How I found my birthfather

[travers]

We discussed this before on the net.
My grandmother's husband took off with their son and left Texas. Never to be heard from in their lives. My Mother and her mother fought over this constantly. Mom accused her of running him off.
I got a e-mail for a match on this place circa 2008. I recognized the surname. He demanded to know why (I keep my mouth shut). I told him that I don't know. I tracked him to Canada and back to Texas where he now lives..
I'm not a home wrecker.

We've never discussed this. You must be confusing me for somebody else.

[darroll]

We've never discussed this. You must be confusing me for somebody else.

We discussed this before on this web site. Several people told me to tell the family anyway. I can look it up if you wish.

[darroll]

We discussed this before on this web site. Several people told me to tell the family anyway. I can look it up if you wish.

Old 19th March 2008, 03:41 PM
darroll is online now
FTDNA Customer

Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Oregon
Posts: 654
Through the HVR2 MTDNA test results we have located a missing link.
This line lived in Texas and somehow ended up in Quebec. They have our rare surname. The world is getting smaller. More to follow as a relative gets started sorting this out. I don't do genealogy, just DNA cheek swabs, we are running out of cheeks to swab..

[travers]

We discussed this before on this web site. Several people told me to tell the family anyway. I can look it up if you wish.

Ok I see what you mean now. You're not very clear in what you write, I thought when you wrote "we discussed this before" you meant you and I. I apologize for not knowing your 10 year posting history.

[darroll]

Ok I see what you mean now. You're not very clear in what you write, I thought when you wrote "we discussed this before" you meant you and I. I apologize for not knowing your 10 year posting history.

No problem

[CuriousAdoptee]

Why waste your time looking for 2nd cousins?
Get the MTDNA test done. I found my Uncle with that test and I'm a male and so is my Uncle.

I'm female and looking for my birthfather, so MTDNA is useless.

I located my birthmom years ago from my non-identifying information. Had I not found her from that, it would be incredibly easy to figure out who she was from my matches on Ancestry and 23 & Me. MTDNA likely wouldn't have helped since most people I would match are in Germany where genetic testing like this is banned. Two of my birthmom's 1st cousins have tested with Ancestry along with over 10 of her 3rd cousins and two of her 2nd cousins are on 23 & Me.

[darroll]

I'm female and looking for my birthfather, so MTDNA is useless.

I located my birthmom years ago from my non-identifying information. Had I not found her from that, it would be incredibly easy to figure out who she was from my matches on Ancestry and 23 & Me. MTDNA likely wouldn't have helped since most people I would match are in Germany where genetic testing like this is banned. Two of my birthmom's 1st cousins have tested with Ancestry along with over 10 of her 3rd cousins and two of her 2nd cousins are on 23 & Me.

Did you try Family Finder?

[CuriousAdoptee]

Did you try Family Finder?

Of course, but 99% of my matches are Ashkenazi Jewish even though I have no known Ashkenazi heritage.

I have a long list of 2nd-4th cousins on Family Finder which caused me to spend months and month researching how I was related to people who's parents suffered through the Holocaust in concentration camps.

While I now have a great appreciation for Jewish culture and have read a great deal about the Holocaust, it did nothing to actually help me find my birthfamily. Likely I have a common ancestor who was either Jewish or converted to Judaism in the 1500s or early 1600s.

Only when Ancestry did their update and my true matches were left was I able to get rid of all the noise and find my true matches.

Another half 1st cousin tested with Ancestry and I got the results this week which confirms I'm closely related.

Meanwhile, this week on FTDNA I got 22 new matches who are Ashkenazi with 5 new 3rd to 5th cousins. One is a Rabbi. Family Finder is a waste of time since they won't filter those garbage matches out.

[darroll]

Of course, but 99% of my matches are Ashkenazi Jewish even though I have no known Ashkenazi heritage.

I have a long list of 2nd-4th cousins on Family Finder which caused me to spend months and month researching how I was related to people who's parents suffered through the Holocaust in concentration camps.

While I now have a great appreciation for Jewish culture and have read a great deal about the Holocaust, it did nothing to actually help me find my birthfamily. Likely I have a common ancestor who was either Jewish or converted to Judaism in the 1500s or early 1600s.

Only when Ancestry did their update and my true matches were left was I able to get rid of all the noise and find my true matches.

Another half 1st cousin tested with Ancestry and I got the results this week which confirms I'm closely related.

Meanwhile, this week on FTDNA I got 22 new matches who are Ashkenazi with 5 new 3rd to 5th cousins. One is a Rabbi. Family Finder is a waste of time since they won't filter those garbage matches out.

I like Israels foreign policy. FF verified my niece, if the numbers that are under 1000 they are hard to figure out whether it's a match or a long time ago?.... match..... noise

[darroll]

I like Israels foreign policy. FF verified my niece, if the numbers that are under 1000 they are hard to figure out whether it's a match or a long time ago?.... match..... noise

We thought that my Mom was Indian, no way. That was the only thing we could call her to keep from getting our head busted. What test shows Jewish ancestry?

[CuriousAdoptee]

What test shows Jewish ancestry?

23&Me showed 2% European Jewish and DNA Land had 3% but My Origins here on FTDNA shows 0%. Ancestry shows a trace <1%.

What could have happened is the sibling or cousin of one of my ancestors married into a Jewish family back in the 1500s. That DNA is considered both German and Jewish.

It's frustrating that I do actually have 4th cousins or closer matches on FTDNA but it's impossible to figure out who they are on Family Finder without knowing who they are. Several of my moms cousins actually have transferred from Ancestry, but they are buried by all the garbage matches.

There is absolutely no possible way without a close match that I would have been able to figure out my birthparents from Family Finder. My top match is listed as a 2nd-4th cousin (more like a 12th cousin or even more distant) with 39 total cM and 20 cM longest block.

[darroll]

I don't know if I'm being redundant but our family's best results happened on MTDNA (FTDNA) for boys and girls. We have about eight perfect matches and according to other indicators there is more that are anonymous. I just hang around here even though I'm not their favorite poster. Our latest find is my deceased cousins kin. We have the same grandmother, so a perfect match verified that his girlfriend had a little one.(Bambino) I knew her and did not know of a little one as she lives in another state.

[mattn]

I don't know if I'm being redundant but our family's best results happened on MTDNA (FTDNA) for boys and girls. We have about eight perfect matches and according to other indicators there is more that are anonymous. I just hang around here even though I'm not their favorite poster. Our latest find is my deceased cousins kin. We have the same grandmother, so a perfect match verified that his girlfriend had a little one.(Bambino) I knew her and did not know of a little one as she lives in another state.

This is what I have found by many years of doing DNA genealogy. FTDNA(s)FF is only something to look into if your match is around 1500. If you have a match of 45, keep looking.

It seems CuriousAdoptee is doing fine on their quest in how they are going about it. I don't know if you think you are helping them at all but you are giving a lot of bad/uninformed advice. They are looking for their birth father as others have pointed out mtDNA is not going to help. A child gets their mtDNA from their mother. As far as Family Finder is concerned you do not need 1500 or even a 1000 cM match to be of significance. 2nd and 3rd cousins will share much less than this and if both you and your match have a tree tracing to your respective great great grandparents the common ancestors should be easy to spot. Many adoptees have identified birthparents using matches that shared much less than 1000 cM. If you are interested in DNA and genetic genealogy there are a lot of good resources out there to see how these tests work and what family lines they will trace, you can learn a lot just by reading the forums.

[darroll]

It seems CuriousAdoptee is doing fine on their quest in how they are going about it. I don't know if you think you are helping them at all but you are giving a lot of bad/uninformed advice. They are looking for their birth father as others have pointed out mtDNA is not going to help. A child gets their mtDNA from their mother. As far as Family Finder is concerned you do not need 1500 or even a 1000 cM match to be of significance. 2nd and 3rd cousins will share much less than this and if both you and your match have a tree tracing to your respective great great grandparents the common ancestors should be easy to spot. Many adoptees have identified birthparents using matches that shared much less than 1000 cM. If you are interested in DNA and genetic genealogy there are a lot of good resources out there to see how these tests work and what family lines they will trace, you can learn a lot just by reading the forums.

Heck I'm just going by experience. My missing Uncle was found with MTDNA. Read my previous posts.
Our under 1000 CM matches are no help. Our family left us great records and I know who our family is. I just did all the DNA tests to verify our line back to 17xx's and to help people with no idea as who they are.

[gtc]

They are looking for their birth father as others have pointed out mtDNA is not going to help.

Not categorically true for every case. Hypothetically, an mtDNA match may find a previously unknown sibling who may know who the searched for biological father is.