Can Ancestry DNA find siblings or half siblings? | Genetic Genealogy

[@AdaraBalabusta]

My Ancestry DNA test did. To clarify, my half-siblings were labeled as “Close Family - First Cousins.” We share 25% to 31% DNA, and according to a former student who earned his Ph.D. in Genetics, those numbers strongly indicate half-siblings. I was shocked to solve the great mystery of my life by spitting into a tube. ❤️

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Wow.. spit solving a mystery. Who knew? You can change the relationship to half-sibling using the new "How I'm related" feature (or whatever it's called). Devon covered that in this video in the middle kzbin.info/www/bejne/fV7Vdnufaq13jdk

[@Sw33tSara]

Did u need ur brother's DNA too?

[@christopheruchia]

I got messaged on Ancestry Nov 2022 from a young lady saying she might be my sister. I checked my Ancestry timeline for new matches and i saw her on it. She had 1800 cm compared to my half brother we share same mom 1700 cm. I thought Ancestry made a mistake which they didnt. Young lady shares more info and gives her birth fathers full name. 3 months later i found a stash of old photos and found her father in 1 photo. Found him on Ancestry and i asked him if my mom did have a 3rd child with him that she gave up for adoption and he said the young lady is that child. He is to call me within a week to talk about it. My mom died October 3rd 2002 and never talked about another child. Told my Sister to call me when she is ready to talk to me. Just been mind blown since seeing this is indeed real and not a mistake.

[@redjirachi1]

A question: how long after the test was this was? I got my results a few days ago and I'm curious how long it might take for some sort of twist reveal assuming such twist exists for me

[@christopheruchia]

@redjirachi1 update. I talked to my Sister's birth father. He is 72. He stated he was not a very good person back then and changed his life. He visited her in Buffalo new york. I will visit her around april/may. Dont expect immediate matches right away. Me and my brother joined Ancestry 2016. Our sister march 2022. My brother got her as a match 1st because I mailed his sample in 3 weeks b4 mine. I later got her on my relationship timeline 2 or 3 weeks after he got it. Also found out a new company now owns Ancestry. Original owner sold it.

[@deanodebo]

I’m a secret kid too. All kinds of surprises coming up. That generation could literally take a secret to the grave

[@petuniahead9982]

Amazing. Glad you found out the truth. I have a brother that was given up for adoption and I'm hoping to find him someday.

[@chrisseidl8294]

My mom had this done and 3 of her 1st cousins came back as half-siblings. Which she kind of chuckled about, because her dad and her cousins dad are....twin brothers.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Yep.... twins make things interesting to be sure.

[@peachygal4153]

Yes, if one of your parents has an identical twin their twin will show up as your parent too.

[@rayp-w5930]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics my Lewis relatives and ancestors engaged in frequently marrying other Lewises, has anyone calculated how much this is likely to skew percentages on each occurrence? or maybe its not that simple?

[@margecampbell4667]

My brother married my husband's sister. We have 3 children, my brother has 6 sons. Ancestry says first cousin or close relation to my daughter's Ancestry. They are double cousins, and we all thought it would show as at least half siblings. Thinking the close relation is to hide those possible skeletons

[@AdaraBalabusta]

Yes, they will likely be labeled as “Close Family - First Cousin” followed by the match percentage. My half-brother and I share 31%, 2145cM across 35 segments. HTH. ❤️

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Ancestry doesn't have the ability to differentiate labels for half-aunts, half-cousins, or double relationships. BUT you can change the labels of those relationships. Devon covers this in the Ancestry Workflow in the middle somewhere kzbin.info/www/bejne/fV7Vdnufaq13jdk

[@peachygal4153]

close relative means they are not sure if it is half sibling or first cousin. I share 1325 with one first cousin. she shares normal first cousin with my siters. One 900, one 800. Our parents were brother and sister, and both are dead, but we assume they shared a high amount of DNA for example 3000 centimorgans.

[@redjirachi1]

My great-grandfather was married to two women that were double cousins. He only had kids with one (my great-grandmother) though so no 3/8th siblings or something

[@peachygal4153]

One woman did a youtube video that never knew who her father was until her DNA test pointed to her uncle by marriage.(her aunt's ex-husband) He would not do a test but his child, her known cousin did one. It came back 2000 centimorgans and full siblings to close family. (their mothers are sisters) so now she knows her uncle by marriage is her bio father.

[@MikeDial]

My mother and my father, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, divorced and later my mom married my dad's brother, so I have 3/4 siblings. I share 2825cM over 51 segments with one of my full siblings and 2010cM over 60 segments with one of my 3/4 sibs, in case you were wondering what that looks like.

[@msartlit]

That is interesting. I know of two brothers who married women who were sisters. I often wondered how the "cousins" would measure up in DNA matches.

[@AdaraBalabusta]

@@msartlit The percentage would be similar to that of half-siblings, or so I have read. ❤️

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Sure. Feel free to share that with me at [e-mail]

[@annewandering]

And children and parents. DNA is amazing or horrible depending on your point of view! It is more complicated than one dna test though.

[@meatwad1]

It's amazing and wonderful but it also shows you how selfishness is universal. So many people are totally self-absorbed and they don't care to know you even though you're family.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

So true... amazing or horrible.

[@LindaShahid]

I found my mums farther,4 half siblings all with different mothers .born in the same areas in 1919. A soldier.

[@redheadredemption5351]

I did 23 & Me and found a probable first cousin but they’re non-responsive. I just sent in my Ancestry DNA kit.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

let's hope you find 2st cousins on Ancestry and they can help you out.

[@AdaraBalabusta]

I read or saw something which indicated that about 75% of contacts over these types of websites do not receive a response. I wish you a better experience in the future. ❤️

[@ValorieZimmerman]

@@AdaraBalabusta True, but that's why I write to lots and lots of them. Sometimes I get replies years later!

[@ValorieZimmerman]

Also sometimes I message them on Facebook, etc. -- and it sometimes works!

[@themilitanthousewife8021]

As some are looking for Bio Answers of their Parents some don't reply.Even Matches which are My Family still don't reply or try to deny we are related etc even though I know about my family history.I have a cousin with over 200cM but they have not replied but by our matches I know which side of my family they are from. This is on Ancestry but after Xmas going to upload on GedMatch.

[@SuperTruthful]

My ancestor test had my half sister as a DNA match..so yes they can ..but she was listed as close family ...first cousin for me. We share according to ancestry 20% DNA but i think it should be more than that.

[@AdaraBalabusta]

Usually the share would be higher but not necessarily. ❤️

[@rettawhinnery]

Yes, a half-sibling would typically share about 25% of your DNA, but there is a range and your half-sister is well within the range. Different companies test different SNPs, so the different DNA companies don't come out with the same results.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Often 1/2 siblings and 1/2 aunts appear in databases as 1st cousins because they fall into the first cousin shared cM Range. I've seen a half aunt appear as a 1st cousin to her sibling. I'll also defer to Retta's comments about the percentage shared. Again, there are ranges.

[@kerrygold6494]

Took me a while to figure out a relationship. Had a relationship from ancestry as follows. 1277 shared cm across 41 segments with a longest segment of 142. Shared DNA 18% Turns out our fathers were identical twins. We came in on the low range of shared cm, however our shared segment was much longer than the others. DNA can be wild.

[@rolling_marbles]

Very insightful and clarifying. What is the program you used to compare the two DNA to show the partial and full overlap?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

If you're talking about the program where I write on the slides? That's a chrome extension called page marker.

[@MrMokokokoloko]

The fully identical vs half identical regions doesn't help too much on Ancestry since they lack a chromosome browser.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

That is true. We agree that a chromosome browser would be helpful. It seems this request is falling on deaf ears. :(

[@Chow0518]

I just did AncestryDNA, I had three “close matches” of 23%-27% & was matched only with members of my mothers side - Meaning I would be my mothers 100% but now theres a question of who the other half of me comes from. The thing about this, is that my parents admit to going to a clinic, although, they believed they were getting “help”, hoping for the result of making my parents able to conceive from one another. Im 23, If anyone had any info that can help…

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Did your father or anyone on his side of the family take a DNA test? If so, and their close relatives (aunt/uncles, 1st cousins, grandparents) then you are not related to the man that raised you. But my wife recommends you put him on your family tree for trying to provide you a life. (She's the paper trail genealogist to my genetic tree building). Then you can attempt to figure out who your 'switched before conception' biological family might be. If not, then test your closest relatives of your father's family.

[@GGMCreates]

I've been going down this rabbit hole of videos lately. I have known I was donor conceived since I was about to start 2nd grade.... I've found some stories that I hope I am not a part of where parents went in for help, and without consent of the parents, the dr used his own samples, the samples of interns, or family members instead of the father or the donor they were paying to be inseminated with. Haven't been brave enough to even get this far in considering testing before.

[@Th3Alibi]

23 and me just found a sister I had no idea existed. Can 23&me be wrong at a 3324cM match? Is there any chance these results are inaccurate? We were both adopted and had no idea each other existed

[@tesskaiser2190]

Me too. No it's totally accurate. My dad has dementia he started mentioning 3 daughters. I did the test and I do have a sister. Living in same state. It's crazy

[@mackfloyd4447]

What do I need to use? Need recommendations!! Which is the most accurate?, need to find out who I truly am & get some closure

[@RHill40]

Andy, is it possible that a half sibling can have a 18.24% DNA match? Im not seeing the CM on 23&Me.

[@stardustdreams234]

I found my dad's 2 half sisters. One from his mom's side and one from his dad's side.

[@LanceHall]

My niece tested at 23me and from the centimorgan total I realized her mother was only my half sister.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Yikes?

[@hermelindaromero2485]

In order to have matches.. those matches (people) need to have done a DNA test at the place you had your DNA done.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Quite so.

[@alexrXX]

Totally agree.

[@whychromosomesmusic5766]

I have half-siblings and full siblings and therefore have half-nephews and half-nieces and full nephews and nieces. Two half-siblings have tested on Ancestry DNA. No full siblings have done DNA tests at all. But one of my full nieces has tested. A number of half-nephews and/or half-nieces have tested. I also have full first cousins and half-first cousins and a number of those have tested. Also from shared ancestry further back I have half-relationships. It gets really crazy when Ancestry says they are half-great grand something or other aunts or uncles or cousins twice removed. ;-)

[@AdaraBalabusta]

I agree. At the same time, those results can hint at an unknown spouse or relationship. ❤️

[@whychromosomesmusic5766]

@@AdaraBalabusta Yes they can. In some cases I think it's just an estimated relationship based on the cM. I don't really understand how ThruLines are created. In some cases I think it is merely the number of times a person appears in family trees whether the person belongs there or not. A number of trees have no sources at all. Some of them have census info which is what I am going through presently. Some of them are correct and it saves me from trying to find what someone else has already found. A scant few tree entries contain more significant sources: probates, land, court, etc. One of the things that attracts me to ThruLines is the probability that my potential matches did their research the same way that I did. They started with the present and what they know and worked their way backwards a step at a time to discover what they did not know. So they have a more vested interest in doing research on that particular branch of my tree AND they are not confined to researching from where the family was in the past as I am. They have the advantage of knowing WHERE the family potentially ended up -- geographically.

[@ValorieZimmerman]

@@whychromosomesmusic5766 You are correct that it is based on trees. And you are using it as it is meant to be used -- as clues.

[@whychromosomesmusic5766]

@@ValorieZimmerman A treasure map that the pirates could have put fake clues on to throw me off the trail of the treasure ;-)

[@ValorieZimmerman]

@@whychromosomesmusic5766 Ha! I think few people deliberately create incorrect trees. I sure did not, but I know that in my own trees there are errors I've not found and fixed, or worse -- errors I don't know are errors.

[@rayp-w5930]

my brother and i show 52.77% shared dna (23 and me test) We have different Y-DNA haplogroups but they are close-ish the phylogenetic tree. he is R-L47 while I am R-Z159. Isn't this conclusive that we are half siblings? or is there some wiggle room?

[@RealmsOfThePossible]

I'm working from what I have assumed is a half first cousin 1x removed to trace my unknown father so would I be right in thinking this person's grandparent would be my half uncle and therefore the half uncle's brother would be my father tracing the relationships on this person's tree?

[@michelleschmidt2419]

So to clarify, does someone I'm searching for have to be in the ancestry dna database or can their dna be in any dna database?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

You would need to be in the same database as your genetic matches no matter which company that is.

[@jaqnae]

Ancestry let me know who was my half sister. It stated half sister. I would send a screen shot, but KZbin will not let me

[@AdaraBalabusta]

How interesting! Mine didn’t say that until I changed the relationship to “half-brother” and”half-sister.” The same thing happened with my cousins: a range of possible relationships was listed, and I had to change it to a specific relationship. ❤️

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Yay! Glad you found your half-sister. Screen shots can be sent to [e-mail]

[@Sw33tSara]

So if I get a test I'll know? Or will I need to collect my brother's DNA too . And does ancestry do both

[@MotorCityEastSide]

You will need your brother DNA as well, that’s what I am doing now after my brother mentioned to my wife that the picture on wall was not my father, that we have the same father, so many secrets but I need to know the truth for myself and my kids.

[@louisvalois3863]

I have a very close relative on MyHeritage with a very high 45 centimorgan genetic match (30cM largest segment). But neither my father nor my mother has a genetic hit !!! How can this be?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Check out this article whoareyoumadeof.com/blog/why-dont-i-have-all-of-the-same-dna-matches-that-my-parents-do/

[@KentPetersonmoney]

What if your half sibling was also your 1st cousin. For example mom having kids from two brothers or dad getting two sisters pregnant. Could they show up as full siblings since a half sibling/cousin would share more DNA than a regular half sibling.

[@rettawhinnery]

If you are related to your DNA match through two different paths, it does affect the percent of DNA shared or the amount of centiMorgans (cM). A half-sibling would share about 25% and a first cousin would share about 12.5%, so the person might share about 37% of their DNA with you. That's generally a clue that the person might be related to you in more than one way.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Retta nailed it. Thanks!

[@peachygal4153]

a woman has a youtube video which is exactly that. She never knew who her father was. Her mom had her as a teen and never said. she took a DNA test to see if she could find out. shockingly she shared DNA with her maternal cousin's known paternal cousins. she got one of her maternal cousins to a DNA test to compare with her and they shared 2000 centimorgans. So, her uncle by marriage was her father. Sounds gross yes but what is worse her mom was a young teen, and he was in his mid 20's. That makes him a predator to me. He seduced his teenage sister-in-law. No wonder her mom pretended to not know who her father was. what a burden she was forced to hide. At least her aunt and him divorced long ago.

[@invadertifxiii]

yes i found 2 half sisters from ancestry, they share 25% on my ancestry results, what do u mean identical regions

[@nickolasrettinger3056]

Hello, I'm asking the KZbin community for help. I took the Familytree test a couple of years ago. Recently unrelated that I have taken a test, I got in contact with someone who can possibly be my half brother (share same dad). The half brother agreed to a test. Which company should I go with to confirm the possibility I have a half brother??

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Which ever test you have taken is the test they should take.

[@itsjustmeagain986]

Yes the test can reveal identity. I was contacted several years ago by a gentleman looking for my father. He shows up as a 1st cousin sharing 31% of shared DNA. The people in the 1st-2nd cousin brackets share 8% or less. Good job imo.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

That's a great discovery.

[@itsjustmeagain986]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics he is my half-brother who was born in Germany. He shared 2140 cM across 37 segments.

[@Kyndlee]

Then why doesn't Ancestry try harder to separate the possibilities of relations in order to be more accurate?

[@sr2291]

How can you see half identical and fully identical segments on amazon?

[@patriciamitchell9365]

Amazon? Amazon is for shopping not genetics.

[@sr2291]

@@patriciamitchell9365 I guess I meant Ancestry DNA. Sorry

[@sr2291]

@@patriciamitchell9365 Guess I meant Ancestry DNA. Sorry. Lol

[@redjirachi1]

This is a weird question, but if I suspected my dad or grandpa cheated and I have a half-sibling or half-aunt/uncle, what would be the best DNA ancestry test to confirm it?

[@peachygal4153]

they all work but both of you have to take it from the same company.

[@redjirachi1]

@@peachygal4153 My Grandad spent time in Japan on shore leave during the Korean War. If he had a kid there he didn't know about what shared DNA would I have with that theoretical child and grandchild of that kid. Aka how much DNA would one share with their half-uncle's son and grandson respectively. Just asking hypotheticals

[@KentPetersonmoney]

What if your half sister is also your mother, what would ancestry show them as?

[@AdaraBalabusta]

Have you been watching the film “Chinatown” or is this real? ❤️

[@KentPetersonmoney]

@@AdaraBalabusta no but I saw clips from a movie with John Travolta. His character had 3 kids with his daughter and it's base on a ture story

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

That would be an incestous relationship and it would depend on how much DNA you inherited. Ancestry might show a sibling relationship or a cousin relationship since it could be ambiguous.

[@donotneed2250]

I recently found out that my half-brother's DNA and a cousin's(mom's side) led my son, whom I did not know I had, to me. We are currently awaiting results from AncestryDNA for confirmation. To keep it short, he was produced in another country when I was on active duty in 1980.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

What an unexpected surprise. How are you handling it?

[@donotneed2250]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics, after the shock started wearing off I became ecstatic. I am frustratingly waiting on results from AncestryDNA to confirm what we both feel. I sent his picture to one of my favorite cousins and asking who did he look like. That's all and no other information. She replied that he looks like me. I learned how to wait as a soldier and over-the-road driver but this waiting is worse than waiting for Christmas when I was a kid. He said he got results back in 18 days after they received his sample. Eighteen days for me will be in two days and it's starting to drive me bunkers.

[@Jae_MaV]

​@@donotneed2250 can u give an update?

[@donotneed2250]

@@Jae_MaV, he and his family are in the country of his birth, grandchild is walking...

[@joanemercival2788]

Can I do ancestry test for 11years old to find half or full siblings

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

I have a video from a few years back that talks about minors and DNA testing. Have a watch. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYipqGOKbNGIiqM Then let me know if you still have questions.

[@msartlit]

So far the female descendants of my paternal grandmother's 1/2 sisters don't come up as DNA matches. Some descendants of her 1/2 brothers do. The descendants of her full siblings (brothers & sisters) do. The difference between my paternal grandmother and her 1/2 siblings is they share the same father but different mothers.

[@AdaraBalabusta]

How interesting! ❤️

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

That is interesting. Do you know if the descendants of the paternal grandmother's 1/2 sisters have tested?

[@msartlit]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics I believe that three sisters (descendants of my grandmother's oldest 1/2 sister) tested but I didn't have any match on ancestry dna with any of them at all. I suspect that's because our common ancestor was their great-great-grandfather and my great grandfather. So basically 1/2 second cousins 1x removed.

[@hwinny2]

I found two!

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

That's awesome.

[@leifellestad2621]

Light purple and dark purple are difficult to see any difference for people with defective color vision.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Thanks Leif. I'll try and use more contrasting colors next time.

[@amandamillar9184]

What if you share 2,215 cm? What is the relation here

[@wheres_bears1378]

I got a sibling match, but the account is managed by someone else. Is this a scam?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Not necessarily, I manage lots of my family's DNA accounts and a couple of unrelated people as well.

[@theMaryAnneR]

Well my half sister is listed as my first cousin on Ancestry

[@preciousratliff]

My second cousin is listed as half-cousin why is that?Shared DNA 384 cM

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Because the amount shared DNA can either be a half-cousin or a second cousin. Plug in the shared DNA amount into this tool. You'll see what I mean. dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4

[@tammycorton6873]

I just found out from my dad that I have half brother!! But he can’t remember nothing besides his name and his moms name!! I don’t have 100$ to do this😔

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

There are sales throughout the year around the major US holidays. Request one for your birthday or save up. That's what my wife and I did when the tests first came out.

[@DJCole2K]

Whats the mother name

[@GGMCreates]

What is a half-aunt?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

When your parent has a half-sibling that is female - that woman is your half-aunt.

[@myrnafernandez1835]

What a birthday gift five years ago I done DNA test to find my biological father and my half sisters and brother or someone related to them.🤔 family has no clue of who he is.🤯

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Be patient. It took 40 years for wife to discover the identity of her grandmother's biological father.

[@Nellychanelle]

Any luck?

[@thelion9489]

اi need help with results please. Anyone can help?

[@AdaraBalabusta]

I am still working on my credentials, but I would be happy to help as much as I could. I am on FB and LI, or you could lmk your email. ❤️

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Consult some genetic genealogy groups on Facebook. If you want more advanced help, reach out to www.legacytree.com/fhfanatics. They do research for a fee.

[@Megatron_James_Brady8121]

I heard I have a half sister out there.... but if she doesn’t take the test then I’ll never know huh???

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

That would be correct.

[@shannonmitchell5093]

I got match with my brother sharing 37.8 2660 191 cm longest and 43 shared sagmates and no x or y I'm xy female didn't know this but don't share that . And no x are we possibly sister and brother

[@shannonmitchell5093]

Really want to find my roots I love your videos can a company mess with your test as it's strange that we don't share y and x and only 43 sagmates and 191 cm longest

[@ValorieZimmerman]

Females so rarely have a Y that it is rarely discussed (XXY). What site are you using that shows X matches? Your brother got his X from your mother, if you share a mother. If you share only a father, you will not share any X. Ancestry does not have a chromo-browser or use X in matching which 23andMe has both. I don't think MyHeritage displays X or uses it in matches.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Well done Valorie. Thanks for responding similar to what I would say.

[@shannonmitchell5093]

Well we dont share any x dna or my y . Cause im xy female should we share y. And why dont i have any x do we share mom im so lost. I also had a mother show up as a match which lost me causr i thought this other lady was mom. So lost .

[@James-w6x9v]

Ok most of my native American people.but my cousin are native my DNA came back between 11-14 percent Asian indigenous.my sister didn't come back Asian indigenous.

[@James-w6x9v]

My sister came out French Canadian indigenous.and I came out Asian indigenous why

[@isa5537]

How can you tell if the sibling was from incest. Like for example brother n sister consummated, and their children show up as cousins...or close family instead of half siblings? Is that possible?😮

[@ruththompsonsavage]

One of my sets of Great Grandparents are 2nd cousins. It makes for interesting DNA results.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

So true.

[@alexrXX]

My immediate family consist of a 65 year old alchoholic sister . 70 yo sister with dementure. A theiving brother, and 2 drug addictied sons. Why would I want to find more stupid relatives.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Because not all relatives were less than stellar. Many of them are inspiring. But also, learning your family history can provide insights into the choices people make today based on the choices of the past.