Confused and feeling buyer's remorse

[Nomatches]

Great idea. What an interesting project!

Thank you. She's having a lot of fun seeing how my head spins in circles, building family narratives to fit DNA results. Now, there's pretty little evidence that supports FTDNA's findings within the last 200 years from the paternal side, so it's all speculation as to what could've happened before then.

Wow. I may be wrong, but don't think we've had any guy from the B hg on the forum before. It would be fascinating to know your sub-clade (i.e. via the deep clade test). It would help you identify a region of Africa.

I joined the HGB project at FTDNA and matched against the 20 or so people with HGB. No match, but I did read that HGB made less than half of a percent of the whole database, so it would not be surprising if I were the first.

I can't speak for Genographic's clerical processes, but I believe that FTDNA has a very good record of reliability in terms of the results being true to the sample tested. There is the possibility that the results you got were from another guy's sample kit due to a clerical error and it may be worthwhile discussing that with FTDNA if you have serious doubts, especially if you wish to proceed with a deep clade test.

Well, you might be right about FTDNA's reliability. What I see is that they have very little reference material to begin with. My results page was (in discussing my ancestral journey) a paragraph long. The rest was just filling material. The problem may not be with the sample (although I will test with other companies just to be sure about my newly found African deep ancestry) but with the inferencial process that led them from my haplotype to my haplogroup. For instance, "this guy doesn't fit any of the reference material we have on European, Native American, and Asian populations, so that leaves only HG A and B". That sort of thing. According to the results I received, HG B is more frequent among Mbuti pygmies and the Hadza people in Tanzania, all very old populations related to the Khoisan.

[k.o.gran]

Just a question, does it say "your predicted haplogroup is B" or "your confirmed haplogroup is B"? If it says "confirmed", then they have done additional testing before getting there. Click the "B" where the "Your match" arrow is. That should bring you to the B haplotree where you can see which SNP's you tested positive for.

[Nomatches]

Thank you for the tip. I hadn't even visited this part of the site.

Just a question, does it say "your predicted haplogroup is B" or "your confirmed haplogroup is B"?

It says that my confirmed haplogroup is B*. I tested positive for m181, and am presumed to be positive for m60, P85, and P90.
Now, in the matches section I have two, three, and four-step mutation matches. What does that mean?

[k.o.gran]

Now, in the matches section I have two, three, and four-step mutation matches. What does that mean?

I assume you mean genetic distance? It's explained here: https://www.familytreedna.com/faq/an...px?faqid=9#915

[dwight]

I'm guessing that he's referring to the "Recent Ancestral Origins" page under Y-DNA. Is that right?

These tabulate where everyone who matches you in their database traces their ancestry to, organized by the closeness of the matches.

I assume you mean genetic distance? It's explained here: https://www.familytreedna.com/faq/an...px?faqid=9#915

[JPHutchins]

Hi to all. I tested with Genographic for my Y chromosome last January and got a three and a half month wait until I got my results online.

Maybe I am missing something in this, but perhaps you should retest with FTDNA, rather than submitting another company's results to FTDNA.

I am certain that all companies strive to provide accurate results but perhaps a mistake was made. Now I do understand that FTDNA soes testing for some other companies, but if they did not do these tests then you might want to test here.

Either that or perhaps your bio-parents are space aliens? (it's a joke)

[k.o.gran]

Maybe I am missing something in this, but perhaps you should retest with FTDNA, rather than submitting another company's results to FTDNA.

I'm pretty sure the Genographic tests are done by FTDNA and I believe that's why there is a separate sub forum for it. Then again, I've already been wrong once on these forums today, maybe I'm on a roll?

Either that or perhaps your bio-parents are space aliens? (it's a joke)

No... they are haplogroups X, Y and Z, aren't they?

[Nomatches]

I'm guessing that he's referring to the "Recent Ancestral Origins" page under Y-DNA. Is that right?

These tabulate where everyone who matches you in their database traces their ancestry to, organized by the closeness of the matches.

Yes. And no Sub-Saharan HG matches. One HG H in India and the other two HG O from China. the India one being closest to me. The rest were all European and Middle Eastern. Several pages later I find a guy from Mali that has a genetic distance of 4.
This is becoming really difficult to understand.

[nathanm]

As soon as I received the results, I started to figure out how I could be a member of the B haplogroup. Slavery was a first, but knowing how it worked in the new world, chances were more likely to have an African mtDNA and a white Y-DNA than the other way around.

That was most often the case, but opposite situations did happen. Another possibility, since your ancestry goes back to Spain, is someone who arrived there with the Arab invasion of 711, or the Berber invasions of the Almoravids in the 11th century or the Almohads in the 12th century.

If so, after a few hundred years of admixture, your phenotype (physical appearance) wouldn't necessarily show any sign of African ancestry, but the underlying genotype is still there. If that ancestry was in any other line but the direct paternal or maternal, it would be difficult to detect after several generations.

Regarding the test results and your reaction as a whole, have you heard of the case of Wayne Joseph? He's from a Louisiana Creole family, who believed they were African. But his DNA test came back European, Native American, and a little East Asian, but no African ancestry. And that wasn't just Y or mtDNA, it was autosomal STR testing that gives percentages of ancestry.

[Nomatches]

I guess it may all be true. I mean, really, who knows? I'll take the results at face value, retest--because it is now important for me to be sure--and then take it from there. Perhaps do more advanced tests later.
One thing I can say though, the genographic test did change how I look at myself.
Thanks for all the replies.

[gtc]

I guess it may all be true. I mean, really, who knows? I'll take the results at face value, retest--because it is now important for me to be sure--and then take it from there.

I think it would be worth your while calling and discussing your results with FTDNA (I suggest using the phone rather than email as emails sometimes "go missing"). If there is significant doubt they may decide to perform a retest for you.

Perhaps do more advanced tests later.

If you do decide to test again, I would recommend that you stick with FTDNA and get a deep clade test done.

Meanwhile, if you want to accept your current results as potentially true, then you could upload them into Ysearch using the link labeled ...

Click here to upload to Ysearch.org

... which is half way down your Y Matches page.

The Ysearch public database (hosted by FTDNA) contains haplotypes from a range of testing companies. You may find some interesting matches there.

[gtc]

According to the results I received, HG B is more frequent among Mbuti pygmies and the Hadza people in Tanzania, all very old populations related to the Khoisan.

There are quite a few subclades of B and quite a bit of research has been invested into identifying peoples and regions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_B_%28Y-DNA%29

So a deep clade test should give you a better idea of region, etc.

[Nomatches]

I think it would be worth your while calling and discussing your results with FTDNA (I suggest using the phone rather than email as emails sometimes "go missing"). If there is significant doubt they may decide to perform a retest for you.



If you do decide to test again, I would recommend that you stick with FTDNA and get a deep clade test done.

Meanwhile, if you want to accept your current results as potentially true, then you could upload them into Ysearch using the link labeled ...

Click here to upload to Ysearch.org

... which is half way down your Y Matches page.

The Ysearch public database (hosted by FTDNA) contains haplotypes from a range of testing companies. You may find some interesting matches there.

I did that and obtained no matches. I also uploaded my STR values into YHRD (Human Haplotype Reference Database) and with the Sorensen Molecular Genealogy Foundation. I did get matches there but none in the Sub-Saharan African samples.
I realize that I sound as if I'm being consumed by denial about my HG membership, and perhaps I'm being affected a bit, but it's more an issue of scant and contradicting information.

[gtc]

I realize that I sound as if I'm being consumed by denial about my HG membership, and perhaps I'm being affected a bit, but it's more an issue of scant and contradicting information.

You are entitled to question your results if they don't make sense to you.

In order to get a "reasonableness check", do you have a male relative on your paternal line who would be willing to test?

[Javelin]

Regarding the test results and your reaction as a whole, have you heard of the case of Wayne Joseph? He's from a Louisiana Creole family, who believed they were African. But his DNA test came back European, Native American, and a little East Asian, but no African ancestry. And that wasn't just Y or mtDNA, it was autosomal STR testing that gives percentages of ancestry.

That test (Ancestry by DNA) is in fact autosomal SNPs, but at very low resolution (176 markers compared to Population Finder's hundreds of thousands), and often gives ridiculously unbelievable results, for example:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/playing-with-dna-is-larry_b_402795.html