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Follow Friday - Genealogy DNA - Pre-Launch of Family Finder DNA Test

Family Tree DNA is about to launch its new Family Finder Test. I was invited to join the pre-launch; unfortunately, I only have until March 28th to cough up $249.00 (the introductory price) for this new DNA test.

The Family Finder test will look at all your ancestral lines up to 6 generations. These results will be compared against the Family Finder database. To me this is the important part because as I stated in a previous post on Family Tree DNA if other distant cousins have not taken the test and are not in this database then this test maybe all for not. However, with that being said Family Tree DNA claims that as of March 26th, 2010 they have 287,296 records in their database. They have 5824 surname projects, 178,620 Y-DNA records and 108,676 mtDNA records.

What still remains unclear to me, is that these tests specifically say they will be matched against the Family Finder database not Family Tree DNA database and therefore with this being a new test I have to wonder how large a database this could be? If you purchase one of the tests below in conjunction with the Family Finder Test, then you get the advantage of having your test compared to either the mtDNA database or the Y-DNA37 database increasing your odds of finding cousins, but of course, that comes at a higher price.

When I follow the link to the page where I can order the pre-launch Family Finder DNA test I was given several options:

Family Finder Test $249.00

Family Finder + mtDNAPlus $389.00

Family Finder + Y-DNA37 $389.00

Comprensive Genome Test $797.00

If you wish to take advantage of the pre-launch tests, I suggest going to the Family Tree DNA website sign up for the newsletter on the family finder test and you most likely will get an invite or you can order here. I remain on the fence and welcome to hear about other family historian's experiences with Genealogy DNA tests. I will not be taking the Family Finder test at this time for two reasons, the price and my concerns regarding the database. If you do happen to order the tests, please email me or share your experience in comments.

Related Reading

Genealogy DNA Testing with Family Tree DNA

Genealogy DNA Testing -Is it Worth the Money?