Khrys Vaughan initially sought her adoption records, only to be disappointed and disillusioned when told that those records were sealed. After much frustration she came across a website offering DNA Testing and decided to take them up on their offer to help adoptees to connect with their blood relatives and discover their past. She received her DNA test kit, took a swab from inside her cheek, and sent the kit back to the testing lab. In about five weeks she received a report telling her that her bloodline extended to Romania, France and West Africa.

Amazingly, contained in the report was contact information for approximately a dozen or so living relatives in the form of email addresses. She eventually arranged to meet a third cousin living in Kentucky and was reunited with her in Evansville, Indiana, only around two hundred miles from her own hometown. Mrs. Vaughan is of African American descent, her cousin it turns out is Caucasian. Not that it matters at all to either of them. She is finally connected with her blood relatives, and they are happy to welcome her into the fold.

Thousands of adoptees are turning to these DNA Testing Companies these days for information about their past. Though some merely wish to know their geographical origins, others long to reconnect with their lost families, as did Khrys Vaughan. Still others wish to find out if they are susceptible to any particular genetically inherited diseases, but most want to find out who their real parents were, and to find any remaining relatives.

Why the Rising Popularity of DNA?

Those who may have been considering finding their family through DNA testing may be pleased to know that it has become quite affordable. The cost of analyzing DNA samples has plummeted in recent years, and this is largely due to the high demand of people wishing to find out more about their heritage. Because of so many people submitting DNA samples, many companies have developed immense DNA databases which they can use to compare samples sent in to their laboratories. Comparing these samples allows the company to determine if two or more people share the same genetic markers.

Traditional DNA researchers have not been very supportive of using DNA testing for genealogical purposes. They insist that DNA testing is not always accurate enough, and people may be connecting with those who are not actually related to them, saying that the definitions of what makes a relative are being somewhat stretched. In spite of the opposition, DNA tests continue to increase in popularity, and when combined with social media sites such as Facebook and Google+You, are providing adoptees with a sense of family and belonging they have not been previously able to enjoy.

Limitations of DNA Testing

DNA tests range in price from $100 – $500, depending on the extent of, and type of test performed.  The companies offering the testing are up front about the limitations, and warn that it is much more common to find distant relatives such as third or fourth cousins than actual siblings or birth parents. Some adoptees have been fortunate, connecting with brothers or sisters, but these types of results are rare. Nevertheless, as DNA testing continues to evolve, the chance of finding first generation relatives is increasing constantly. Some companies have databases of over a quarter million names, and those numbers are only increasing. You may not find a relative today, but in 6 months or a year, there may be a match present in one of the databases.

There is also the possibility that found family members may not wish to connect with adoptees, so one should prepare for that possibility when searching ancestors. There have been instances when people have stopped communicating when they found out their new relative was adopted. It is for this reason that many experts believe that adoptees spend more time nurturing their current relationships rather than face the pain of rejection. There have however been many joyful reunions due to DNA testing, the case of Mrs. Vaughan being one. If you are considering finding birth relatives through DNA testing, be aware of the potential pitfalls as well as the benefits, and always remember to respect the privacy and wishes of others.

I recently spoke with a friend who attended a genealogical convention in Dublin, Ireland. This person had undergone DNA testing which compared his DNA with that of another person who he suspected might be related to him. It turned out that their DNA’s matched on 99% of Y-DNA markers; yet even though they suspected that they were third cousins, neither of them could find evidence of the other in their family histories. Even though their DNA was almost identical, it appeared they may not be related at all. My friend approached a well known genealogist and asked him about a possible explanation. I was, and you may well be, surprised at the answer he was given.

The Explanation

My friend had used Family Tree DNA’s Surname Project, and the first thing the expert explained was that; just because two people don’t have any DNA in common within the Family Inheritance section of Family Tree DNA, or if they can’t locate each other in the website’s Projects, this doesn’t mean that they are not related. What it does point to is that the people involved shared a common male ancestor (revealed by the DNA Y-Markers they had in common), but not any other DNA.

Because DNA is passed from generation to generation randomly, the entire genetic makeup of a parent is not completely passed on to the child. This means that certain components or parts of that DNA are lost in subsequent generations. In an attempt to make this clearer, the professional genealogist went on to explain that cousins will only share DNA if they have inherited the same random components from their common ancestors. As you can imagine the probability of that occurring decreases with each generation.

My friend and the other individual who was tested believed that they were third cousins. This meant that they only had two of sixteen ancestors in common through four generations. In their case it seemed that they did not randomly inherit any common DNA from those two ancestors. It is possible however that they inherited different components from those two common ancestors, but they wouldn’t appear as a match on Family Tree DNA because the same segment of DNA is required for that.

It must be stated at this point that the DNA testing on Family Tree DNA compares only those bits of DNA that are submitted for testing. An entire DNA test, known as a Whole Genome test, is not readily available to consumers, yet that is the only analysis that can compare the entire DNA’s of different persons.

Our Two Family Trees

My friend was satisfied with this explanation, though still convinced that he was related to the other person involved. Why couldn’t they find each other within their respective family histories? This was the revealing answer we were given; turns out that in essence we all have Two Family Trees!

The first is our Genealogical Family Tree, which is the collection of recorded documentation of our family throughout the ages. There are several reasons why my friend and his “cousin” couldn’t find each other in their family history records. They are obviously related due to having a common male ancestor, but adoption, divorce, missing records, name changes, immigration, and many other circumstances could account for their dilemma. They’ll have to sort out whichever that is and come to terms with it, but without DNA testing they could have never been sure if they were related or not. That being confirmed, they can now move forward in their respective searches.

Our genealogical family tree also involves our biological history; every person within our family who gave birth to a child, who gave birth to a child, which eventually led to you. This is the family tree we are all familiar with, but apparently there is another which can reveal additional information – our Genetic Family Tree.

Because not everyone in our ancestral lineage contributed DNA to us (due to the random nature by which DNA is passed on), we all possess a second family tree – our genetic one. This contains every ancestor in our family lineage that has contributed DNA to our makeup. The increasing availability of genetic sequencing to the common populace will eventually make it possible to fully trace and construct our Genetic Family Trees similarly to how we now construct our genealogical ones.

The exciting developments within the science of DNA testing are opening up a whole new genealogical sphere. DNA samples from living people can now be used to determine the inheritance of DNA from ancestors who died centuries before. This is making it increasingly easier to determine ancestral connections and to find missing relatives, but also gives us more genealogical work to do – constructing our Genetic Family Trees. Better get to work!

I sat straight up in my chair and listened more intently. And to my surprise; I learned Genghis Khan’s DNA might possibly be in my family genealogy! and he could be in yours too!

No way, that is impossible, I thought. I have to check this out.

Who was Genghis Khan?

Genghis Khan (1162-1227), born in Mongolia, is infamous for attempting (and partially succeeding) to conquer the world. His empire stretched all the way from Poland in the West to Korea in the East. From Vietnam in the South to the Arctic Shores of Russia in the north. In his quest to rule the world, he attacked and captured many countries and took advantage of the women.

Considering his military successes, it is difficult to argue that Genghis Khan was one of the greatest military minds in history. He was relentless in his quest. To his credit, only few armies have succeeded in conquering Russia.

Is Genghis Khan your Grandfather?

In an article in National Geographic News from February 14, 2003, researchers found that the widespread appearance of Genghis Khan’s DNA is a clear example that culture plays a big role in genetic variation and diversity in human population. This is the first documented case when human culture has caused a single genetic lineage to increase to such an enormous extent in only a few hundred years.

Does this mean, more people are from the same family tree than we have come to believe? I mean, is my next-door neighbor my cousin or the Prime Minister of Pakistan my great-great grandfather? Is Genghis Khan your grandfather? (Khan is a popular name in Pakistan).

But even if your name isn’t Khan, and you have no direct reason to believe Genghis Kahn is in your family tree, his DNA can be found all over Europe and Russia – where my family and many North American families originate. You can read more about DNA Genealogy in an earlier post called DNA Genealogy: The Fascinating Link to Our Origins.

History has it that Genghis Khan’s oldest son had 40 sons of his own. Reportedly, his grandson, Kublai Khan had 22 legitimate sons and every year added 30 virgins to his harem. The exact number of sons Genghis Khan had is unknown, but documented evidence show he had at least four.

Multiple wives having multiple children is a definite recipe for spreading DNA.

Wouldn’t you like to know who’s really in your Family Tree?

I hope you are as curious as I am to explore this possibility. Will this information add another branch to my Family Tree? Is Genghis Khan’s DNA is in your family tree?

I don’t know how long it will take or what you will find. But I would love to know where your research takes you.

I hope eventually researchers will find Genghis Khan’s remains, extract his DNA and solve the mystery. How interesting that would be?

Tell me. Would you have your DNA tested? You can test it right now and find out what how you are related genetically to others and find out if the journey your ancestors took made them cross paths with dear old Grampa Genghis. You can order ancestral DNA genealogy testing kits online from GeneTree.com.

Please leave a comment or drop me a line. Let me know what you think.

Let’s face it, even the most skilled genealogist is going to come to the end of the line in terms of documentation, records, images and evidence of ancestors. When you compare the length of time humans have been inhabiting this planet to the length of time humans have been keeping records, there is a huge disparity. Then factor in natural disasters and unruly political and religious leaders who destroyed valuable documents either intentionally or inadvertently through poor storage methods and other circumstances. What we are left with is barely enough information to go more than a few hundred years back in our search for our ancestors.

That’s if you are one of the lucky genealogy researchers whose ancestors kept written records or had written records kept for them through the church or the government. Many of the world’s people are from an oral tradition, where the elders of the community kept the records in their memories. Those records were shared in the form of dance, songs and stories. Now much of that valuable information is gone because of unspeakable crimes committed on those communities or written records only go back a few decades or the facts are misrepresented.

So where do you turn when the end of your search looms ahead? Many genealogy researchers are turning to DNA genealogy to fill in the missing pieces of their ancestry. If they can’t know the names and important facts about their specific ancestors, then at least they can know about their specific group of ancestors through DNA Genealogy Testing.

This recently published article called, How We Lost Our Diversity explains how modern people came to have the DNA we have, and how modern people lost the diversity of early people through two major bottlenecks that happened about 60,000 years ago and another about 19,000 years ago. Now, it’s so much easier to discover who your ancient ancestors were. Now it’s much easier to answer the question, “where did I come from?” with DNA Genealogy.

If you go back far enough, we’re all related. We all share certain genetic markers that make us human. But it is the genetic markers that we don’t all share that can explain who we are, where we are from, and how we came to be where we are today.

For the past 2 decades, the scientific community has known that the most genetically diverse group of people are Africans. Out of all the nationalities and people of the world, Africans have the most number of unique genetic markers. What this tells us is that Africa is the origin of all people. Some people left and, of course, took with them their unique genetic markers and settled in the Middle East and India. Some people left and went on to Europe and still others continued the journey through the Bering Strait into North America.

The recent discovery that is really making DNA genealogy testing an important part of any genealogy research is the fact that on two separate occasions, the numbers of unique genetic markers were drastically reduced. Scientist have discovered that about 60,000 years ago, as early people were migrating out of Africa, over the Himalayas into the Middle East, there was a sharp drop in unique genetic markers. Then another drastic drop as people made their way over the Bering Strait into Yakut, about 19,000 years ago.

The implications to the world of genealogy is tremendous. Now every person can discover their DNA profile as it relates to ancient people. You can now discover exactly who you are descended from and research the journey your people might have taken. But the most exciting discovery you’ll make with your DNA profile is the connections between people alive today! You can collaborate with your DNA cousins, people who share your unique genetic markers, to find out if you have common ancestry.

More and more people are choosing to test their DNA with the hopes of finding a match with people alive today, but also so they can truly see who their ancient ancestors were. Now with this discovery the information you can get from a DNA test is even better and more refined.

You can order ancestral DNA genealogy testing kits online from GeneTree.com.

Would you take a DNA genealogy test?