Welcome back to my family history blog!

In a post I created My Journey to Getting a DNA Test I spoke about what it was like getting my family finder test done through FTDNA ( Family Tree DNA). FTDNA is known to be one of the best, most thorough, and largest DNA testing databases. Even with the family finder alone, it literally connected me to over 7k cousins 5 or less generations away!

That is astronomical to me. Never did I ever think my family was so big!!! Insane! Even at this last past RootsTech event that took place March 2-4, 2023, I found I had over 48,000 family members attending at once!!! “You are NOT alone” suddenly has an entirely new meaning to me!

Back to the topic at hand, getting to the results of my mtDNA full sequence report.

First off, totally not what I expected. In a great way too. My Native American ancestors did show up, also my Asian sides, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and more! I was so shocked to see Mexico, Cuba, Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, the Ancestry from the America’s have finally given me roots to the country I reside in, to where the Ethnicity Report shows I’m 100% European, now I know the ancestors are just too far back to show without the full report in which they now show. I finally know where my path started and how I came to be where I am today. And I am very grateful to know 100% and have been able to match up the migration paths to my family tree. I am so mixed.

I totally recommend FTDNA if you want to get a mtDNA full sequence report, a family finder test, and a Y-DNA test as well if you are biologically male. It’s worth it for sure, especially if you only have an Ethnicity report, because there is so much more that goes with it.

I however have not gotten into joining any public Halpogroup trees with those I’ve matched to. No study groups either. I think for me, it’s a more personal. Knowing myself and what, and who I come from. That’s what I gained from it.

Below are a few screenshots of what it looks like on the website…

As you can see, the layout is very easy to navigate.

•update

I was able to get more research done on my mtDNA full sequence with more DNA test sites to match me to certain individuals I may come from and that I am related to. It matched to my tree as well as my migration routes via ftdna, and not surprised due to the test I uploaded was from ftdna. It’s called My True Ancestry, and it’s free! Pretty cool 😎

Below are some screenshots of what it looks like on the site and how test results are broken down. Be sure to check it out and find your true ancestry!

I wish you all the best on your family history journey, and I hope it may be as enjoyable as my experience has been!

– Dawn Piercy, PhD