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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]DP. About the bold in your post -- No, not everyone has their DNA "out there" or wants it out there for public consumption![/quote]

If your ancestry is at least half European, it's almost certainly "out there." (Odds for other groups are lower, but far from non-existent.) It's not necessary for you to test yourself or for an immediate family member to test for it to be "out there." If a second cousin or closer has tested it is "out there." It may be even if the closest relative who has tested is a 4th cousin.  If someone is looking and tries, they will find you. Even if they aren't looking they may find you.

I'm "into" genealogy so my DNA is on all the major sites. As a practical matter, that means the DNA of every second cousin I have is too--and I have never met many of them. You can also figure out relationships further back than that in many cases.

On 23 and me, which uses a chromosome browser if you want it to, there is a bio tree generated solely by DNA. That's how I found out I have a second cousin given up for adoption.[b] I also found out someone in my family donated eggs. I let her know I'd figured it out--boy, was she shocked[/b]! I have a HUGE family, but there were enough clues for about 10 minutes of work to narrow it down. I don't know if the now young adults born from those eggs even knew the truth, but they took a 23 and me test and, of course, they match with people related to the donor, including me.

On Ancestry--my least favorite site--I have almost 33,000 matches. I know my family tree, so in some cases the thru-lines features let me see others who have tested who are descended from the same ancestor.

Of those 33,000 only about 1300-1400 are 4th cousins or closer.

As an example, my 3x immigrant great grandparents had 14 children. 11 of the kids and the parents packed up and moved west as pioneers. The other 3 stayed in New England. The 2 groups lost touch. Descendants of 6 of the 14 or a total of 22 people have tested on Ancestry. From this info, I now know the names of relatives as far removed from me as 4th cousins once removed. Yes, these people have tested, but with a little research, especially in the census, I can figure out the names of lots and lots of people who haven't tested.

My WASP line goes even further back. My WASP ancestors kicked my ancestor out of the family for marrying a Catholic. They made sure her death certificate says the names of her parents were "unknown." She was buried in an unmarked grave. DNA doesn't lie and so despite their best efforts to disown her I can prove that  I am their descendant. In this case, my family knew who she was and who her parents were. However, the descendants of her siblings knew nothing about her.

So, don't assume that because you haven't tested, your DNA isn't in the system. As I said, if your ancestry is at least half European, it's almost certain that some of your DNA is in the system. How do you think people like the Golden State Killer got caught? You think he took a DNA test? Nope, a second cousin did though.

[/quote]

Look at you stirring up trouble just to cause drama. You sound like a jerk.[/quote]

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