no Y matches, Y-Refine37to67 or FamilyFinder?

[apologetics42003]

I have 37 Markers tested, and a confirmed Haplogroup of E1b1b1.

At this time, I am most interested in learning about my Paternal line as I'm adopted. I do not know who my biological father is, I just know he was a student at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1974. I have concurrently sought help through alumni forums, individuals, the maternal relatives, and such, but have come up empty handed.

I found out my mothers name by hiring a private investigator for $2060 in December of 2010. I am tested Haplogroup H. I have approximately 11 mtDNA matches on HVR1 & HVR2, but cannot determine a recent link. I know a few generations of relatives on the maternal side by paper trail, so am not that interested in pursuing additional testing on that specifically. Also, from what I can gather, the maternal side came through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky.

My FTDNA results are registered on Ancestry, ySearch, MitoSearch, & Sorenson, and I check them all routinely (except Sorenson which is no longer being updated as it was sold).

I know it's all a gamble, and not the best chance considering my Haplogroup, but would be I more likely to find matches by upgrading my Y Markers to 67 or 111, or upgrading to the Family Finder test? I suppose doing both would be best, but I don't really want to go over $200 until maybe later in the spring.

P.S. I am interested in which subclade of E1b1b1 that I am, and could take the deep clade test for $139 on sale, but again, think I will wait till spring to do so.

P.S.S. Even with no meaningful matches, I have been extremely satisfied and entertained by my purchase 2 1/2 years ago, and continue to enjoy studying the databases & forums periodically every couple of months for days at a time.

[efgen]

Hi,

If you don't have matches at 37 markers, you won't have matches at 67 or 111.

Family Finder will give you additional matches since it covers all lines of your ancestry, not just the direct paternal and direct maternal lines. However, be aware that Family Finder can't tell you which matches are from your father's side vs your mother's side.

Have you joined the E-M35 (E1b1b1) project yet? If not, I invite you to do so. I can then look at your Y-DNA results and let you know if I can determine your subclade from your marker values.

http://my.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?act=groupjoin&group=E-M35_Project

Elise
Co-Admin, E-M35 Project

[1_mke]

Agreed, increasing the markers will likely not help. I have zero exact matches even at twelve markers and going out to 111 only made the picture more cloudy. Family Finder would like be a much better investment.

[similligan]

Upgrading to 67 markers could help, particularly if you have some rare mutations in the 37 marker set. Markers 38 to 67 tend to be more stable and if you were just outside of the matching range at 37 markers, you could fall within the range at 67 markers. It worked for my father and a few other people in my surname project. Upgrading to 111 markers probably wouldn't help as much, because fewer people have taken that upgrade and there is more of a mix between slow and fast mutating markers.

If I were you, I would follow efgen's advice and join your haplogroup project. She would then be able to see if you have one or more markers that could make it unlikely that you would match anyone at 37 markers. If that is the case, I would definitely try the 67 marker upgrade. If it's not, it still wouldn't hurt to try it.

Good luck with your search.

Susan

[JSW]

DNA and adoptees

If it is either Y upgrade or Family Finder at this time
I would go for the Family Finder.
Since you are looking for close match and you have 37 markers
you should see a match to any man that is any where related in the
last 200 years.

I doubt deep SNP testing will do you any good on your objective
of finding your parental line

If you have not found them this group will also help

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AdoptionDNA/

The have have some "search angels" who will also help
The current sale on Family Finder should not be passed up

[Lklundin]

If it is either Y upgrade or Family Finder at this time
I would go for the Family Finder.

Yes, the FF can help you to find any of your fathers nearer relatives (and not only the purely paternal line) if:
a) you have a good enough paper trail for your maternal side to rule out[1] any near matches as maternal, or
b) the matches have a significant amount of shared X-DNA[2], making them maternal (since you are male). Absence of X-DNA in a match does _not_ mean that it is a paternal relative.
c) you manage to get additional FF-testing done on your maternal side so matches can be ruled out as maternal.

[1] Assuming that no NPE occurred on your maternal side, which may or may not be a small assumption.
[2] gedmatch.com can be used to discover the amount of shared X-DNA.

[apologetics42003]

Thank you for all of your excellent replies!!