Should I take the mtDNA test or find someone to take a y-DNA test?
If you want to trace back your mother’s mother’s mother’s line, you would use the mtDNA test, which either male or female could take, since you share the same mtDNA. You should be aware, however, that mtDNA is not useful in tracing surnames, as it traces through women, whose surnames change each generation. It is helpful, however, for your deep ancestry, which may give you your geographic and ethnic origins. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) looks at the DNA that either a man or woman inherits from the mother’s side. This represents the mother’s mother’s…mother’s line. mtDNA tests the deep maternal ancestry (think 1000s of years) A mother passes her mtDNA to her children, but only females can pass it on. As mtDNA mutates very slowly, it becomes a link to your distant past – giving you the mtDNA of your mother’s mother’s … mother’s line. By testing, you learn your haplogroup – which tells you which “branch of woman” you descend from on your maternal side. In addition to learning your Haplogro
