Thank You AncestryDNA

Some of you have read about my disappointment with AncestryDNA. I spent $400 on tests for myself and three family members and had thousands of matches - almost 20,000 to date. So much so, that I had to back away. I no longer checked the site for matches regularly and even when I checked, I looked at very few of the matches. 

Well, last night was different - AncestryDNA added a new search. I can search all the trees of my matches for family names or locations. 

This is a great help. I put "Giddens" in the search and could see all those who also have a Giddens in their tree. It won't tell me how I am related, but only that there is a possiblity.  However, this gives me a good direction for my research. So far, I found some really good clues for my Glynn, Giddens, Bryan and Hairston family research. 

It's not a perfect solution. Some matches don't have family trees and if the  researcher has incorrect information, I might be barking up the wrong tree. 

So thank you to AncestryDNA. I love the new search, but still want a more "advanced search" such as a chromosome browser. I don't like having to spend more money to submit my DNA to other sites.

Diana

© 2013

I Wish for More Tools at AncestryDNA

My mother, wearing the hat, and 

her sister were not surprised 
when their DNA differed. 

I have been a fan of Ancestry.com since I started my membership in 2000 so was very pleased to try their new Autosomal DNA test last summer. Since then, I have coerced three family members to take the test and have several thousand matches, but organizing and taking the time to look at them all is an overwhelming task.

I have 58 pages of DNA matches with 50 matches per page - that's 2,900 matches. One match is immediate family (my mother), another is close family (my aunt), and I have two 3rd to 4th cousin matches; one who I know and love and one who also matches my mother and my aunt, but we don't have a clue as to how she matches us. Ninety-eight of my matches were in the 4th to 6th cousin range making the remaining 2,700+ matches distant cousins in the 5th to 8th cousin range. 

Now, triple the 2,900 matches as I am the administrator for both my mother's and my aunt's DNA. And, add my brother's DNA as his is processing. This will give me approximately 11,600 matches to wade through and more are added each week! Looking at over 11,000 matches is impossible so I don't look beyond 4th to 6th cousin matches. 

Of all of those matches, I have had a few new leads, but I have yet to find any new conclusive matches. Honestly, I can find more by searching the Public Trees at Ancestry.com. 

A newer tool at AncestryDNA puts a leaf next to any match that contains someone in my tree, but, in all of my current matches (almost 8,000), I only have two leaves. 

I have read that having the raw data from AncestryDNA will really help with the matches and that will come soon.  I know that if I can access that raw data, I will need to upload this data to another site such as GEDmatch or FamilyTree DNA.  However, are all those persons who match my DNA going to upload to another site? 

So AncestryDNA, make our matches easier to manage and please grant my wish!

Diana

© 2012