… for three lucky readers
In case you hadn’t noticed, The Legal Genealogist is a DNA junkie. More money has gone out of this household in the last few years for DNA tests than for some entire categories of normal household budgets.
But that’s because I can afford it.
And not everybody can.
So many times, after I’ve written a post about how some brickwall was breached with DNA results, or some sale price was being offered, or some advance had been made, someone will quietly say, “I wish I could test, but I can’t afford it.”
And that always stops me in my tracks.
It makes me think how very lucky I am, that I have never had to choose between a keen genealogical tool I really want like a DNA test … and putting food on the table, or paying the electric or heating bill.
It happened again earlier this week, after last Sunday’s post about what DNA tests might be available at what budget levels,1 when more than one person quietly said, “I wish I could test, but I can’t afford it.”
I happened to be on Facebook when I read those words and, as I did, I noticed a name lit up on the right hand side showing a friend of mine was online.
And she happens to work for Family Tree DNA.
I put an idea to her, she took it up the line, and I am just thrilled to be able to say that, thanks to the generosity of Family Tree DNA, three lucky readers are going to have a happier holiday season.
Thanks to the generosity of Family Tree DNA, I’m going to be able to give away three DNA test kits — one YDNA 37-marker kit, and two Family Finder autosomal kits.
First, the rules:
• The test has to be for you, though you can use the kit to test a member of your family.
• You (or the person you’re testing) can’t have taken any other Family Tree DNA test, and strong preference will be given to those who haven’t had any chance to test anywhere.
• You have to convince me — privately, by email, and not ever to be shared with another soul (except if I need help from Family Tree DNA with a tie-breaker) — that this really is something that would break the December bank in your household if you went and bought it for yourself.
• If I need a tie-breaker, I’m going to give preference to the best brief explanation of why you want the test — again, totally private — so tell me what you hope to prove using DNA.
• All entries have to be emailed (if you’re reading this via email, don’t just hit reply — make sure you use my legalgenealogist@gmail.com address for this) and they have to received by 11:59:59 p.m. (midnight) Pacific time on Sunday, December 20th.
Now, a bit of information on the tests:
The YDNA 37-marker test looks at the kind of DNA found in the male gender-determinative Y chromosome that only men have.2 It gets passed from a man only to his sons and from his sons only to his grandsons and from his grandsons only to his great grandsons and so on, with few changes down the generations.3 So this can only be used by a man (ladies, think about your father, brother, uncles, cousins) and can help connect your male line to another, to confirm (or question) a surname and the like.
I used it, for example, to test an uncle when I began to fear that a scoundrel 2nd great grandfather might have changed his name to stay one step ahead of the law and I didn’t want to spend time chasing a surname that wasn’t really ours.4
The Family Finder autosomal test looks at the kind of DNA we all inherit from both of our parents5 in a mix that changes, in a random pattern, in every generation in a process called recombination.6 Both males and females can take this test, and it’s really useful for finding cousins who share some portion of DNA with us with whom we can then share research efforts.7
I’ve used it just that way — to find and connect with cousins I didn’t even know I had, and to share information and research with them.
And… the best part:
This whole idea of trying to reach folks in our community who may not otherwise be able to test has caught the fancy of the folks at Family Tree DNA. And they’re going to watch this giveaway with great interest. If it gets the kind of interest that I think it could get, we have a good chance of getting Family Tree DNA to expand this — perhaps substantially — in the coming years.
So… you really want to test your DNA, but you really can’t afford it?
Tell me in a private, not-to-be-shared email.
Because three lucky readers are going to get a test, for free, this holiday season, thanks to the generosity of Family Tree DNA.
SOURCES
- Judy G. Russell, “All you want for Christmas…,” The Legal Genealogist, posted 13 Dec 2015 (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : accessed 16 Dec 2015). ↩
- ISOGG Wiki (http://www.isogg.org/wiki), “Y chromosome,” rev. 27 Nov 2015. ↩
- Ibid., “Y chromosome DNA tests,” rev. 13 Aug 2015. ↩
- Changing his name is the one crime he didn’t. Thank heavens for that! ↩
- ISOGG Wiki (http://www.isogg.org/wiki), “Autosomal DNA,” rev. 6 Nov 2015. ↩
- Ibid., “Recombination,” rev. 25 Aug 2015. ↩
- See Judy G. Russell, “Autosomal DNA testing,” National Genealogical Society Magazine, October-December 2011, 38-43. ↩
What a lovely idea! This is going to make some folks’ Christmases (or New Year) extra cheery. It’s always frustrating to be held back with a big project because of money. Thankfully this year we are not as bad off as in the past, but I know what it’s like to pass on experiences because of money problems.
Major league credit to Family Tree DNA — which didn’t hesitate a nanosecond when I asked!
What a great idea and gift!!
I hope it will make 3 families Christmas a whole lot better, and that they (hopefully!) have a bigger family for Christmas 2016!
It was so nice of FTDNA to join in on this, Sarah!
Three cheers for FTDNA!!!
Couldn’t agree more!
Thank you for thinking of this great idea. Genealogy isn’t an inexpensive hobby, but for some, DNA testing means much more than dabbling in a hobby. For sure, three people are going to receive a fabulous, totally unexpected Christmas present from you and FTDNA.
FTDNA gets a LOT of credit here, Linda!
Kudos to you Judy for using your connections and thinking of others!
Kudos to FTDNA for putting up the kits to give away!!
You rock!
Credit goes to FTDNA, Peggy!
Thanks to you, Judy, and FTDNA for coming up with this idea to make someone’s holidays that much brighter! I wish you and your family the best in the coming New Year of 2016 as well!
Thanks for the kind words, Pat, and happy holidays to you and yours!
Great idea! I love the Christmas season because it makes people think about giving and sharing. I know we do it and could do it all year long, but Christmas just seems to bring out the best in people. My daughter once said when her family finances were tight, “money isn’t everything, but it sure makes life easier.” And, so your thoughtfulness and FTDNA’s willingness, may make someone’s research a little easier, if not a lot more interesting!
Thanks for the kind words, Margie! Happy holidays to you and yours!
If I can ‘piggyback’ on this to publicize another way to get assistance with DNA test costs, I’d like to mention the Pettypool Family One-Name Study DNA project. We have a limited number of Y DNA kits available for males (or male relatives of females) who think that they are Pettypools, but who have not been able to find a paper trail confirming the fact. In addition to the affordability criteria, preference is given to those who potentially are in one of the lesser documented branches of the family, but all will be considered. Please contact us through one of the email links at the website, http://www.pettypool.com, if you would like to explore this further.
Gee, I wonder why you might think I’d be willing to let you talk about Pettypools here… 🙂
OKAY COUSINS LISTEN UP!!! Especially you Pettypools from the Granville County, NC, branch!! Get in there and talk to cousin Jim about these tests!!! (I’ve already told him I’ll pony up for a few, especially for those with a decent paper trail back to my 6th great grandfather John Pettypool, whose daughter Elizabeth married John Jones.)
What an amazing gift to give to someone!!
FTDNA really stepped up to the plate here, Amy. I’m so grateful.
It’s wonderful that you had this idea and FTDNA stepped up to the plate. 🙂 Shared on our Society’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/East-European-Genealogical-Society-155052604506503/?ref=tn_tnmn)
FTDNA gets a ton of credit for this, Chris!
I suspect you’re going to be crazy busy trying to pick only three!
You’re right about that, Chris, but it sure drives home how very lucky I am… that’s a blessing in and of itself.
It’s really nice of Family Tree to offer and nice of you to bring it up with them, Judy. I spent around $3,000 over maybe a year-1/2 getting 3 mtDNA tests and one Y-DNA test on 4 cousins and a large number of Family Finder tests on two groups of my mother’s maternal/paternal cousins. But one cousin is 98 and had health problems this year; and another is 86, with her short-term memory slipping away on a daily basis. Another cousin on a different side of the family has Parkinson’s, so time is of the essence!
No miracles yet on the FF tests, which take a LOT of time to go through. So many who take it either do not have pedigrees or do not have good pedigrees uploaded that go back more than a few generations or that include dates/locations. Or many don’t answer the emails we send. The mtDNA tests may never yield usable info, but we have three of our four great-grandmothers’ DNA, just in case.
One of the cousins took the Ancestry test that now links to pedigrees and includes circles of people with the same DNA and/or pedigrees. I was doubtful, but she was immediately linked to 6 descendants of our brickwall 2nd great-grandmother’s brother! Her parents were unknown; she was born in New York, which is notorious for not having the best or most easily found records; and several years of research had gotten us nowhere.
Two of the cousins have fab pedigrees; and we found our 3x great-grandparents, plus many of their early New England ancestors. I’ve done research on some of these families and already found links to John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. All for a $99 test! I’ll be spending the winter verifying that these links are correct.
I’ve since tested four of the same cousins I tested on Family Tree with Ancestry’s 30% off sale, and we await their results. Hoping that I can use information from both tests to learn which areas on the Family Tree chromosome browser contain the DNA for the various families and have been playing with all the categories on GEDmatch. Will be busy for years to come!
I’m just wondering if Ancestry might also be open to providing three of your readers free tests, and maybe the qualifications could be brickwalls that have been resistant to discovery for years of research. That’s fabulous PR for the test.
I’d love to see other companies doing the same thing, Sharon — I can’t handle it myself (I’m swamped with these!), but perhaps one of the other genealogy bloggers can ask them!
Maybe FTDNA could setup a donation link on the FTDNA site for giveaways like this. Similar to the donation option we have on project pages.
I’m absolutely confident something like that is under consideration for the future… This got started and will end so fast there wasn’t time to do more this time around. But stay tuned… These are good folks down in Houston…
When is the deadline for entries, please?
Sunday December 20th at 11:59:59 p.m. (midnight) Pacific time.
Thanks! I’m a slow learner with poor vision.
Not a problem! I sure don’t want anybody to miss the deadline!
I sent mine in under the deadline last night. Thank you for the opportunity to do this! You know, I always looked at envy at the people who could afford a subscription service, such as Ancestry, but when it comes down to looking at a $5.00 bill and wondering if you are going to buy a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk, the subscription service to anything looks like a fairy tale. The chance to win a contest is what is so special! Thank you, Judy! The opportunity alone means so much! And Merry Christmas! 😀
I remember the times when I was wondering where my next meal was coming from when I would dig out 50 cents, often in pennies, and buy a lottery ticket. I never won but the joy of thinking it could happen was enough to get me through some bad times. I wish everyone who entered could win, but that’s never possible, is it? So at least everyone had a chance, and — who knows — maybe that alone will help folks get through some bad times. Hope you have the happiest of holidays and New Years!
I saved and just gifted myself the mt full sequence for Christmas. I’m very happy to see Judy, that you’ve been able to couple up with Family Tree for these fortunate three winners! God Bless you all~ Merry Christ
Glad you’re getting your testing done, Juanita — and Merry Christmas to you and yours.
I think I missed it! Would have loved to have mine tested! You are doing a great thing helping others get their DNA tested.
Happy New Year.