So you're thinking about doing a genealogical DNA test...

This is my latest installment of my collection of posts related to FTDNA's FamilyFinder test.

I've received several questions over the past few weeks about doing autosomal DNA tests, and one of the most common is: Which test is better - FamilyFinder or 23andMe??

Unfortunately the answer is not that simple.  My honest advice is that doing both is likely your best option, though I understand the costs involved with going through two separate tests (especially if you are having your mother tested as well).

So I'm going to break down both tests and leave the actual decisions to you.

Both tests use similar platforms, Illumina (but slightly different microarrays), to test and analyze DNA so there is little concern that the results and the accuracy of one is better than the other.  However, beyond that they take very different paths.

FamilyFinder (by Family Tree DNA)

• FF test is designed specifically to find relatives on all lines
• Designed for the genealogical community
• Database size: ~10,000
• FTDNA tests both autosomal and Y-STR (for males) providing more insight into paternal side
• All matches have signed the waiver to set their information to "public" for their matches
• Ancestral surnames and GEDCOMs (family trees) of matches are displayed
• Email addresses of matches are displayed
• Matches are much much more willing to respond to contact
• Much higher threshold of shared DNA before a "match" is acknowledged, thus better (closer) matches
• Population Finder feature is only in beta version so it's very sketchy in identifying actual ethnic makeup correctly
• Created a new algorithm to compensate for the high number of intermarriage in the Ashkenazi population

RelativeFinder (by 23andMe)

• RelativeFinder is only one aspect of the 23andMe test
• Designed not just for genealogy, but also individuals seeking medical information
• Database size: ~ 80,000 to 90,000
• Does not test Y-STR or mtDNA -- however for DC adults, health information is very valuable
• Ancestral surnames are hidden unless the person clicks public option within their online 23andMe profile
• Must contact matches through 23andMe's private messaging system - no email addresses provided
• Only allowed to contact 5 new matches a day through the private messaging system
• Matches are much less willing to be contacted - many only do the test for health information
• Ancestry Finder is a much stronger program to identify "deep-clade ancestry"
• Acknowledged skewed results for those with Ashkenazi ancestry, but has not yet tried to create a new algorithm to accurately determine cousinship

Bottom line: 

FamilyTreeDNA's FF test has a significantly smaller database so the chances of getting a close or immediate relative are smaller, but the matches you have will be more willing to respond.  And those that don't you still have their name and if they listed ancestral surnames/locations (this can be helpful, as many non-responders still have their family trees public on Ancestry.com).

23andMe's RF test has a significantly larger database (especially including many more Europeans), so the chances of getting a close or immediate match are better, but those matches are going to be in general less likely to respond.  And since their names and ancestral surnames are hidden there is little chance of getting information from non-responders.

Exciting News: "Donor Conceived Project" at FTDNA!!!

I am very very excited to announce that my application for the creation of a special project for donor-conceived adults, former and current donors, and recipient parents on behalf of their underage donor-conceived children, was accepted this week by FamilyTree DNA!!!

Family Tree DNA Projects - list of current surname and geographic projects in the FTDNA database for Y-STR, mtDNA, and Family Finder tests.

UPDATE [4/10/2011]:
Here is the new website for the Donor Conceived DNA Project at Family Tree DNA - for donor-conceived individuals and former and current donors, Y-STR test and Family Finder test accepted.

Yours truly (me) will be the primary group administrator, and in the future I hope to add several other admins to assist me.

In the coming weeks I will be creating a public website for our project and I invite anyone who has submitted their DNA to FTDNA (Y-STR test or Family Finder test) to join this project.

The main goals of the project will be as follows:

1) A central location for donor-conceived individuals to locate half-siblings
2) A central location for former and current donors to locate their biological children

I have in the past advised donor-conceived adults to have their mother's tested if they are looking to trace their biological father using the Family Finder test, however for offspring who are more interested or concerned with finding siblings (especially pre-donor number era offspring), or for whatever reason cannot have mom tested, this is a great alternative.

Compared to traditional siblingship tests which for the most conclusive results require both mother's to be tested, or tests like CaBRI that require females to have mom and another female maternal relative tested, this test only needs your DNA.

This project will also be able to identify donors who's sperm was sold to other banks/clinics, sold overseas, or even in instances where the doctor himself was the donor (or the doctor recruited his/her family members to be donors).  Especially in the past secretive era of donor conception, I strongly believe many donors from private clinics were related and perhaps many donor conceived people are actually cousins with one another!  This project will examine the ancestral makeup of donor-conceived people (is it really true that a significant number of donors were/are Jewish doctors or is that an "old wives tale"? -- this project could perhaps shed some light on that assumption).


WOAH!!!!

And an even bigger update....my FF results were just posted!  Over a month early!!  A suggested paternal 2nd cousin and about a dozen suggested paternal 3rd and 4th cousins!  I am still digesting the information, but I will update ASAP.

Very quick update on my FFDNA test

So before I lose power/wifi in yet another ridiculous midwestern storm (severe storm warnings, loads of lightening and hail, tornado watches issued...luckily the funnel clouds/tornados were all about 15 miles north --- at least for now), I wanted to quick update and say that my kit was received by FTDNA and I'm in batch #414.  My results are expected by 7/20/2011.  So until then, we wait.....

But in the meantime I will do at least a post or two discussing this test more in-depth as well as some interesting information I've come across in my research.

I got my DNA set on you

The poet George Harrison reminded us what a little determination can do when we set out mind to something.

"I got my mind set on you, I got my mind set on you
I got my mind set on you, I got my mind set on you
But it's gonna take money, a whole lotta spending money 

It's gonna take plenty of money, to do it right child
It's gonna take time, a whole lotta precious time
It's gonna take patience and time, mmm to do it, to do it
To do it, to do it, to do, to do it, right"

And while as donor-conceived adults our goal is not to "get the girl", that same sense of determination has pushed a growing number of offspring to take a stand --- regardless of time and money involved in our search.  Whether it's Olivia Pratten taking on the province of British Columbia and WINNING (thankfully not in a Charlie Sheen sort of way....), or the less-heroic of our ranks attempting the impossible in other ways, we are fed up and we're doing something about it!!

Last Monday I reported submitting my DNA to the FamilyFinderDNA database.  Today Girl Conceived blogged about her entertaining breakfast of coffee and DNA scrapers (though I sure hope she was not drinking coffee before scraping!!!) for the same test.  Several close DC friends have already received their results from FTDNA, including Stephanie Blessing, Damian Adams, and several others who I will not mention for some privacy reasons.  Elizabeth Marquardt even blogged this afternoon on Family Scholars this recent "outbreak" of DNA tests among offspring.

And to top it off, yesterday a former donor added his information to the AmFOR Donor Offspring Registry with the note that he has added his DNA to the 23andMe database and hopes to find his biological offspring using their "Relative Finder" program (similar to FTDNA's FamilyFinder database).

My first reaction to this is the ironic juxtaposition of our biological fathers' sperm (genetic material used to create a new life) contained in small vials to be removed indefinitely from its roots, and our spit (also genetic material, that is it contains our DNA) contained in small vials with a hope to be reconnected to those very same roots...that were both unceremoniously disposed of in what were likely similar 1mL vials.

My next observation is the fact that this process, these results, this knowledge, is all something that we as donor-conceived adults are posting to the World Wide Web where it will likely be perserved indefinitely (or at least until December 21, 2012!!  You never know, maybe computers won't be able to function beyond the Mayan calendar - flashback Y2K).  Therefore it's something that will eventually become knowledge for the masses.  Knowledge for the infertility industry, for lawmakers, for current and future recipient parents, and for former, current, and future donors.

Regardless of where you live, what the law dictates...anonymity is dissolved.  It was dissolved as soon as some novel teenage offspring had the brilliant idea of looking for their donor on MySpace and then MySpace's successor, Facebook.  It was dissolved as soon as Ryan Kramer traced his donor using FTDNA's Y-DNA test.  And it will be further dissolved as more and more donor-conceived adults submit their DNA to databases such as FTDNA, 23andMe, and more.

What makes these tests so perfect is that unlike traditional paternity tests, the donor does not have to consent to his DNA being used.  It's not, at least not in the legal sense.  But in the ancestral sense his DNA is alive and well in his close relatives.  And it is the genealogical inquiries of those relatives that will drive donors out of their cloak of anonymity once and for all.  Donors cannot control what their 2nd and 3rd cousins do....heck, most likely they don't even know who their 2nd or 3rd cousins are!!!  But for genealogy buffs, not only is their the possibility that they share the same surname (especially the case with Y-DNA tests), but they may even have elaborate family trees discovered and can point you right to the guy who went to X University for medical school, or at least identify family members who lived in the location that you were conceived in at that time.

So former, current, and future donors and recipient parents --- you have been forewarned.  Any promise of anonymity by your clinic or sperm bank, take with a grain of salt.  If you truly never want to know your biological children, DON'T DONATE!!  Parents, if you choose an anonymous donor because you do not want your child to know their biological parent.  DON'T USE A DONOR!!!

Because the donor-conceived children of today and tomorrow are going to have technology on their side.

BREAKING NEWS: Sperm donor anonymity overturned by B.C. court

http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/sperm-donor-anonymity-overturned-by-bc-court-2

The B.C. Supreme Court has struck down provincial legislation that protected the identity of sperm donors. The court also prohibited the future destruction of any records and ordered the province to draw up new legislation in line with the Charter of Rights.

Lawyers for Olivia Pratten had argued that the existing rules discriminated against the children of sperm donors, and the court ruled in Olivia Pratten's favour on Thursday by striking down a section of the B.C. Adoption Act.

In the decision, Justice Elaine Adair wrote that the rights of the child must be protected in sperm donation, much like they are protected in cases of adoption in B.C.

"I conclude, based on the whole of the evidence, that assisted reproduction using an anonymous gamete donor is harmful to the child, and it is not in the best interests of donor offspring," wrote Adair.

"I grant a permanent injunction, in accordance with these reasons, prohibiting the destruction, disposal, redaction or transfer out of B.C. of gamete donor records in British Columbia," she wrote.

The ruling gives the province 15 months to enact conforming changes to the B.C. Adoption Act that are in line with the Charter of Rights.

Adair found the Act was unconstitutional because it treats adopted children differently from children of sperm donors. Adopted children are provided information about their biological parents, whereas the children of donors are not.

'Total win'

Pratten was conceived through sperm donation. The 28-year-old Ontario journalist fought for years to learn her biological father's identity, but was eventually told the doctor legally destroyed the records in the 1990s.

"It is a total win for us. No more anonymity. Donor offspring have been recognized as having the same rights as adoptees in B.C.," said Pratten after the ruling was released.

She then decided to sue the B.C. government on behalf of other children who still have hopes of learning their parentage and to ensure donor records are preserved indefinitely and that children can have access to the records when they turn 19.

Limited effect on fertility clinics

Dr. Albert Yuzpe of Genesis Fertility Clinic said he has no issue with what Pratten has pioneered and the decision is not likely to affect work at his clinic in Surrey, B.C., because 80 per cent of his patients already chose sperm from "known identity" donors.

He also notes Canada has only one sperm bank, based in Toronto, and the majority of sperm comes from American sperm banks. At his clinic he does 600 donor sperm cycles per year, and only one or two involve Canadian donors, he said.

Yuzpe also said it is unclear if the decision would force anonymous American sperm donors to be identified.


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UPDATE: Even more articles on Olivia Pratten's groundbreaking win in BC court today

Supreme Court of British Columbia Reasons for Judgment

Olivia Pratten vs: 

* Attorney General of British Columbia

* College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia

http://www.cbc.ca/bc/news/bc-110519-pratten-sperm-donor-ruling.pdf

POLL: Should the identity of sperm donors be protected?
(CBC. May 19/11)
http://tinyurl.com/CBC-poll-2011-05-19

BC Paternity Decision - Interview with Olivia Pratten
(As it Happens, CBC Radio One. Part 2. May 19/11)
http://tinyurl.com/happens-2011-05-19

B.C. judge says anonymity for sperm, egg donors is unconstitutional
(By Dene Moore, The Canadian Press. May 19/11)
http://tinyurl.com/Moore-2011-05-19

B.C. judge rules in favour of offspring of anonymous sperm donors
(By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun. May19/11)
http://tinyurl.com/Hall-2011-05-19

Sperm donor anonymity overturned by B.C. Court
Includes an audio interview with Olivia Pratten
(CBC News. May 19/11)
http://tinyurl.com/CBC-2011-05-19

B.C. court strikes down anonymity for sperm donors
(By Sunny Dhillon. Globe & Mail. May 19/11)
http://tinyurl.com/Dhillon-2011-05-19

B.C. judge allows 15 months for discriminatory sperm-donor law to be reworked
(By Keith Fraser. The Province. May 19/11)