Black Friday genetic genealogy DNA tests

The following companies are offering reduced cost autosomal DNA tests. These tests can be used to reliably find immediate family and cousins out to 4th or 5th cousins. Less reliably, they can give you ethnic ancestry results.

• MyHeritage DNA - $49 plus free shipping with coupon code Free18 (ends Nov 23)
• 23andMe - $69 per kit, shipping extra, or $129 for the Ancestry + Health version (ends Nov 25)
• AncestryDNA - $49 per kit, plus shipping (ends Nov 26)
• Family Tree DNA - $39 per DNA test, shipping extra (ends Nov 26)
• LivingDNA through Findmypast, $59 plus shipping (ends Nov 26)
• LivingDNA direct - $69 per kit, plus shipping (no posted end date)

I have tested at all of these companies.

I recommend the following testing strategy:
Test at AncestryDNA and 23andMe and then upload the raw data to the others. This is the lowest cost strategy and gets your results into the largest commercial genetic genealogy databases.

An additional upload is to Gedmatch. This will allow people who have tested at only one company to match other people from different companies. Gedmatch has both free and fee services. The free services get you their matching service.

There is a new company Dante Labs, doing whole genome testing for $199.00 (L169.00) for Black Friday Week. This is a 30x coverage of your whole genome and can be used for learning about medical propensities. Not really useful for genealogy.

If you already have a test result, be sure to upload to MyHeritage and Living DNA before 1 December to avoid their new fee schedule.

If you are interested in graphical representation of your relative network, Rootsfinder is another company to join before 1 December.

NOTE: I do not earn any money from your using any of these links.

From the New England Historic Genealogical Society's The Weekly Genealogist:

A journalist from French television channel TF1 is seeking French families who, as part of their genealogical research, are trying to connect with relatives whose ancestors immigrated to the United States or Canada between the 16th century and the beginning of the 20th century. If you or someone you know has been contacted by anyone in France for information about possible relatives in the U.S. or Canada, or if you know of any French families seeking information about U.S. or Canadian connections, please contact Eugénie Cohen at ecohen.cpi@tf1.fr

Ancestry Blog Post: Conduct Search Utilizing the information on another Member’s Tree

Posted by Marissa Huntsman on June 11, 2018 in Products and Services

Customers have been able to conduct a search for a person within their own tree utilizing the information in their timeline. Now we have made it possible for customers to conduct a targeted search from a person in a Public Member Tree.

Continued here: https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2018/06/11/ancestry-product-update-conduct-search-utilizing-the-information-on-another-members-tree/

Do you have a DNA match to me? Please add a family tree.

While there are different reasons to take a DNA test, one reason is to find unknown relatives. If you have taken a genetic genealogy oriented DNA test you are probably interested in determining your genealogical link to people you match. When you add a family tree at either the DNA testing company, FamilyTree DNA, MyHeritage, LivingDNA, or AncestryDNA, etc., or at a genealogical website which you link your DNA results to, GENI, WIKITREE, TribalPages, etc., please be as complete with the data for deceased individuals as you can. This means that you include locations, at least county and state in the USA, and full dates of birth, marriage, and death, as far as you know them.

Please don't list deceased persons as Private unless you don't want genealogical relations to find you. In the USA the most recent public population census is that for 1940. The 1950 census will be available in 2022. Having locations and dates allows the person looking at your family tree to make connections with people in their tree to allow identification of the most recent common ancestor/s, (MRCA). This will greatly enhance the possibility of extending your genealogy research.

My suggested minimum family tree would go back to your Great Grandparents with their spouses and children, and work forward and stop at living people on each line. Ideally going back to before the 1850 census would probably work for most people in the USA.

If your ancestry in the 1800s or 1900s was mostly in Europe or otherwise outside of the USA, testing at MyHeritage and/or AncestryDNA will probably be of most use to you. For genealogical records I also suggest using FamilySearch.org due to its worldwide coverage.

I hope this will help you find your relatives.

Do you have your original birth certificate?

This article from The Atlantic Magazine, by Christine Ro, discusses the development of birth registration and birth certificates. The birth certificate is your "first possession".

A Birth Certificate is a Person’s First Possession: Around the world, the document establishes legal, social, and economic legitimacy. But it also makes compromises.

A recent controversy over birth certificates in Arkansas demonstrates that these slips of paper are imbued with political and social meaning. In 2015, a married couple, Marisa and Terrah Pavan, had their first child, who was conceived through sperm donation. The Arkansas Department of Health, or ADH, listed only Terrah, who gave birth to their daughter, on the baby’s birth certificate. This was contrary to state law, under which the spouse of the birth mother also is automatically listed.