Very new to family history and have some questions

[MangoPineapple]

Hi,
I have always found family history very fascinating, but I don't know anything about any of my family members before 1840. I know that I have family/ancestors from Lithuania, Germany, the UK, the US and Canada. I have a few questions, but if you are only able to answer one then that's OK:

1. What is the best service to start doing research? I know that some of them require payment but they're not necessarily very good.
2. Does anyone know how accurate Eastern European birth/death records are, and whether they are or can be translated into English?
3. My DF's biological dad died when he was very young and his stepfather adopted him, so I know almost nothing about this particular branch of the family. I'd like to know a bit more about it just to see where exactly this branch came from, as well as possibly find out what genetic conditions they might have had, for when I have DC. Would I need to involve my DF in any way/get his DNA sample?

Sorry, I'm very very new to this and appreciate that a lot of you have probably been doing research for years. Thanks for any help.

For the UK, Canada and USA I know ancestry is amazing and find my past good, for uk only family search is free as is free bmd, ancestry is the best but it does cost. If you are talking DNA and genetic conditions though no you cannot do this without a persons consent. Your husband himself can do a test which can show his ancestry though again via ancestry, that will only show where his ancestors have originated but may put you in touch with distant relations if they have done a test. Genetic testing is a medical thing not carried out unless there is a concern. There are some “health” dna sites but they mostly base their results on the questionnaire you complete.

Go back to basics, form a simple family tree, question any older surviving members. Then take a free trial subscription to ancestry and search the oldest generations names, look at the marriages and deaths and census info and treat it like a puzzle

Thannks, I'll definitely try the free Ancestry subscription.
I should have also been more clear, I wanted to look at my dad's one branch of the family, not husband's (that's what I meant by DF). This is such a fascinating subject. And it's good to know that it is more difficult to find genetic/health conditions.

Also, I've heard of people being charged on Ancestry even when they choose not to continue with their free trial, is that true?

You can do your own ancestry dna test then, it’s not massively expensive and will link you to others who are distant relatives who have done the same. I would go down the research line first though. If you need any help once you’ve formed a basic tree pm me, I have an ancestry subscription and happy to help if you have issues searching or understanding the records there. Hopefully you’ll find it fun though :)

As long as you cancel the subscription on your account before the trial is over you won’t be charged. If you forget then you will

Thank you so much. That's all very helpful information, and I think I'll start with Ancestry.