H-Z13997 ??Please help

[Trev]

Just got my big Y test completed and completely confused by it all. Previously had Y-111 and been placed in G-M201 and not that BIG Y has been completed been placed in
H-Z13997. Have no idea what branch this puts me in. My birth father is unknown so was hoping this YDNA would shed some light but have no matches in database
and now its seems I can't even find anything on H-Z13997 ?Also My Y-STR has a -apparently meaning "no call" on 60 values. This seems weird.Is this sloppiness in the lab due to COVID.60 seems like a high amount of no calls.

[gattaca]

The tree for your Big Y results are:

https://www.familytreedna.com/public...;name=H-Z13997

https://www.yfull.com/tree/H-Z13969/

Y111 gives you a predicted haplogroup but Big Y gives you better. It is very good that you did a Big Y test, your research about your ydna paternal line will advance significantly

If you are not sure about Big Y results and you want a second opinion, I would advise you to do a 23andme dna test. With 23andme you can check to see if Big Y results are on the right direction

Here is a Facebook forum about Big Y:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/257810104756408

[gattaca]

If your father is unknown, here is a Facebook forum that could help you :

https://m.facebook.com/groups/798315666906219

[Trev]

The tree for your Big Y results are:

https://www.familytreedna.com/public...;name=H-Z13997

https://www.yfull.com/tree/H-Z13969/

Y111 gives you a predicted haplogroup but Big Y gives you better. It is very good that you did a Big Y test, your research about your ydna paternal line will advance significantly

If you are not sure about Big Y results and you want a second opinion, I would advise you to do a 23andme dna test. With 23andme you can check to see if Big Y results are on the right direction

Here is a Facebook forum about Big Y:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/257810104756408

Thanks for the info. Is 23andme more accurate or helpful? I am using DNA detectives but we have hit a wall. But finding out that i'm a pioneer in that nobody else is H-Z13997 on the forum is quite comical.

[benowicz]

. . . But finding out that i'm a pioneer in that nobody else is H-Z13997 on the forum is quite comical.

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. You've been misled if you thought this project was a guaranteed no-effort win. What you do with that knowledge from this point onward is up to you.

[Trev]

Sorry didn't mean forum, I meant y-tree.I understand it was a long-shot but I'm 75 years old so was holding out some hope about it.I'm laughing as have no other choice.

[benowicz]

Well, there is a lot of dumb luck baked into this whole process. I know people who it's taken decades to make any meaningful progress from these tests. The forums are full of people talking about sorting through hundreds of close matches, but that's not the typical experience. But that's the kind of people who post to forums. Most people find it very difficult to sustain interest if they don't get close matches right away, so they never post.

But there are so many strategies available to you. You could buy an autosomal DNA ("Family Finder") test and work with that--matches can come from any side of your family, so if you're looking for a father or grandfather, you're very very likely to have some decent matches--unlike Y chromosome tests, which are much more of a crap shoot.

The down side of autosomal DNA is that it's so hard to interpret correctly. You need to put in A LOT of effort, and if you want to get the best results, you'll want to get some close relatives--parents, aunts, uncles, cousins--to test, too, for extra context. Not kids or grandkids necessarily, as they haven't inherited any relevant DNA that you yourself don't already have.

TBH, buying another Y SNP test is the last thing I would advise. Lab errors do happen, but they're extremely rare. The odds of 23 and Me correcting FTDNA are extremely low, especially because 23 and Me is a lower resolution test than Big Y 700. I think you made the right choice to go with Big Y 700 for your particular research goal, even if it didn't immediately point to an obvious resolution.

Personally, the only circumstance I would even consider buying another Y SNP test would be if you can find a company that will target-test individual SNPs within the Z13997 block. I would recommend something like YSeq.net--they have excellent quality and turnaround times of about 1 month, all for around $20. If that turned out negative for one of the SNPs reported by FTDNA, then you would know that something really is wrong with FTDNA's report, and you could would have leverage to hammer it out with them. In no circumstances would I just let FTDNA off the hook if they truly botched your results as badly as you fear.

http://yseq.net/

It's just that I don't think they did. Maybe I'm wrong, but the odds are just a little bit better than winning the Lotto. I would make a strong working presumption that you are H-Z13997.

That said, and in the context of what you said about having African and European ancestry, an SNP status of H-Z13997 sounds extremely normal to me. I have lots of Jamaican friends, and many of them have Indian ancestry. It maybe sounds odd to an American, who maybe doesn't know much about the history of that region, but Jamaica encouraged a lot of Indian immigration historically. I mean, I wouldn't have known that if my friends hadn't told me, but there you have it.

[benowicz]

. . . Personally, the only circumstance I would even consider buying another Y SNP test would be if you can find a company that will target-test individual SNPs within the Z13997 block. I would recommend something like YSeq.net . . .

http://yseq.net/

. . .

However, I don't think this option is open to you. I searched there for about 5 SNPs within the Z13997 block and came up with nothing. Seems that they just don't have a lot of H subclades there. If there's another company that does, I don't know of them. Maybe you will have better luck if you look for more, but I came up with nothing.