Family Finder DNA Testing by Family Tree DNA

February 18, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael | 1 comment

Family Tree DNA has announced a new DNA test for genealogists that will identify not just ancestors and relatives on the maternal line or the paternal line but also from previously neglected maternal father and paternal mother’s ancestors. The test, based on autosomal DNA rather than mtDNA and Y chromosome dna, opens DNA doors that to my knowledge haven’t been explored in genealogy.

I am very excited about the testing range, five generations, as several of my brickwalls are in this range. I am not familiar with paternal line and have yet to work that line back more than the last 30 years. This test could possibly locate relatives within the last 100 years that I could work from. Or maybe help prove or disprove whether my great great great grandmother is the Mary that lived on one side of my great great great great grandparents or the one that lived on the other side. I have been hoping for a test like this for years and have been putting of the mtDNA and Y chromosome tests hoping that this exact test would come along.

I plan to be one of the first to send in my DNA for the people in the white coats to inspect! The test will be available mid-March and more information can be found at FamilyTreeDNA.com and an FAQ on Family Finder can be found here.

  1. Steve Peters’s avatar

    Steve Peters on July 31, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    I particiated in the Family Finder DNA testing program and currently I have not removed any brick walls. I have 8 close to immediate matches, but I have only been able to confirm 1 of those matches. I also have 50+ distant matches and only 1 of those is a possible match. My paper trail is pretty complete up to my gr-gr-gr grandparents and I have several lines back further than that. Many of those participating do not even bother to respond when you e-mail them and most don’t even bother to post their surnames let alone a brief GEDCOM file of their ancestry. I don’t believe that my close to immediate matches are as close as FamilyTreeDNA has calculated. I belive that if I am related to these people, it is much further back than my paper trail will go.

    So far I am disappointed in the results of this test, but I am hoping that maybe if more people participate, it will eventually give some positive results.