Those questions are often asked in meetings that I
attend, and the answers vary depending on the person you talk to. DNA testing
is a choice and there are many reasons someone will choose to test. Since I
began DNA testing in 2012, I have tried to learn about DNA, how to interpret
results, and how DNA test results will benefit a hobby genealogist. There are
ways to continue learning about DNA testing and those that I benefit from are
blogs by experts in the field and subscribing to those blogs, viewing webinars
by genetic genealogist, attending genetic genealogy conferences, joining
genetic genealogy Facebook Groups, and reading and studying any book that is
available on the topic.
So why is DNA Testing important for family history and
why DNA test? DNA testing is not a shortcut to traditional genealogical
research. DNA testing isn’t a replacement for the paper trail. DNA testing is a
record and is used in cooperation with traditional genealogical research. Genetic
genealogy is a way for genealogists to go beyond what they learn from relatives
or from historical records. As you look through your DNA test results there
will be clues about where the cousins’ ancestors might have come from and clues
about relationships between your families.
If you have been researching long you use records such
as birth, marriage and death records in your research. Your DNA is a unique
record of you and your family – your parents, your grandparents, and great
grandparents. It is a record of your genetic family tree just as your
genealogical family tree is a genealogical pedigree of your family. Look at it
this way, you have two trees – a genetic family tree and a genealogical family
tree. According to my Ancestry family tree I have sixteen hundred fifty-nine
people in my genealogical family tree. I have my direct line ancestors and
collateral ancestors with sources in this family tree. My genetic family tree
contains those ancestors from whom I received DNA as it was passed down and it
represents me and my family in a way that no other record can.
Whether or not you DNA test is a personal preference.
It is solely left up to you and there is nothing that says you have to DNA
test. You alone are the one who knows how important DNA testing might be for you.
You might ask yourself, “Why DNA test? Do you want to learn about ethnicity
estimates? DNA testing will give you that information. What am
I trying to learn from DNA testing?" If you have been researching for
years, then DNA testing will help in verifying your ancestors and your
research. There are some places where the documentation can't be found but
finding a DNA match will let you know that you descended from that particular
ancestor. DNA testing can help in a family line where you are stuck and
can’t go any further with that line. Unless there is a misattributed parentage
in the line DNA is a record for that family line where the paper trail ends.
Even though there may be a misattributed parentage, if relatives from that line
have tested there will be relatives show up in your match list from that line.
Another question to ask is, “What family secrets might
DNA test results reveal?” Some people have gotten surprises when their DNA
results comes back. There were secrets in families and some may have been
revealed and shared down through the family; however, there were those that
remained secrets. If you choose to DNA test prepare yourself for anything that
may show up when you receive your results. If your results shows up with
unexpected results it can be a shock if you haven’t prepared yourself.
DNA is a powerful record that is available for
genealogists that is used to confirm our ancestors and the physical connection.
You can connect with cousins and collaborate with those cousins and they may
have information about family that you don’t have that will help fill in a gap
in your research. DNA proves or disproves relationships.
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