Steve got his test kit in the mail this week. It only took 3 days to get it from the day I ordered it. He did his first swab a few minutes ago. The instructions say to wait 3-5 hrs between swabs. He has three total swabs to do. Anxious to get these in the mail but will have to wait until Monday now.
DNA Test Decision
I decided to go with the same DNA research company that I used for my mom. I found out that it is also the same company that one of my Womble cousins used for their research. It just made sense to keep all of my genealogical DNA research within the same company. So, now, we have five immediate family members in the Family Tree DNA databases.
The DNA test that Steve is doing is different from the others though. FTDNA has a new test they call Family Finder. It is useful for adoptees who are looking for closer relatives than the ancestor DNA test usually provides. The Family Finder results will provide matches for five generations or less. We did not do the Y-DNA test yet. The cost would have been over $400 for the Family Finder and the Y-DNA test. Let’s see what the Family Finder results look like before we do the Y-DNA. It doesn’t do Steve any good to know who he is matched with that has a relative from many many generations ago if he doesn’t even know who his father is. The Family Finder should get him information that is useful in his immediate paternal family search.
DNA Project
Today is Father’s Day. This prompts a conversation between my husband and I about who his father might really be. He was adopted at birth. We know who his birth mom is, but not his dad. Ultimately, the conversation leads to the decision to pursue DNA matching using today’s DNA ancestry services. My mom participated in a DNA service which was interesting. In previous research, Steve was provided a name from a birth certificate that only a private investigator was able to see. The State of California has sealed the adoption records and this PI claims to have seen this birth certificate and this name. We have confirmed that name matches Steve’s birth date and birth mom by searching the California birth records’ online database. So, we are going to use that name in our DNA search project. But, we must allow for the possibility that Steve’s birth mom lied about the name. She lied about other information on that birth certificate and the name may just be a fabrication.
This is what we have to start with:
Paul Mitchell, Jr., born 10/22/1962 in Los Angeles, CA, to Katherine Yvonne Maben.
Hopefully, a DNA profile will prove whether Mitchell is really Steve’s paternal lineage. Going to do a little research now to find out if the same DNA database that I used for my mom will be the best choice for this type of research. FamilyTreeDNA.com is the website for the service my mom used.
Who Am I?
I read an article yesterday in the St. Louis Post Dispatch about the State of Illinois voting upon allowing adult adoptees access to their original birth certificates with the consent of the birth parents. This new legislation would open up so many doors to adoptees who just want to know who they are. Imagine you are adopted and that you looked and acted nothing like your adopted family. If you were given the opportunity to look at your original birth certificate, would you? Would you look for your birth family? Would you look for more clues to answer Who Am I?
It is this question that caused me to begin family history research. Not for me, but for my husband. That was more than ten years ago. We have found many answers but are still searching for more. Now, I research my own family history and am fascinated with it all.
Whether you are simply trying to fill out your family tree or searching for birth parents that may never have known you were born, this page is dedicated to you. I will post information that I find along my own journey.
Delanie and Me 