Genetic Genealogy
Genetic genealogy is the newest innovation in genealogy research and has several important applications. It is particularly meaningful for adoptees who are looking to either find information about their birth families or are in need of more medical history information for themselves. It has also become an important tool in solving decades old criminal cases and hopefully will start to solve the cases of children who were found deceased and no family ever came forward to claim their bodies.
Adoptees
Children adopted at birth or at a very young age often want to know more about their birth family whether they are looking to meet them or not. We start with a client’s raw DNA results to see how close their closest DNA matches currently available online are. Typically a 2nd cousin or closer makes identifying at least the family possible. A 3rd cousin has a reasonable chance of making a connection to the adoptees family. Chances of making successful connections go down when substantially when the closest matches are 4th or 5th cousins. We do not contact family members for adoptees. This is a deeply personal decision. We recommend this decision be made within the family and for those who are looking for additional advice there are groups who available to help those considering contacting family members. I have seen many wonderful responses from men who didn’t know they were a father to that child and mother’s who are happy to be found, but I’m also seen many many cases without a happy ending.
Solving Cases
While I have not had the opportunity to work this type of case, the approach would be the same as searching for an adoptees family. The likelihood of finding the person in question would come down to the quality of the DNA matches available. Although as we’ve all recently red in the news narrowing the results down to a certain family allows law enforcement to take the next steps to identify the individual who matches the original DNA profile.
How to order research:
- Use the Contact page to email your research details include information about DNA tests that have been taken.
- Review research package options provided based on your objective.
- Select your preferred research package.
- Receive your digital and hard copy report.