I'm a Genetic Genealogist

[SnackBitch2020]

I've been a genealogist for 15 years, and branched into genetic genealogy a few years ago. Now it's my main area of research.

For want of a less "cringe" expression genealogy is my side hustle, but with COVID I'm thinking of taking the plunge into doing it professionally.

I've worked on many people's family histories as well as my own, and solved some dna mysteries.

@chuffedasbuttons

Have you any opinion on all ports kidney disease?

Mother and Father clear. Query over mother having an affair. Not discussed. !!!

Daughter 2 carries. Her son suffers and will experience shortened life expectancy and probable sever disability in teens.

Daughter 1 clear. Not a carrier.

Hi @chuffedasbuttons, thanks for your question.

No I'm afraid not, I only work with DNA in a family history context. I'm very sorry to hear about daughter 2 and her son.

@MushMonster

How many variants for the gene or genes that encode the receptor ACE 2 are known?

Hi @MushMonster, thanks for your question.

I'm afraid I don't know, sorry. I only work with DNA in a family history context :)

I have to yet again do more boring non DNA related stuff! I will come back and answer your remaining questions as soon as I have a chance. Have a great day!

Thanks for replying 😊 It’s between 30 and 36% across the main sites (with around ten other regions) which is such a huge chunk but my paternal line was predominantly Scots-Irish early settlers which might account for some of it.

There are quite a few people on ancestry.com who also descend from the same ancestors on the same paper trail I have for my British (maternal) grandma but we don’t match. I suppose I’m just stuck unless or until new matches pop up?

I tried the traditional approach to find by birth family - I’m adopted - but without success. In the end I took an AncestryDNA test and was amazed to find 170 4th cousins or closer! The closest was in the range of a second cousin and she had a small tree. Her mother’s maiden name was the same as my birth mother’s! To cut a very long story short I am now in touch with both of my biological parents’ (I also found my birth father through a third cousin match) and it’s been amazing. I had some help from a genetic genealogist to start with, and have found many more relatives myself. I used an experienced intermediary to make the initial contact with my birth parents, but we are now in regular touch and I’ve met them both. Tomorrow I’m speaking via zoom to two fifth cousins - we think we’ve worked out how we are related and it’s very exciting. Even distant matches can help solve brick walls. I’d love to do this as a “side hustle” myself if I ever get to retire!

How accurate would a dna test be if you don't know much about your background at all but aren't white?

My mother is from Caribbean but of Indian decent and my father is white British.
I don't know anything about any of their family as they don't speak about them and all of my grandparents died before I was born. I'd love to find out more about my anecestry as I actually turned out looking nothing like either of my parents and be interesting to see if there's a background as to why.
Thanks

Do you think someone can feel an affinity to a particular culture if they have a small ammount of it in their DNA?

I am often asked if I'm Jewish. Apparently it's not just my looks but my attitude and my general demeanour. I have felt an affinity to Jewish culture for as long as I can remember. I have never lived anywhere near a Jewish community.

I have traced my ancestry back through my maternal and paternal grandmother's but not grandfathers. I know they were both born in South London. My paternal grandfather had a very common English surname but my maternal grandfather used surnames that were more common in France and Spain. He is apparently where I get my features from but all of his relatives deny a Jewish connection but say there is definitely European heritage and I'd like to know where.

So my question is, if I had a DNA test what information would I get? Would it say just continental Europe, or pinpoint the exact country or culture?

@mrsnec

Do you think someone can feel an affinity to a particular culture if they have a small ammount of it in their DNA?

I am often asked if I'm Jewish. Apparently it's not just my looks but my attitude and my general demeanour. I have felt an affinity to Jewish culture for as long as I can remember. I have never lived anywhere near a Jewish community.

I have traced my ancestry back through my maternal and paternal grandmother's but not grandfathers. I know they were both born in South London. My paternal grandfather had a very common English surname but my maternal grandfather used surnames that were more common in France and Spain. He is apparently where I get my features from but all of his relatives deny a Jewish connection but say there is definitely European heritage and I'd like to know where.

So my question is, if I had a DNA test what information would I get? Would it say just continental Europe, or pinpoint the exact country or culture?

I don’t know about an affinity but often used to think I was an accidental dietary Jew (shellfish pork yikes 😷) turns out many of my Spanish/Portuguese ancestors who first colonised the americas were Sephardi. It shows up as a tiny slice on most of the testing sites with additional geographic markers like Iberia/North Africa while my mother’s European results are largely either European Jewish or Ashkenazy with lots of Greece, Balkans, North Italy, Russia etc - the inescapable part is that I’ve inherited multiple mutations of Familial Mediterranean Fever from both sides, and at least one of my three children are carriers, while my maternal haplogroup is uncommon and Jewish. So there may be other clues if you test. It’s difficult to trace ancestors but there are organisations who can help.

Obviously it’s not a palatable idea - determining degrees of ethnic Jewishness by genetic testing. I was raised Catholic and discovering that my ancestors were forced to convert and be expelled to the New World or burned to death gives me lots to think about. It’s weird how personal it can feel.

I forgot - living DNA matches are also good clues, mine are mostly crypto-Jews eg Chueta/Xueta and still in the Balearics but quite distant matches.

Very interesting! I have the Ashekazy looks. A touch of the Striesands shall we say but I don't feel a connection at all to Eastern Europe.

We did trace the French and Spanish surname origin and both are very traditional French names that come from Normandy although there are quite a few of one of the names in Spain.

So it could be the Norman genes that are prominent or there's a possibility there's some Jewish-ness there. The response was helpful though. I guess I'd get the information I'm after from doing a test.

I remember at school really wanting to know more and being gutted they just seemed to glaze over Judaism.

I agree that the yearning to know one's heritage is deeply personal though. I have always felt that part of my heritage is a mystery. My DM knows very little of her father's heritage and has always just accepted it.

I meant to add good luck to the OP for their new career opportunity.

@SnackBitch2020

I'm fascinated with genealogy. I've done my family tree back to great great grandparents and found out some fascinating things.

I've two questions if it's ok.

I've hit a wall at my great great grandmother. She wasn't married and had a common name for the country she lived in. I have the certs for her children's births and the death cert of their father. The children were taken to an orphanage whilst she was still alive. My granny tells me she went to North Wales which is where she died. Her youngest child (my great grandmother) marriage cert states her mother is deceased. So I know a name, an approx location, and that she was deceased by 1909, and can't have been that old when she died given her child was born in 1889. Can't find anyone in Wales registers but maybe I'm not looking at the right ones. Is there any way that DNA testing could help here?

My second question (sorry for length!). How much roughly do people spend on this as a hobby? I don't earn much and money is very tight. I've spent about £60 this year. If it's expensive I don't think it's viable as a hobby for me.

Thanks for interesting thread!

Hi everyone, thanks so much for questions and well wishes. I've got my genealogist hat on again so will start answering your questions! If I miss you out, please accept my apologies and tag me!

@HorseDentist

How Interesting *@SnackBitch2020*. I have a question. Is there anything that can determine if a genetic match comes from a Maternal or Paternal side? My father was adopted and through ancestry DNA I have narrowed down his parent to being one of three possible people. Two female. One male.

Hi @HorseDentist, thanks for your question.

How exciting, you are very close! Good luck with your research.

Yes, as Ylfa says there is a phasing function on Gedmatch that will help you with this. HOWEVER, this only works if at least one parent has DNA tested, which I'm going to assume isn't the case here.

What you can do is use a logical approach when sorting your matches on Ancestry. As you have identified two female and one male candidates, it sounds like you've established the maternal and paternal sides already. I would recommend looking at shared matches of these people and categorising them (using the categories function) as maternal or paternal, or unknown. I also recommend building up your tree as much as possible - not just limited to direct line ancestors - to enable Ancestry to identify "common ancestors" - making finding connections much easier.

Good luck!

@fallfallfall

both my dh my family settled in the same area of quebec. and based on ancestry.com i see the same names on both his family tree and mine. distant cousins marrying into each others family 2-3 times over 2-300 years. my question is this. if i sent in dna samples for both of us would it show we are related?

Hi @fallfallfall, thanks for your question.

Yes, this is absolutely possible and very common when ancestors on both sides of the family come from the same area going back many centuries.

You and your husband will show up as DNA matches if you share DNA. It is also possible that you and your husband could be distantly related and don't share DNA - after 4th cousin level you don't always share DNA with your ancestors.

There is a tool on Gedmatch called "Are my parents related?" which you can run on each of your DNA samples to determine this as well (if you upload your raw DNA data to Gedmatch).

Good luck with your research!

@ClaireP20

Apologies if this isn't your area, feel free to ignore! X Is there any possible way that my beautiful baby (donor egg) could have inherited any of my genes? Is there any kind of cross over while I was growing him? Xx

Hi @ClaireP20, thanks for your question.

I'm afraid this question is outside the area of my knowledge, which is how DNA testing relates to family history. Congratulations on your baby!

@Ylfa

Thanks for replying 😊 It’s between 30 and 36% across the main sites (with around ten other regions) which is such a huge chunk but my paternal line was predominantly Scots-Irish early settlers which might account for some of it.

There are quite a few people on ancestry.com who also descend from the same ancestors on the same paper trail I have for my British (maternal) grandma but we don’t match. I suppose I’m just stuck unless or until new matches pop up?

Hi @Ylfa, hmm, this is a bit unusual. When you say people who descend from the same line and don't match your DNA, how far back are you talking?

@MarmiteCrumpet25

I tried the traditional approach to find by birth family - I’m adopted - but without success. In the end I took an AncestryDNA test and was amazed to find 170 4th cousins or closer! The closest was in the range of a second cousin and she had a small tree. Her mother’s maiden name was the same as my birth mother’s! To cut a very long story short I am now in touch with both of my biological parents’ (I also found my birth father through a third cousin match) and it’s been amazing. I had some help from a genetic genealogist to start with, and have found many more relatives myself. I used an experienced intermediary to make the initial contact with my birth parents, but we are now in regular touch and I’ve met them both. Tomorrow I’m speaking via zoom to two fifth cousins - we think we’ve worked out how we are related and it’s very exciting. Even distant matches can help solve brick walls. I’d love to do this as a “side hustle” myself if I ever get to retire!

Hi @MarmiteCrumpet25, thanks for your reply. I am so pleased for you! That's an amazing story and what we all hope for in these cases! I'm so pleased it all worked out for you!

@redham

How accurate would a dna test be if you don't know much about your background at all but aren't white?

My mother is from Caribbean but of Indian decent and my father is white British.
I don't know anything about any of their family as they don't speak about them and all of my grandparents died before I was born. I'd love to find out more about my anecestry as I actually turned out looking nothing like either of my parents and be interesting to see if there's a background as to why.
Thanks

Hi @redham, thanks for your question.

DNA tests are completely accurate in terms of how you are related to other people, but are less accurate for ethnicity estimates. So regardless of what you know, if you take a test you will see a list of people you share DNA with and an estimate of your ethnicity.

What you need to bear in mind and what may affect the closeness of your DNA matches, is that DNA testing for genealogy is popular in some countries and not so much in others, and even banned in some, France for instance. It's very much a UK/USA/Western dominated thing and that is reflected in the people who actually take tests.

You may find that you have a lot of DNA matches on your father's side because DNA testing is popular in the UK, but less so on your mother's side, as genetic genealogy isn't as popular in the Caribbean or India. This is a broad assumption on my part and may not be the case at all, especially if a lot of your Caribbean/Indian relatives have moved to the UK or USA for instance.

The only way to know would be to take a test. However if you have any doubts about your parentage, you will need to be make sure you are emotionally for unexpected results.

Good luck with your research!

@mrsnec

Do you think someone can feel an affinity to a particular culture if they have a small ammount of it in their DNA?

I am often asked if I'm Jewish. Apparently it's not just my looks but my attitude and my general demeanour. I have felt an affinity to Jewish culture for as long as I can remember. I have never lived anywhere near a Jewish community.

I have traced my ancestry back through my maternal and paternal grandmother's but not grandfathers. I know they were both born in South London. My paternal grandfather had a very common English surname but my maternal grandfather used surnames that were more common in France and Spain. He is apparently where I get my features from but all of his relatives deny a Jewish connection but say there is definitely European heritage and I'd like to know where.

So my question is, if I had a DNA test what information would I get? Would it say just continental Europe, or pinpoint the exact country or culture?

Hi @mrsnec, thanks for your question.

Yes I think this is definitely possible. I am part Jewish myself. Bear in mind a lot of Jewish immigrant families changed their names to something British sounding when they arrived in the UK, so I wouldn't rely on surnames alone to establish this.

If you are part Jewish, this will be revealed in a DNA test. I knew I was part Jewish before taking the test, however I thought maybe my ancestry would show as Polish and German. However, Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews are distinct genetic groups, and if you are part Jewish, this is what your results will show.

For example, my ethnicity on Ancestry shows as Ashkenazi Jewish, likely from Poland and Germany, which I know to be correct.

Good luck with your research!

[quote ironage]@SnackBitch2020

I'm fascinated with genealogy. I've done my family tree back to great great grandparents and found out some fascinating things.

I've two questions if it's ok.

I've hit a wall at my great great grandmother. She wasn't married and had a common name for the country she lived in. I have the certs for her children's births and the death cert of their father. The children were taken to an orphanage whilst she was still alive. My granny tells me she went to North Wales which is where she died. Her youngest child (my great grandmother) marriage cert states her mother is deceased. So I know a name, an approx location, and that she was deceased by 1909, and can't have been that old when she died given her child was born in 1889. Can't find anyone in Wales registers but maybe I'm not looking at the right ones. Is there any way that DNA testing could help here?

My second question (sorry for length!). How much roughly do people spend on this as a hobby? I don't earn much and money is very tight. I've spent about £60 this year. If it's expensive I don't think it's viable as a hobby for me.

Thanks for interesting thread![/quote]
Hi @ironage, thanks for your questions.

Yes it is definitely possible that autosomal DNA testing as offered by Ancestry and 23andMe will help identify relatives on this line as it's not too far back in time. It may also be possible to resolve this query through traditional genealogy. If you PM me some details and where you have already looked, I can take a quick look for you if you like.

Genealogy can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. There are some great free resources such as Free BMD, and most of the UK censuses are online now. Local family history societies may also be able to help you.

If you were to choose one site to subscribe to, I would go for Ancestry as it has the widest record set. If you have not subscribed to them previously they do do a free trial which is a worth a go (Remembering to cancel before they charge you of course!). The Ancestry All UK & Ireland sub is £69.99 or you can pay £13.99 a month. I wouldn't bother with the basic one as you probably won't find all the records you need. If you are not predominantly of British and Irish heritage of course this will be of limited help and you may need to look at other options.

Good luck with your research!

Thanks @SnackBitch2020 such a helpful answer I really appreciate you taking the time to write it.

Thank you @SnackBitch2020, if I remember well it’s more than 4 generations. Good to know as I think it’s really cool that our ancestors crossed paths.

@SnackBitch2020 ‘When you say people who descend from the same line and don't match your DNA, how far back are you talking?’

thanks for getting responding again 😊 I can’t remember exactly how I found these nonmatches now (there was something on ancestry to hook you up with others researching the same ancestors?) but we should share 3x great grandparents or (I manage my mother’s dna results directly) or 2x. On her paternal side there are several strong links starting with a match over 200cm. So I think her mother, my grandma, must have been adopted informally or something like that? She was always incredibly secretive about her past and even her fake paper trail was hard to uncover without help. I suppose my question is whether there are any more places I can upload the maternal dna to check for matches or in very general terms what do you do when the science doesn’t support the records?

Great thread @SnackBitch2020. I'm in the process of tracing my family tree, inspired by @Devlesko's thread a few weeks ago about Romany heritage. I had a dead end in my family history that I had a hunch involved a Romany grandparent and it looks like I was right. Interestingly, someone who was helping me has come across some photos of other people with a striking family resemblance, so in the absence of a very good paper trail I'm thinking about doing a DNA test and seeing what shows up.

My question is firstly which company to choose for the best database of likely matches. I would be likely to have UK matches only (plus a subset of Irish relatives) afaik, though it's just possible there may be some Canadian stuff. Do the different companies have a critical mass of samples from one or other country/continent? My DH has distant cousins all over the place - Europe, Canada, South Africa etc - so would he be better off using a different company if he was looking for his own matches?

Secondly, I'm gonna be honest and say I have privacy concerns about handing my DNA over to a commercial company. They all have extensive terms and conditions and I really worry that buried in there somewhere is a clause about the circumstances in which they can share my data. I know in the US there have been some circumstances where data has been shared with law enforcement, for example (not that that specifically is my concern). In this day and age, data is big business. Do you (or anyone on the thread really) have any knowledge about this that I might find reassuring?

Thanks in advance. It's very kind of you to share your expertise freely.