I had similar misgivings a few years ago when I signed up for this
board, and decided not to participate (yet).
My worries:
<the validity of the Y chromosome studies. Only recently have
companies admitted that the polymorphism rates vary by family.
<the credibility of the companies. There are stories of ripoffs.
And, if there are too many companies not sharing data, the results are
of limited value.
<the reliability of existing genealogical lineages. I have doubts
about a good many family trees with evidence of researcher "grafting."
<the adoption/cuckhold issue. Back a century ago, households took in
orphans and gave them their surnames, with no formal record. And if a
child was of questionable paternity, it wasn't investigated or talked
about.
Now, I'm considering participating. But I want to learn that these
worries have been considered, taken into account, and (when possible)
resolved.
Rees
On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 8:27 AM, Sloan Crayton <sloanc(a)mindspring.com> wrote:
I paid for my Dad to be tested a few years ago in hopes that we would
be
able to find a link to other Chapmans through DNA. As far as we know, my
great great grandfather did not have surviving siblings but we believe he
had lots of cousins. Unfortunately, none of that group of Chapmans have been
tested to prove or disprove our theory.
I understand that with the current economic downturn, many people may
question spending money on DNA tests to look for long lost connections. But,
I wish they would find a way to do it. They have knowledge of grandparents
and great grandparents that may be lost once they are gone. Their
descendants may participant in a Y-search study, but their descendants may
not know the names and stories of older relatives. You know, how Grandpa
wound up here when he started out there. And certain family traits that seem
to be passed on generation to generation. That is always such a loss.
Nancy
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