What relation

[Lucy7]

My DNA is on GedMatch and I have been emailed by a lady saying our DNA match,
Question: we do not understand what relation we are, I have read all Peter has written and more on the web, but it is as clear as mud. Help please.

Chr Start Location End Location Centimorgans (cM) SNPs
1 229,975,378 239,602,037 23.9 1,543
9 121,817,782 136,548,253 24.5 1,767
14 20,510,303 37,822,503 34.7 2,179
21 36,956,042 42,739,607 16.6 1,152
Largest segment = 34.7 cM
Total of segments > 7 cM = 99.7 cM
4 matching segments
Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 3.6

294280 SNPs used for this comparison.

 

[peter]

Isn't this the relevant bit?

Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 3.6

Of course, it is just an estimate - the common ancestor could be several generations further back.

However, knowing how closely you are related is not really the answer - what you really want to know is which lines you share, ie who the common ancestor is. This means comparing trees with your cousin and when (as usually happens) you can't find an obvious connection, looking at the matches you have in common, especially those with known cousins who have tested. If you and a known cousin both have a match with the same lady then the line you share with her is almost certainly one of the lines you share with your cousins.

Finding cousins using DNA isn't easy - as I've said in my newsletter on many occasions it's much easier (and infinitely cheaper) finding cousins via your My Ancestors page. But because DNA matching doesn't depend on paper records it can reach parts of our trees that conventional research can't.

 

[Lucy7]

Isn't this the relevant bit?

Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 3.6


However, knowing how closely you are related is not really the answer - what you really want to know is which lines you share, ie who the common ancestor is. This means comparing trees with your cousin and when (as usually happens) you can't find an obvious connection, looking at the matches you have in common, especially those with known cousins who have tested. If you and a known cousin both have a match with the same lady then the line you share with her is almost certainly one of the lines you share with your cousins.

Thank you Peter, but we have a problem with my cousin not knowing who her birth mother was/is, she isn't sure if the man she knows as her birth father is really her birth father. What she does know is that the mother she knows as her mother is not her birth mother, neither of the people who raised her would tell her anything up until she had her DNA results, they have now told her that the mother isn't her birth mother, and they won't tell her who her birth mother was/is., she has checked the adoption records, she is not listed. My cousin has now got her father to agree to take a DNA test which she is hoping will tell her if there is any connection between her and him. A brick wall, just for now we hope!

 

[Lucy7]

Just had a thought, my cousin does have a sister who is the birth daughter of the couple, so there may not, or maybe, a connection through the fathers line between the sister and my cousin.
If the sister has her DNA done would it show if there is a connection between her and my cousin on the fathers' side?

 

[peter]

Unfortunately it's impossible for me to give individual advice because I've got hundreds of DNA matches of my own to analyse (and so, no doubt, have you!). I suggest that your cousin joins LostCousins and then you can both read my forthcoming articles on how to deal with autosomal DNA matches.

In the meantime, remember what I said earlier about comparing your matches with those of your known cousins. And if your cousins haven't tested yet, now is the time to persuade them.

 

[Lucy7]

Unfortunately it's impossible for me to give individual advice because I've got hundreds of DNA matches of my own to analyse (and so, no doubt, have you!). I suggest that your cousin joins LostCousins and then you can both read my forthcoming articles on how to deal with autosomal DNA matches.

In the meantime, remember what I said earlier about comparing your matches with those of your known cousins. And if your cousins haven't tested yet, now is the time to persuade them.

Thank you Peter.

 

[KimL]

I recently took a FTDNA autosomal test and was instantly surprised to find that when I uploaded the results to gedmatch.com, as suggested in the newsletters, that I got a match with someone who matched approx 2.8 generations back. I did not recognise the surname and it had never appeared in my tree so I took the chance and sent an email. The match was female and turned out to be correct and we share the same Great Grandfather. My mother and her father were first cousins and were in touch. Both have since died but my cousin actually found a paper family tree in her dad’s things which made her curious. Ironically that tree was one I had created before computer programs were the norm. Mum and I had spread it amongst our known cousins 15-20 years ago to obtain as much info as possible from the older generations. I was very surprised of the instant result and found that my cousins test was done with Ancestry. Without her uploading her results to gedmatch.com I might not have made the connection. I am not sure there are any more yet as although there are a number of 2nd to 4th cousin matches on FTDNA the next closest on gedmatch.com is 4.2 generations which is a long shot. In the meantime it is back to trawling records while I keep checking my results, just as I do with lost cousins, to see if anyone new pops up. I have to say that another unusual link was that my new cousin and my sister work for the same fairly small company albeit in two different cities. My sister is next to submit a sample and hopefully it will help her find out something about her mum who was adopted but died very young.


My question after all this is…. With an autosomal test at FTDNA does the X-Match additional notation make any difference to the match in addition to the cMs and SNPs?