Am I from Mars?

[Adam]

Ok, well maybe not Mars, but most people (at least the ones who post) seem to have lots of hits and I have (I feel) very few. When I signed up, I was excited about finding who I matched and ordered the high resolution mtDNA and 67-marker Y-DNA tests.

Much to my surprise, I have only 6 12-marker Y-DNA matches, none of which match at 25 markers; at 25 markers, I have 7 matches that are three mutations away, a very weak, almost spurious result. I have no 37 or 67 marker matches.

For my mtDNA, it's even worse: no matches at all, either high resolution (HVR1+HVR2) or low (HVR1).

Unfortunately, this does not seem to support what I have been told about my birthparents (I'm adopted): mother German/Irish, father Hispanic. Having met my birthmother, I'm fairly confident that she and I are indeed related - based on familial resemblance, allergies, etc. Indeed, except for the 52-year gap, I could practically pass for her father's twin.

I assumed based on my birthmother's German/Irish descent that given the overrepresentation in the ftdna data of northern Europeans, I would have lots of hits on the mtDNA; instead my mtDNA ancestral origins results page is empty.

I think the problem is the 234T mutation, which does not seem to be shared by any other T1s in the database.

If anyone can shed some light on this, I'd appreciate it. For all you sequence nerds out here, here's the data:

HVR1 Haplogroup: T1

HVR1 differences from CRS: 16126C , 16163G , 16186T , 16189C , 16234T , 16294T , 16519C

HVR2 differences from CRS: 73G , 185A , 263G , 315.1C

As for my paternal results, we'll leave that for another time ...

Thanks,
adam

[Vinny]

Pluto

If your from Mars I must be from even further away I have even less matches. At 12 markers genetic distance -1, I match 2 people. At 25 markers I match 4 forever and finally am up to 5 at -2. And finally I have one match at 67 markers , Yes! Oh wait its at a genetic difference of -7... I'm still waiting for my mtDNA to come back, hopefully I will have better luck with that.

[Andrew M]

Really from Mars

Hi Adam,

Your topic title drew me because my last name "Marttinen" actually means "son of someone from Mars." I'm adoped too and have very few strong matches. I have one 12/12 who turned up being a 24/25. He and other 11/12 matches tend to centre around the Carpathan mountains and (interestingly enough) northern Spain. My wife is an M* haplogroup--also rather rare in western Europe.

I'm really curious about your paternal line. I have more experience there since Y-DNA is all I have ordered for now.

[Cinda]

Hi Adam,
You're doing better than me!
My paternal YDNA is J2f. We've been in the database since 2004 & have ONE match! This man is from the US & knows even LESS about our genealogy than we do.
As far as my mtDNA...same story but worse!
4 years and NO matches. I am U5a.
So...I must be from yet undiscovered planet.
Good luck!
Cinda

[HapJ1]

No matches at all.

I'm J1 with 37 markers tested. Not even one 12 marker match. My closest is 11/12. He also matches me 22/25.

[ylgitn]

Don't feel bad. I'm J2a1*, and have no exact or near matches at any marker level. My closest match at the 12 marker level is a genetic distance of 6 away, and it only gets worse the more markers you add. I haven't tested my mtdna yet; given my dismal results with my ydna, I'm a bit hestitant to do so.

[vinnie]

Don't feel bad. I'm J2a1*, and have no exact or near matches at any marker level. My closest match at the 12 marker level is a genetic distance of 6 away, and it only gets worse the more markers you add. I haven't tested my mtdna yet; given my dismal results with my ydna, I'm a bit hestitant to do so.

Obviously I have no idea what your results would be, but there's quite a difference on my four ancestral lines. For my J1 line, I have only one 12 marker match and nothing else very close through 67, and I have no matches on my X2b line at all. But for my other two, H7 & E3b1, I've got more people than I can follow up on at this point.

[ylgitn]

Obviously I have no idea what your results would be, but there's quite a difference on my four ancestral lines. For my J1 line, I have only one 12 marker match and nothing else very close through 67, and I have no matches on my X2b line at all. But for my other two, H7 & E3b1, I've got more people than I can follow up on at this point.

I know, it's a sense of exasperation that keeps me from testing mtdna, not logic. Although if I test it and it comes back equally weird, it could prove that I am just a complete genetic mess.