Ancestry DNA results

[_Jersey Girl]

Ok you're not going to like this, but if the half-aunt's other parent was your friend's parent's cousin from a sibling of their grandparent, then the half-aunt and your friend would be second cousins.

I prefer to think it is the vagaries of statistical analysis that gave you that result, however.

Let me step away and think about your above. I'm willing to consider any explanation whether I like it or not. Truth matters to those involved.

I'm at least somewhat convinced that the test results are imprecise and based on loose interpretations but I don't know how to prove it. At the same time I admit that I don't fully understand how the tests work.

I'll check back here later. I appreciate your time and responses, Lemmie.

[_Jersey Girl]

Back on the horse after a long day. Adding even more detail that I received earlier. Color coding to make this more readable.

Adding more detail to the OP:

A person got her DNA results back. (No, it's not me).

Her aunt and uncle are listed as:

Aunt (Second cousin) 609 cM shared

Uncle (Close relative) 1,640 cM shared

Aunt and Uncle are siblings.

What explains this?

When the details portion of the results are opened up, here is what it shows:

Aunt (Second cousin) 609 cM shared
Shared across 26 DNA segments
Confidence: Extremely High
Possible range: first - second cousins

Uncle (Close relative) 1,640 cM shared
Shared across 62 DNA segments
Confidence: Extremely High
Possible range: close relative- first cousin


Which seems to muddy the waters just a bit in that, both the aunt and uncle could fit as first cousin though the uncle leans heavy towards close relative where the aunt seems to lean heavy in the direction of second cousin which makes little to no sense to me unless it represents distance in terms of how much DNA is shared between them.

Making it more likely that there is one shared parent between them and one that is not shared.

Then...there is this information supplied. I extracted only the ranges/relationships applicable to this case.

1450-2050 aunt/uncle
680-1150 first cousin
200-620 second cousin

It says absolutely nothing about half aunt or half uncle relationships so the results are not stated with much differentiation regarding relationships in the same way that the charts are that I posted previously.

This still leaves open the question about the relationship between the aunt/uncle. Do they share both parents in common? Do they share only a mother? Share only a father?

And how does one discover this without doing either or both the Y and X chromosome testing?

Have not received a written response from Ancestry. Didn't get through on the phone call but only because I wasn't wiling to wait in the queue for 15 minutes at the time.

These tests, although they can be fun and interesting, can also be quite disruptive which is why I posted the inquiry here as I was trying to get multiple responses from a variety of sources for these folks.

I'll continue to compare responses until I can come up with a comment or two for those involved.

[_I have a question]

Adding more detail to the OP:

A person got her DNA results back. (No, it's not me).

Her aunt and uncle are listed as:

Aunt (Second cousin) 609 cM shared

Uncle (Close relative) 1,640 cM shared

Aunt and Uncle are siblings.

What explains this?

They’re from Kentucky?

[_honorentheos]

If I had to guess at an explanation, it is that the aunt was not the uncle's sister but his niece or cousin. Meaning, she was born to someone who was likely too young to marry in a family where abortion wasn't an option. And to avoid scandal her grandparents raised her as if they were her parents, and she was told her likely parent was a sibling. It rules out the uncle having fathered her, but most likely if she has a sibling who was in their teens when she was born they would be a good candidate for being her parent. Or maybe a cousin in another family that wasn't in a position to take her in and raise her. But something like that.

[_Markk]

I'm sticking with Sancho...

https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... -zTUsq_mPM:

[_Lemmie]

If I had to guess at an explanation, it is that the aunt was not the uncle's sister but his niece or cousin. Meaning, she was born to someone who was likely too young to marry in a family where abortion wasn't an option. And to avoid scandal her grandparents raised her as if they were her parents, and she was told her likely parent was a sibling. It rules out the uncle having fathered her, but most likely if she has a sibling who was in their teens when she was born they would be a good candidate for being her parent. Or maybe a cousin in another family that wasn't in a position to take her in and raise her. But something like that.

that was my thought also, but abortion not being an option certainly adds some empathetic context.

Ok you're not going to like this, but if the half-aunt's other parent was your friend's parent's cousin from a sibling of their grandparent, then the half-aunt and your friend would be second cousins.

I prefer to think it is the vagaries of statistical analysis that gave you that result, however.

I still think it is just a statistical anomaly. But if not, Jersey Girl, are you sure your friend will want you to get to the bottom of this?

[_Jersey Girl]

Hot off a call with Ancestry...the woman was very nice!

So...yes, it looks like a half-sibling relationship. There's no way to tell from these results which bio parent they share--we can all see that on the results.

The next step is having the aunt/uncle determine where they show up in each other's results. If a comparison is possible, the range will likely show differing numbers in terms of centiMorgans than the above results show.

The range will be something on the order of:

2000's for both: Full sibling
1300's for both: Close - first cousin. (Ancestryspeak for half sibling)

She said that the Y and X chromosome tests wouldn't be useful. I'll investigate that later as I've actually got a life here. ;-)

I do love a good mystery but this one is starting to wear on me!

[_Jersey Girl]

If I had to guess at an explanation, it is that the aunt was not the uncle's sister but his niece or cousin. Meaning, she was born to someone who was likely too young to marry in a family where abortion wasn't an option. And to avoid scandal her grandparents raised her as if they were her parents, and she was told her likely parent was a sibling. It rules out the uncle having fathered her, but most likely if she has a sibling who was in their teens when she was born they would be a good candidate for being her parent. Or maybe a cousin in another family that wasn't in a position to take her in and raise her. But something like that.

honor that sounds reasonable however, the mother of the aunt/uncle was an only child. I do have a way of checking if the mother actually gave birth to the aunt in question.

You are exactly right to bring up what constituted scandals back in the day. As the Ancestry lady admitted, these tests can result in joy and also heart break. We see that most pointedly in the stories about adoptees locating their bio parents. Some bio's welcome the reunion, others wanted their past to remain in the past which begs they question...then, why did they do their Ancestry DNA kit to begin with? They rolled the dice in that regard, I think they should have done so with the expectation that their results could lead their bio child to them.

[_Jersey Girl]

I still think it is just a statistical anomaly. But if not, Jersey Girl, are you sure your friend will want you to get to the bottom of this?

Yes, she does want to get to the bottom of this. It will help to at least partially settle a family dispute.

If it turns out to be a case of I am my own grandpa or whatever, no matter. They want it resolved as best they can.

I was invited into the situation because some of them believe I do well as mediator and can handle these types of sensitive issues without doing harm to the hearts involved. Well, we'll just have to see about that!

I can't move forward until I have my feet on at least somewhat solid ground.

And good luck with that girls and boys!

"It's complicated" ~ Harry Potter, DH2

[_Jersey Girl]

I'm sticking with Sancho...

https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... -zTUsq_mPM:

I would appreciate it very much if you would learn how to handle an adult conversation regarding serious content without lowering yourself to adolescent level.

Had you yourself posted an inquiry such as this, I would have met you with sensitivity to the issues raised here; understanding that they involve real people with real lives and real relationships that are being disrupted by the results in question.

Which is why they asked for outside help from me and I posed my questions to use this board as part of my resources with which to get them an explanation for what they see in their results and what the implications are to their family relationships and how they might set out to heal them.

In other words, stop making joke posts. Get in the conversation and act like an adult or go to the children's table somewhere else.