then there is the second cousin that has me thinking there is a skeleton in the closet somewhere. She listed the surnames in her family as I did with mine. None of the names matched up. IOW, we each had a different list!
I heard from a woman who is an 8th cousin. She was adopted and had hoped to find relatives when she took the DNA test. Oddly enough, I was the only one she found. She was looking for info on her bio father. It's a shame that my grandparents, parents, aunt and uncle have all passed. They might have been able to help given what info she gave me. Her father was from Greece and lived in Boston, as did my family. I'm half Albanian and growing up, Albanians and Greeks interacted quite a bit. I explained all of this to her and wished her well in her search.
My husband found a photo of his mother and uncle that was attached to someone else's tree. It turns out the person with the tree is my husband's second cousin twice removed. This cousin is really into genealogy and knew more about my husband's family members than my husband knew!
Massachusetts Senate approved legislation (SB63) on May 1, 2007, allowing adopted people 18 years or older born before July 17, 1974 (when records were sealed) and the adoptive parents of those born after 2007 to obtain their original birth certificates (OBC).
Adoptees born after 2007 may obtain their OBC on and after reaching 18 years of age. Access to those born between July 17, 1974, and January 1, 2008, will be denied unless a probate court finds that the adoption record contains evidence of a birth parent's willingness to provide information about her or his identity to the adoptee.
had a friend who took 23 & me who found out his mother secretly used an anonymous donor sperm back in the early 80s. She and her husband tried for 6 years to get pregnant. She was afraid to tell her husband about the anonymous donor. But what she didn't know is that her husband had a vasectomy before they got married. He knew the boy wasn't his blood son but knew it was important for his wife to have at least 1 child so he just accepted the boy as his and nobody knew any different until the test came back.
My friend immediately thought his mother had an affair but she finally told him and her husband about the anonymous donor, named the clinic and the name of the doctor. Then the husband had to fess up about his vasectomy which caused the wife to go ballistic. They divorced over the deception but their child discovered at least 10 half-siblings all from the donor. Together they worked to find the donor who was in medical school in the same university where all the women were treated for infertility. They decided it was all so clinical with no emotional ties and nobody tried to contact him.
They divorced over the deception but their child discovered at least 10 half-siblings all from the donor. Together they worked to find the donor who was in medical school in the same university where all the women were treated for infertility. They decided it was all so clinical with no emotional ties and nobody tried to contact him.
Sperm donors are fathering maybe dozens of kids anonymously but those kids (if tested) are finding all sorts of DNA cousins beyond the half siblings that they see at the top of their match list. Anyone in your match list could be a donor-based DNA cousin without really knowing it and you might be wracking your brain looking for a common ancestor that falls outside the usual parameters of a family tree.
So, it's not really saying you're Jewish, it's saying you came from an area that was prominently Jewish.
I'm Jewish, because my mother was Jewish. That's how it works in Jewish law. There's no, half Jewish, or quarter Jewish. If your mother's Jewish, then you are.
Of course you're free to convert in, or convert out. But really, if you show up at a synagogue, nobody will quiz you.
So, it's not really saying you're Jewish, it's saying you came from an area that was prominently Jewish.
I'm Jewish, because my mother was Jewish. That's how it works in Jewish law. There's no, half Jewish, or quarter Jewish. If your mother's Jewish, then you are.
Of course you're free to convert in, or convert out. But really, if you show up at a synagogue, nobody will quiz you.
Because the Jews in Europe married only amongst their own for hundreds of years, they developed a unique DNA signature. The DNA tests are picking up this unique DNA signature. There are other similar "founder" groups such as the French Canadians.
Added: they say we are all at least 30th cousins to each other.
There was a bottleneck 400 or 500 years ago in Europe when the Jewish population was estimated to be around 350 people. We all come from them.
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