What is the Family Finder test?
Family Finder (FF) is a product from Family Tree DNA that can identify genetic relatives both close and distant up to 5 generations. The test uses autosomal DNA (Chromosomes 1-22) and the X chromosome to identify regions of your DNA that are "Identical By Descent" (IBD) with other members of the database. Based on the amount of IBD (as opposed to "Identical By State" (IBS), which is DNA shared between two people that is coincidental) DNA shared between two individuals the algorithms created by FTDNA can determine a relationship range as well as in close genetic relatives, a suggested relationship.
What information do I get from this test?
Personalized website: MyFTDNA
After you order a kit, once it's mailed to you and you swab your cheeks and return the kit to FTDNA, you will get a confirmation email that will identify your Kit # and password. Then you log into MyFTDNA with your kit # and password and you will be brought to your homepage where once your results come in this will be where everything will be located.
When you first get your kit back you will need to go to where it says "Pending Lab Results" (marked in green). This will tell you what batch # you are in and when your results are expected back.
Once your results are returned the heading (marked in blue) where it says "Family Finder Illumina OmniExpress" will have listed the following tabs (click to take you to that section of this post):
These are the tools that you're going to use to identify your paternal relatives and possibly your biological father.
Matches
Obviously your matches are the most important aspect of this test, but in order to gain the most from them I'm going to explain a few things.
When you first get your results and you click on "Matches" you will be brought to a page that looks like this:
This is a list of your genetic relatives. However, the default of what is shown is only your close and immediate genetic relatives. If you do not have any make sure you change the "Relation" bar to include ALL MATCHES.
My close matches take up 2 pages, and all my matches take up 7 pages (I have 12 close matches and 66 total matches).
What you see here is the name of your genetic cousins and the following pieces of information.
Relationship range - this is a range based on FTDNA's algorithms that determines about how close or distant they believe you and this person to be based on the amount of shared DNA.
Suggested relationship - this is again, based on the algorithm devised by FTDNA and is the "most likely" relationship based on DNA. Only close and immediate relatives have a suggested relationship.
Shared cM - cM is "centimorgans" and it's the standard measurement of distance for DNA. It's actually the recombinant frequency, so if 1cM corresponds to 1 million base pairs, that means that if two markers or SNPs in the genome are 1cM apart, there is a 1% chance of them being separated through crossing-over in a single generation. So the more shared cM's two people have means they are more likely to be closer related.
Longest block - Again based on cM, while the Shared cM looks at the total amount of shared DNA across the genome, the Longest Block looks at the longest stretch of shared DNA in a row. Obviously, a long stretch of identical alleles between two individuals suggests that they are very closely related.
Ancestral Surnames - This is a SELF-REPORTED list of surnames that they know are a part of their family (though due to non-parental events - infidelity, secret adoption, donor conception, etc - these are not always accurate). However, this will give you an idea as to the potential surnames of your biological father, his possible ethnic groups, and the location(s) that his family may live or have lived.
NOTE ABOUT SUGGESTED RELATIONSHIPS:
It came to my attention after I got my results and started talking to my matches (it never dawned on me before), that the majority of people who order genealogical DNA tests tend to be older (Boomers and up), because they tend to be the ones with the time on their hands to be doing hardcore genealogy research, and have the money to spend on such tests. However, many donor-conceived adults who are thinking about or have already ordered this test tend to be younger (Boomers and down) than the average genealogist on FTDNA. So the suggested relationships for those of us who identify as Gen X or Gen Y is going to be skewed. For example, my #1 match had a relationship range of 1st to 3rd cousin and a suggested relationship of 2nd cousin. But he is an older gentleman, likely in my grandmother's generation. So while FTDNA suggests we are 2nd cousins, it is unable to take into account that there is a 2 generation gap between us, so we are probably "closer" cousins than that. Turns out we are actually 1st cousins 2x removed. But the algorithms cannot differentiate that. So just FYI, if your matches are significantly older than you are, it's possible that the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) is not, for example suggested 2nd cousins, your g-grandparents. In my example, our MRCA is his grandfather, but my gg-grandfather, thus 1st cousins 2x removed.
Chromosome Browser
This is a tool where you can select up to 5 of your matches and see where on the genome you have shared DNA. This is especially helpful if you want to see perhaps if one of your matches might also be related to another one of your matches. Though remember, if you all share the same segment of DNA with two different matches it's highly likely that all 3 of you are related, but if there is no shared DNA between the 3 of you it does not suggest that you are NOT all related.
Known Relationships
The KR tab is really sort of a crappy tool. It's something that honestly should be available for all of your matches, but has been relegated to only those with whom you supposedly can identify with a paper trail. What it does is that for matches that you identify as a "known relationship", you are then able to see what matches you have in common. Ironically, this feature is available on the free GEDMatch program (but the downfall is that it's much less accurate).
Population Finder
The PF tool is still in beta, but for those of us who are donor-conceived, it might be the best chance we have at determining a general locale that our biological father's ancestry might lie.
As you can see at the left, this is my PF results. They are as accurate as they could be with the very limited reference samples that FTDNA uses. Here is a list of their sample set. As you can see there are only a handful of different ethnic groups for each large population.
The European population set is:
Northern European (Finnish and Russian)
Southeast European (Romanian)
Southern European (Italian, Sardinian, and Tuscan)
Western European (Basque, French, Orcadian, Spanish)
Obviously there are some really huge ethnic groups missing just in Western Europe, not to mention the rest of the continent and all the other population groups!! What this means is that your PF results are going to take your data and match it to the closest continent(s) and population(s) as possible, but they do not mean that those are your ethnic groups. Obviously I have no French ancestry, yet PF says I'm 72.4% Western European with French and Orcadian (the Orkney Islands are a part of Scotland). I'm also a quarter Armenian, yet my Middle Eastern results (27.6%) came up as Iranian (right next door), Adygei (a Caucasus people near Russia - Armenians are also a part of the Caucasus population), and Druze (an eclectic religious sect thats beliefs are a combination of all the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) found throughout the Levant, mostly Syria, Lebanon, and Israel - not really sure about this one, but same region thus probably similar DNA).
Bottom line, the ethnic groups that I belong to are not population groups that are used in this sample set, so they picked ones that most closely resemble my true ethnic heritage.
My suggestion if you want more accurate ethnic breakdowns, after you get your results email your raw data to Dr. McDonald. His population sets are much larger and more inclusive and he will give you a much more definite idea as to your ethnic makeup. Dr. McDonald's analysis of my DNA was pretty much dead on.
Here's what he said about my ancestry:
Download Raw Data
Matches
Obviously your matches are the most important aspect of this test, but in order to gain the most from them I'm going to explain a few things.
When you first get your results and you click on "Matches" you will be brought to a page that looks like this:
This is a list of your genetic relatives. However, the default of what is shown is only your close and immediate genetic relatives. If you do not have any make sure you change the "Relation" bar to include ALL MATCHES.
My close matches take up 2 pages, and all my matches take up 7 pages (I have 12 close matches and 66 total matches).
What you see here is the name of your genetic cousins and the following pieces of information.
Relationship range - this is a range based on FTDNA's algorithms that determines about how close or distant they believe you and this person to be based on the amount of shared DNA.
Suggested relationship - this is again, based on the algorithm devised by FTDNA and is the "most likely" relationship based on DNA. Only close and immediate relatives have a suggested relationship.
Shared cM - cM is "centimorgans" and it's the standard measurement of distance for DNA. It's actually the recombinant frequency, so if 1cM corresponds to 1 million base pairs, that means that if two markers or SNPs in the genome are 1cM apart, there is a 1% chance of them being separated through crossing-over in a single generation. So the more shared cM's two people have means they are more likely to be closer related.
Longest block - Again based on cM, while the Shared cM looks at the total amount of shared DNA across the genome, the Longest Block looks at the longest stretch of shared DNA in a row. Obviously, a long stretch of identical alleles between two individuals suggests that they are very closely related.
Ancestral Surnames - This is a SELF-REPORTED list of surnames that they know are a part of their family (though due to non-parental events - infidelity, secret adoption, donor conception, etc - these are not always accurate). However, this will give you an idea as to the potential surnames of your biological father, his possible ethnic groups, and the location(s) that his family may live or have lived.
NOTE ABOUT SUGGESTED RELATIONSHIPS:
It came to my attention after I got my results and started talking to my matches (it never dawned on me before), that the majority of people who order genealogical DNA tests tend to be older (Boomers and up), because they tend to be the ones with the time on their hands to be doing hardcore genealogy research, and have the money to spend on such tests. However, many donor-conceived adults who are thinking about or have already ordered this test tend to be younger (Boomers and down) than the average genealogist on FTDNA. So the suggested relationships for those of us who identify as Gen X or Gen Y is going to be skewed. For example, my #1 match had a relationship range of 1st to 3rd cousin and a suggested relationship of 2nd cousin. But he is an older gentleman, likely in my grandmother's generation. So while FTDNA suggests we are 2nd cousins, it is unable to take into account that there is a 2 generation gap between us, so we are probably "closer" cousins than that. Turns out we are actually 1st cousins 2x removed. But the algorithms cannot differentiate that. So just FYI, if your matches are significantly older than you are, it's possible that the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) is not, for example suggested 2nd cousins, your g-grandparents. In my example, our MRCA is his grandfather, but my gg-grandfather, thus 1st cousins 2x removed.
Chromosome Browser
This is a tool where you can select up to 5 of your matches and see where on the genome you have shared DNA. This is especially helpful if you want to see perhaps if one of your matches might also be related to another one of your matches. Though remember, if you all share the same segment of DNA with two different matches it's highly likely that all 3 of you are related, but if there is no shared DNA between the 3 of you it does not suggest that you are NOT all related.
Known Relationships
The KR tab is really sort of a crappy tool. It's something that honestly should be available for all of your matches, but has been relegated to only those with whom you supposedly can identify with a paper trail. What it does is that for matches that you identify as a "known relationship", you are then able to see what matches you have in common. Ironically, this feature is available on the free GEDMatch program (but the downfall is that it's much less accurate).
Population Finder
As you can see at the left, this is my PF results. They are as accurate as they could be with the very limited reference samples that FTDNA uses. Here is a list of their sample set. As you can see there are only a handful of different ethnic groups for each large population.
The European population set is:
Northern European (Finnish and Russian)
Southeast European (Romanian)
Southern European (Italian, Sardinian, and Tuscan)
Western European (Basque, French, Orcadian, Spanish)
Obviously there are some really huge ethnic groups missing just in Western Europe, not to mention the rest of the continent and all the other population groups!! What this means is that your PF results are going to take your data and match it to the closest continent(s) and population(s) as possible, but they do not mean that those are your ethnic groups. Obviously I have no French ancestry, yet PF says I'm 72.4% Western European with French and Orcadian (the Orkney Islands are a part of Scotland). I'm also a quarter Armenian, yet my Middle Eastern results (27.6%) came up as Iranian (right next door), Adygei (a Caucasus people near Russia - Armenians are also a part of the Caucasus population), and Druze (an eclectic religious sect thats beliefs are a combination of all the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) found throughout the Levant, mostly Syria, Lebanon, and Israel - not really sure about this one, but same region thus probably similar DNA).
Bottom line, the ethnic groups that I belong to are not population groups that are used in this sample set, so they picked ones that most closely resemble my true ethnic heritage.
My suggestion if you want more accurate ethnic breakdowns, after you get your results email your raw data to Dr. McDonald. His population sets are much larger and more inclusive and he will give you a much more definite idea as to your ethnic makeup. Dr. McDonald's analysis of my DNA was pretty much dead on.
Here's what he said about my ancestry:
Most likely fit is 70.5% (± 3.8%) Europe (all Western Europe) and 29.5% (± 3.8%) Mideast (various subcontinents).
The following are possible population sets and their fractions, most likely at the top:
English= 0.677 Armenian= 0.323French= 0.768 Iranian= 0.232French= 0.726 Georgian= 0.274French= 0.696 Adygei= 0.304English= 0.660 Georgian= 0.340
These are in fact exactly what I would expect given what you say.
Czech comes out an (English or French)/(Armenian or Georgian) mix or an English/Romanian. Thus its no surprise that English-Armenian fits best.
I'm going to do a post in the near future just on McDonald analysis, so stay tuned for more information about what Principle Component Analysis is and what information you get from Dr. McDonald.The Mideast on the chromosomes is very weak indeed, very close to Europe, as befits just a little Armenian, which itself is rather European.
Download Raw Data
Fairly self-explanatory. You can download your raw data and then use it in some of the programs and tools I talked about last week.
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I will continue this series with more information and advice on how to use your FF results to best of your advantage, including how to best contact matches, how to gain information from matches that don't respond, and more!
