Which DNA test best to establish who my Father is? Likely Aunt has offered to take test with me~!

[54isanopendoor]

Can anyone recommend which test is best please?
Potential Aunt & I live 500m apart so something postal & easy to use prob best.
(it would be ideal if it were reliable enough to use in court if necessary)
Thank you.

bump

We used Ancestry. It helped us to identify cousins and from that who our paternal grandfather was. Didn’t need to use it in court, so can’t comment on that, sorry.

I am not sure if you can be sure of finding out who your father was, just other relatives. If your father has not been tested , or not by the same company as you, he won’t show up.

Ancestry lets you know of lots relatives if they have tested them, then give a function where you can send those matches a private message. This way you may be able to work out who he us.

Ancestry has a huge American base. This does not mean you can’t use it if you are from the U.K. but I am not sure which company would be best for you. There are reviews on line.

Good luck with your search.

Ancestry. It has by far the largest database - and its not all Americans. It's accurate enough but a court might require something where you were witnessed taking the test. You can upload results to other databases, ancestry does not accept tests from elsewhere.

@ScrollingLeaves @anyolddinosaur @autumnboys
thanks.
I'm UK based.
Potential Father died in 1960's. This is his sister who has offered.
Other potential Father is in his 80's & unwell so I would rather take this route.

54isanopendoor · Today 10:5

Finding out if you are related to his sister is such a good way to find out: I know on ancestry it would show if you and his sister are related and that what degree such as aunt/niece. If she is your aunt, and DG’s sure he is her brother, then he is likely to be your father ( unless she had other brothers who could have been).
Don’t you want to see?

Would your other potential father be willing to do the test? If so there must be paternity testing agencies. If he is not, without another of his close relatives being willing, as in the first case, it will be more difficult.

@ScrollingLeaves the only option is the sister of the dead 'contender' afaik.
I would only ask the other contender if the 'aunt' & I turn out not to be related.

I guess I was just unsure how reliable something like Ancestry is, & if it was legally reliable or more of a 'you are 32% european' type fun xmas gift thing so if I should use a different type of service.

We used Ancestry to help prove paternity via family links. It was a similar situation to yours. Several family members took the test and the results were accurate, correctly identifying the relationship between each person eg cousin, nephew/uncle etc. If your potential aunt is happy to do it, I'd say it's worth doing.

I guess I was just unsure how reliable something like Ancestry is, & if it was legally reliable or more of a 'you are 32% european' type fun xmas gift thing so if I should use a different type of service.

It does both.
I have been accurately linked to my sisters and cousins, and other relatives I knew my relationship to beforehand.

All the big DNA sites (e.g. Ancestry, 23andMe, Living DNA, Family Tree DNA) do relative matching, so as long as you and your possible Aunt test with the same site you should be able to discover if you're related.

If you want to be able identify other relatives that might have already tested then Ancestry has the biggest database.

MyHeritage is a good site with a lot of UK members. Good luck

Also, if you do the Ancestry or 23andme tests, you can download the raw data and then upload it to other databases such as MyHeritage, GEDmatch, Family Tree DNA, etc.
I've been found by a few relatives on these sites.

P.S.I meant to add that MyHeritage and some others also correctly identified my mother, father, cousin and uncle as being the correct degree of relative to me.

I'm on Ancestry. It's very accurate in my opinion and has a big database. Every close match that has come up has correctly stated our relationship ie Mother, brother, cousin, second cousin etc.

There's absolutely loads of more distant cousins on there too but they're not really close enough family for me to know them. It's interesting though.

If you do an Ancestry test with your possible Aunt then it will confirm if you're related.

If you and your Aunt don't match then it's still very likely there will be other DNA matches to you already on Ancestry which may help you find out the information you're looking for.

If you just want to know then Ancestry will be fine. If you want a result that will stand up in court you'd need to get more expensive testing done (e.g. somewhere like Cellmark) but you could always do that after you get a positive Ancestry result.

I would think that getting a result that wold be accepted by a court would be very difficult.
Father A (deceased) - you will have no DNA that can be used to link you both - his sister may well indeed link to you as a relative, but that isnt complete proof as her brother (ie Father A) may well not have been her biological brother.
Father B (alive) - would be a definite result - match or not - if you use his actual DNA.
None of the tests you can buy online would be accepted by a court - you would need to to the test they directed you to.

Well we found out that my dad had another brother that we didn't know about! And some cousins have appeared on there too, so yes it's reliable.

@ProtectorExtraordinaryOfTheCantonsOfNim
@Soontobe60

Thanks this is useful to know.
The Aunt who has volunteered - there is a potential Uncle on that side too so 2 potential relatives of deceased Father. I would only ask the living person if it proved that deceased candidate was not my relative as the fallout could be really difficult (& its already a difficult situation)

OP if the deceased candidate doesn't turn out to be related, you could potentially work out whether the living one is without asking them to test.

You'd need enough information about them to research their family tree, ie full name, place and year of birth. You would need to research it back a few generations on multiple lines to ensure matches. Then you would either look at the trees of your highest DNA matches to see if there's ancestors in common, or attach the tree to your own DNA results and Ancestry will suggest relationships through "thrulines". It's not foolproof as not all your DNA matches will have a tree - a lot of people just take the test for fun to see their ethnicity. But if you researched back far enough you would most likely find matches.

Obviously this wouldn't hold up legally in any sense but it would potentially provide an answer.

Test with Ancestry and 23 and me. Then download your raw dna and upload to my heritage, Family tree DNA and Ged match for free.
You don't know which database your father or other close relative are on. This covers all your bases.

BloodAndFire · 10/01/2023 14:07
Also, if you do the Ancestry or 23andme tests, you can download the raw data and then upload it to other databases such as MyHeritage, GEDmatch, Family Tree DNA, etc.
I've been found by a few relatives on these sites.

You've just copied my post from a few hours earlier, almost verbatim. Why? 🙁

I don't expect the deceased candidate is on any databases (died in 1960's)
Afaik neither his surviving sister (who has offered to do test with me) nor his surviving brother are either (both in their 70's now)
The 'other' candidate is in his mid 80's & I would only ask him as a last resort.
My Mother made the most awful mess of things. I have no money to spare for this so I was hoping to use one service whilst it was cut price at Xmas but I do NEED to know who my Father really was now (brought up with 1 Dad, told RF was deceased, then she did a 'deathbed' announcment that she 'wasn't sure'...)

I don't expect the deceased candidate is on any databases (died in 1960's)
Afaik neither his surviving sister (who has offered to do test with me) nor his surviving brother are either (both in their 70's now)

There may be the DNA of their descendants though which may help you in some way. Ancestry also is able to show you which DNA so from your father and which from your mother. Then looking at cousin matches you will be shown their DNA so you would begin to be able to deduce which side they are from.

I didn't see your post. I just repeated what I and countless others have done. Anyone who is a member of any hobby/serious/ knowlege sharing genealogy groups would write an near identical post. You don't have ro be a search angel to know coverage is important, ad is the testing of other family members. If I asked on any genealogy forum how to sort my matches I would expect 100+ messages on the Leeds method, pedigree collapse, and links to dna painter.

Ancestry's ethnicity estimates are constantly changing an a bit of fun. The percentage DNA you share with a relative doesnt change, although you can get minor variations between tests performed at different times as not all DNA is tested.

When you get your results ancestry may just label relatives as close relative- cousin. If you look at the amount of DNA you share it will say give you a range of options as there can normally be more than one possibility unless it's parent and child. There are ways to rule out certain options. There are facebook pages that will help if you need it when you get the results.

Hoping to buy the test & visit the relative THIS WEEK now.

Can I just check 3 Quick Qus please?

1. I need to buy two tests (one for each of us) & Ancestry is £150 per test & MyHeritage is £35 per test, is MH okay or am I really better off with Ancestry please?
2. Am I better to ask dead potential Father's sister OR brother?
3. can we keep the results private - I don't want them on the open internet

Hoping someone sees this so I don't need to start a new thread. TIA x