Free DNA testing is available

[Mr. McD]

through the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. http://www.smgf.org/index.jspx

I have requested a kit and will be submitting a sample soon. They require a four-generation pedigree with your DNA sample.

[IA_Seth]

1. do you have to have 4 generations in each line?

I have 4 generations back on my father's side (except his grandmother's line from Germany), but my mother's line is a haze of common names in the South.

[Mr. McD]

4. That would be my interpretation but

you should contact them to be sure.:shrug:

[sybylla]

2. Do they have a privacy statement

I'd give nothing of the sort to any company if I wasn't guaranteed complete privacy. What's to keep them from doing an Ancestry type thing - storing it in a database and charging money to let others see your information?

on edit: sorry for the attitude. I am just amazed at the personal information genealogists are willing to trade away for the tiniest bit of free information. Nothing ever comes "free."

[Mr. McD]

3. All the information you need

to make an informed decision is available on their website. They do have a privacy policy http://www.smgf.org/pages/privacy.jspx.
Their database can be searched for free even with DNA tests from commercial companies. My family tree has been posted on my personal website for about eight years. It is already open to the public. I have several dead ends that I hope to solve. I am hoping DNA will tear down the walls. I may yet try a commercial DNA test later for the McDonald DNA project.