DNA Testing–Yes or No?

Thursday, April 5th, 2018     by Debra DuPree Williams     Start the Conversation
by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

A few of my cousins on both sides, my and my husband’s, have asked if I’ve taken a DNA test, and if so, which one I chose. The answer is, yes, I have. I did the Ancestry test a couple of years ago. I tested, my husband tested, and so did all four of our sons.

The Ancestry test is autosomal. At this point, that is the only test Ancestry offers. It is very popular, in part, in my opinion, because it is far less costly than many of the others, especially if one waits for a sale. The cheapest I’ve seen it is $59. It is normally $79. FTDNA can be as high as $500. That’s a lot of money. 23andMe is $99 on Amazon, $199 if you choose to do genealogy and health. They had another one, MyHeritage for $75. I’m not familiar with this one, but I’ll do some research before next week and I’ll make inquires of my cousins.

But cost shouldn’t be the only factor when one is choosing a DNA test. It actually depends on what you wish to learn about yourself and your ancestors. The three main types of testing available are autosomal, mtDNA, and Y-DNA. Let’s delve into what each is.

Autosomal

Autosomal DNA is by far the most widely used DNA test at this point in time. It’s commonly known as the family finder because it tests both your mother’s and your father’s sides of the family. It is the one you see on the ads on television when they show those colorful pie charts. It’s good for telling you your ethnic background and where your family migrated from in the past. It can help you find close cousins and distant relatives and it gives you your ethnicity in the form of a percentage. For instance, I am sixty-five percent Great Britain, twenty-four percent eastern Europe, four percent Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, three percent Scandinavian, and my trace regions are southern Europe and Senegal, which is Sub-Saharan Africa.

Those percentages were a bit of a surprise to me. With a maiden name like DuPree, I thought I’d be more Western Europe, or even just called French. But what I hadn’t considered is where the peoples that make up each of these regions came from long ago. Who, indeed, were the French and where did they originate?  That kind of knowledge takes a lot of research and a great deal of digging. You may or may not have time for this, or maybe it just isn’t your thing.

mtDNA

Mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA tests trace your mother’s roots. These strands are passed from mother to child with very little chance of it being altered. Thus, this line can be traced back to the distant past.

Y-DNA

Y-DNA is for the Y chromosome, which, if you remember your biology classes, will tell you this is the male line. It traces your father’s lineage as these DNA strands are passed from father to son. Thus, this is a males only test.

Now, let me back up a bit and tell you that while autosomal testing does show who your relatives are, it tests both sides, but it doesn’t tell you which side they are coming from. For this, you need the oh-so-necessary paper trail. Here is one last caveat—mtDNA and Y-DNA are capable of tracing back as far as twenty to even as many as one hundred generations. Autosomal can only give you from five to eight.

QUESTIONS

All of this takes us back to my original thought. What do you want to know? How far back would you like to go? What are you willing to spend to learn about your family?

These are just the very basics of DNA testing. Next week I’ll elaborate a bit more. As I said, I’m not an expert, but I have learned a few things along the way. I’m extremely blessed to have cousins who are DNA experts of one degree or another. If I have questions, I know I can depend on them for answers. I highly recommend that you find this person in your family tree. It will make things a lot easier and will clarify all the scientific jargon with which you may not be so familiar.

Have you done a DNA test? Where did you do yours? Were you happy with the results? Did you find any surprises along the way? Share your thoughts with us below.

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