Birth Family Search

[GuruK]

I am currently helping my mum research her birth family. We are getting guidance from PAC-UK and I'm following the steps they recommend. However, now that we have these DNA testing sites I'm inclined to give them a go on the off chance that it could make our search a lot quicker. I am a little skeptical though, are they any good at finding family members and if anyone has had a positive experience, what site/company would you recommend?

Thank you

[Ikeatears]

Yes. I figured out who my biological father was via commercial DNA testing and have helped quite a few people with DNA searches.
Ancestry is the best to test on. It has the biggest database. You can also then upload for free to MyHeritage and a couple of others.

[Ikeatears]

If you'd like some help, feel free to pm me 🙂

[GuruK]

@Ikeatears Thank you so much for your response, that's positive news. I'll look into Ancestry thank you and with pm you. Thanks!

[TrulyFubar]

DNA is a game changer. I discovered my paternal grandfather's identity despite having no other paperwork than a 'father unnamed' birth certificate and only getting low matches for quite a while. It only takes one closer match to really break things open. People lie, people forget but DNA does neither. Go for it!

[GuruK]

@TrulyFubar

DNA is a game changer. I discovered my paternal grandfather's identity despite having no other paperwork than a 'father unnamed' birth certificate and only getting low matches for quite a while. It only takes one closer match to really break things open. People lie, people forget but DNA does neither. Go for it!

That's really great! Getting quite excited about who we might discover now! I've ordered the test, fingers crossed!
Thank you

[Stroopwaffels]

It can help, but it might not help.

It all hinges on who else in your extended family has tested. Ancestry is the best for UK testers as it has the largest British database - sites like My Heritage who also offer DNA testing have a primarily North American database.

Some families just don't test their DNA. I know through traditional genealogy that I have a huge family network on the paternal side - grandad was one of 11, his father was one of 13 and so on. Loads and loads of second and third cousins. Yet I have hardly any strong matches because none of them have tested. DH on the other hand has Irish ancestry and has many more matches.

When you get your matches you have to understand what the numbers mean. Ancestry or any other site cannot tell you "this is your cousin" all they can say is that you share a certain percentage of DNA with this other person, and that percentage means they could be a hlaf sibling or a cousin, or an aunt/uncle. You still need to go through the whole process of building trees and working out where you fit in.

Especially with an unknown birth family this is tricky. If it's an unknown father you can usually weed out the matches which belong to your mother - so anything else has to be from the father's side. When both parents are unknown, as with an adoption or abandoned baby scenario, this is an awful lot more tricky and you will really need help. (Unless you strike very lucky and come up with a whole sibling match).

Proceed with caution. Keep speaking to the counsellors and prepare yourself anf your mum for all scenarios. Sometimes these stories have a very happy ending. Other times the birth family doesn't want to know, or people have died, or it turns out the pregnancy was as a result of rape or something. Your mum has to work through all these "what ifs" first before rushing out and doing a DNA test.

[Volterra]

I’m part of a small group working an adoption case. Person concerned is very unlucky as the country he was born in isn’t much into DNA and his matches are very low but we are gradually very slowly getting an idea of what are his maternal and paternal lines and I’m confident we’ll work out his father eventually.

DNA definitely a game changer. Good luck .

[Volterra]

I do agree with all of the advice in Stroopwaffels post, especially that your Mum does need to prepare herself for any scenario.

My Heritage has been very helpful for the UK side of my family to my surprise and a lot of Europeans use it too. If you do Ancestry then you can download the DNA from there and upload to My Heritage . There is a one off fee to access some of the things on My Heritage but it has been very useful to do.

There's a Facebook group called DNA Detectives who are very helpful with this and learning how to make sense of the results. Heavily American based but there is a UK one which is a bit quieter.

[Stroopwaffels]

Yes if you test with Ancestry you can extract the raw data and then upload into My Heritage, Gedmatch, Familytree DNA.

Ancestry does not accept uploads from other sites though.

[butterflymum]

In preparation for the results coming back, it might be worthwhile familiarising yourself with the capabilities of/how to use them in conjunction with:

DNA Painter in particular, their 'What are the odds?' tool

and

Leeds Method - Colour Clustering

[2catsandacomputer]

As well as Ancestry, I would also add 23andme to the list of sites to do a DNA test.

I found a number of second cousins through 23andme that had not done a test on Ancestry. However, it was only through having the family tree part of Ancestry that we could work out how we were related (23andme doesn't really do family trees, it's more set up for health conditions etc)

[GuruK]

Hello everyone, thank you all for your advice I really appreciate it! We have received the DNA results back and got a few possible 2nd cousins on Ancestry, one of whom has responded to our message and is trying to help us figure out how we’re related. I’ve also uploaded the results to MyHeritage and got a match with a possible great aunt! I have messaged her today so fingers crossed she replies. I paid for a premium membership so I could view the trees of the dna matches and I thought it would give me access to historical records too but I feel like I’ve been conned a little as the family trees had very little info with most entries listed as “private” and I need to pay an additional £79 to view historical records!

If anyone has used both sites am I likely to find any additional info in the records section than I’ve already had access to on Ancestry?

[GuruK]

Thank you I will try 23andme too, fingers crossed!

[GuruK]

@2catsandacomputer

As well as Ancestry, I would also add 23andme to the list of sites to do a DNA test.

I found a number of second cousins through 23andme that had not done a test on Ancestry. However, it was only through having the family tree part of Ancestry that we could work out how we were related (23andme doesn't really do family trees, it's more set up for health conditions etc)

Thank you I will try 23andme too, fingers crossed!

[GuruK]

@butterflymum

In preparation for the results coming back, it might be worthwhile familiarising yourself with the capabilities of/how to use them in conjunction with:

DNA Painter in particular, their 'What are the odds?' tool

and

Leeds Method - Colour Clustering

Thank you, what sort of info am I likely to get from these sites?

[GuruK]

@GuruK

Thank you, what sort of info am I likely to get from these sites?

Sorry Ignore that, I opened the links on my phone and it wasn't very clear but having opened them on my laptop I see what they are for. Really interesting thank you.

[butterflymum]

Both take a bit of getting used to but can prove very helpful.

Also, when checking matches on Ancestry, don't forget to look at Shared Matches too, as those can sometimes prove beneficial.