If I took all 3 tests???

[Lane Rae]

I have very limited internet and am thankful to be here in my rural area to ask a few questions I can not seem to find the answer to.

I am female but have a full brother.
I would like to find out where my great grand parents come from. I am particularly interested in my maternal great grand mother and great grand father (my mothers mothers mother and father).

It looks like the tests give a different result. One shows location of family now living while the other two show the "route" your ancestors took.

Would it benefit me to order all 3 tests for my brother? I want as much information as possible as we are trying to answer a nationality question (Italian or Native American).

Please let me know and thank you for your kindness and patience with me.

Lane Rae

[vinnie]

By "all three tests", I assume you mean yDNA, mtDNA, and Family Finder (FF).

Your brother carries both your direct paternal line (father's father's father, etc.) and your direct maternal line (mother's mother's mother, etc.), so he would be fine for the yDNA and mtDNA tests.

However, because autosomal DNA (which FF tests) recombines with every conception, it's possible that you and your brother have inherited different mixes from your parents; consequently, FF may be worth testing for both of you.

For FF, it's also best to test the oldest generation possible. If you can't test your parents or grandparents, then an uncle or aunt would be next best; you'd just have to note that they may or may not carry your direct yDNA and mtDNA lines. If the uncle that you test and your father are the sons of the same man, then he would be fine for testing your yDNA line also. If the aunt that you test and your mother are the daughters of the same woman, then she would be fine for testing your mtDNA line also.

[jsarnacki]

I just wanted to add... if funds are limited, I would start with FF (yourself and your brother or earlier generations if still available) and the yDNA (your brother or another earlier male from your dad's line).

As for the mtDNA... while some have found it extremely useful, I think more people are disappointed with the results and how difficult it is to narrow the results down to something that is useful in research. I myself don't regret doing it, but I have decided not to do it for anyone else (like my dad/grandpa - I have their DNA samples and did FF and yDNA, but I won't bother with their mtDNA). For me, the frustration is added when I look at my mtDNA matches, and for most distant known maternal ancestor... they often have MEN listed! I have given up on mtDNA for now. My point is, you may want to consider whether it is worth the money to you or not. I haven't visited the mtDNA pages of this site in some time, but there used to be a ton of "reviews" that I wish I had read in advance. I preferred my Genographic mt/y DNA reports for just looking at where those lines came from historically. But for matching purposes, I transferred them to FTDNA and upgraded the tests.

[MoberlyDrake]

I think mtDNA is useless except for some very specific problems like finding which of two women was the mother of an ancestress when you can test a direct female line descendant of both women.

And, if you are of European descent anyway, I wouldn't take DNA tests to find out where you came from. It's not accurate because Europeans have been mixing for years. The best way to find out where you came from is very careful genealogical research in the old-fashioned way. Of course, DNA testing can help with that.

[loisrp]

People who have surprise mtDNA findings, like Native American or Sub-Saharan African when they believe they are 100% European, definitely find it worthwhile. The problem is that you won't know if you have a surprise finding until you do it.

[travers]

As others have said you would be better off starting with old fashioned genealogy research. Your Native American or Italian question could be solved with some family history research. If your internet is slow try the library some have access to the Ancestry Library Edition or there are other free sites out there like FamilySearch. If you want to do a DNA test now I would do Family Finder as it is on sale for a limited time (they aren't saying when the sale is ending) and will give you a starting point into genetic genealogy. Have both you and your brother tested if you can. As far as the Y-DNA and mtDNA you can wait on those, once you've researched your direct male and direct female lines as much as you can you can determine at that point if a DNA test on those would be worth it for you. For most people the mtDNA DNA test will have very little genealogical worth.

[The_Contemplator]

If you are mostly interested in your maternal great grandparents, then your brother's Y-DNA will not help with that matter as Y-DNA comes from the direct paternal line (your father's father's father's etc). The only way it could help is if your great grandfather is related to your paternal great grandfather through their paternal line.

The mtDNA full sequence test could possibly be useful for your great grandmother, but only if others with that relative have tested. As others have stated, it usually isn't all that useful since not many people take it. You might get lucky, you might not. If you are not sure, better wait for a sale to save some money at least.

Family Finder which tests autosomal DNA is likely the best option for what you need. The problem is that you will be given data on all branches of your family tree not just the one leading to those great grandparents. Of course you should test the oldest generations as they will have DNA you do not. You get about half of your DNA from each parent, so testing both parents gives you twice the DNA data you would have for just your own test.

It could help you to test a cousin that shares those great grandparents if you are mostly certain that you only share that branch of the family tree with them. This way you can narrow down matches that share the same segments you both have in common. There is always a chance there are other older shared branches between you both, so don't assume what you have in common is only from those 2 common ancestors.

The more relatives you test with Family Finder, the more data you have that could be useful. So maybe find out which relatives are interested and get them a kit (specially if they are willing to pay for it).

[Conat]

And, if you are of European descent anyway, I wouldn't take DNA tests to find out where you came from. It's not accurate because Europeans have been mixing for years. The best way to find out where you came from is very careful genealogical research in the old-fashioned way. Of course, DNA testing can help with that.

All my great-grandparents were born in Ireland and I only know the counties two of them came from. Although I'll need some cousin testing to narrow down where the matches are coming from, DNA has already given me an idea of where some of them come from and it allows me to find cousins beyond The Great Irish Brick Wall.