Coming Soon: Y-DNA Haplogroups for Family Finder

[rmstevens2]

Way back at the end of July 2023, the following announcement appeared in FTDNA's GAP newsletter for project administrators:

Coming Soon: Y-DNA Haplogroups for Family Finder

We’re excited to announce that we will soon roll out Y-DNA haplogroups for Family Finder testers and transfers. We will add mtDNA later, but for now, only male testers will receive these haplogroups called from the Y SNPs included on the autosomal testing chips. The estimated schedule for this roll-out is as follows:

• Customers tested on the current chip (March 2019-present) will receive their results towards the end of August.
  
• Customers tested on older chips (from 2011-Feb 2019) will begin receiving results towards the end of September.
  
• Autosomal Transfers that have been unlocked will begin receiving results end of October.
  

Note: Ancestry/23andme transfers that have unlocked will be able to view their haplogroup, but it will not be used in the haplotree/Discover statistics, nor will their matches or group projects be able to view it in either place. Look for more information about this release soon!

Of course, the roll-out of this new feature has been delayed. No one has received a Y-DNA haplogroup from his Family Finder results yet. I'm still looking forward to it, however, since I have some FF matches with my surname who have never done any Y-DNA testing and who thus far haven't been willing to do it.

Maybe I am too much of an optimist at heart, but this morning it says this on the Family Finder part of my myFTDNA pages:

The option to download your matches list and segment data is currently unavailable as we work on enhancements. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience.

Could those "enhancements" include the long-awaited Y-DNA haplogroups for our FF matches?

I hope so. 

I'm not sure how far these Y-DNA haplogroups will go. I'm sure they won't have the resolution of the Big Y-700, but if they can get as far as 23andMe currently gets, that will be a huge step in the right direction.

[rmstevens2]

Here's something from Katy Rowe of Family Tree DNA, updated 29 August 2023, that indicates what kind of resolution we can expect from these FF Y-DNA haplogroups:

This means you’ll only receive a partial haplogroup from an autosomal test. Most customers can expect this haplogroup to have originated in the Metal Age (about 10,000 years ago). Comparatively, a predicted, broad haplogroup from a Y-STR test like the Y-37 or Y-111 will typically have originated in the Stone Age (about 100,000 years ago), and a haplogroup from the Big Y-700 will typically have originated in the Middle Ages or in the Modern Age (about 1,000 to 500 years ago)—within genealogical times.

Introducing Y-DNA Haplogroups for Family Finder Customers

[Riverman]

If the haplogroup prediction doesn't achieve the 23andMe-level, like the Iron Age time frame, it won't help me a lot, but will be fun to have nevertheless.
However, I hope they don't fall behind 23andMe or even the Morley predictor, because that woudl be a shame and missed opportunity.

[rmstevens2]

I can't remember where I read it, so I definitely could be mistaken, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that FTDNA's Family Finder actually goes beyond 23andMe on Y-DNA stuff.

If they get at least as far as 23andMe, that wouldn't be bad, because 23andMe has me listed as R-Z18021, which is the same thing as FTDNA's R-BY166. That's just five steps upstream of my current Big Y-700-tested terminal SNP. FTDNA dates BY166/Z18021 to about 750 AD, which isn't bad. 

Beats the heck out of R-M269.

[rmstevens2]

Two of my grandsons are in the group who should receive their Y-DNA haplogroups first.

• Customers tested on the current chip (March 2019-present) will receive their results towards the end of August.
  

They match their dad and me, so they will provide a test case of how far FTDNA goes with these FF-generated Y-DNA haplogroups. Both of my sons have also done Family Finder, but they did theirs back well before March 2019, so we'll have to wait for their Y-DNA haplogroups.

[rmstevens2]

The Y-DNA haplogroup I get from 23andMe (R-Z18021) is rare enough that if any of my same-surname FF matches get that far from FTDNA I can be pretty well assured we share a Stevens Y-DNA ancestor in common.

Then they'll be sorry, because I'll start pestering them to do the Big Y-700 test. If what they know is beyond what I know, I may offer to pay for the Big Y-700 myself.

That's a little scary.

[Awood]

I really want this for AncestryDNA instead.

[rmstevens2]

I really want this for AncestryDNA instead.

Maybe they'll do it to keep up.

I've written comments to them in response to their surveys recommending they also go at least as far as 23andMe with Y-DNA haplogroups.

Ancestry used to give Y-DNA results, but then they quit for some reason (after devouring all the Sorenson stuff, unfortunately).

[leonardo]

I really want this for AncestryDNA instead.

I would love a chromosome browser for Ancestry.

[rmstevens2]

Nothing yet. Kind of discouraging. As much as I sincerely love FTDNA - and I do - I wish they would hold their horses and not announce things until they are really ready to deliver them.

[sirdan]

Their blog post do not mention delivery time.

This is rotten viral marketing. Its like keeping its customers in constant think and wait. I would better not to hear this news but hear about the new feature when its ready.

[rmstevens2]

Their blog post do not mention delivery time.

This is rotten viral marketing. Its like keeping its customers in constant think and wait. I would better not to hear this news but hear about the new feature when its ready.

I don't think they intended anything bad. They just got out over their skis, as they say. It's too bad though. I for one got excited back at the end of July when they announced this, and then I had to deal with the disappointment of a delay.

Bummer. Guess it will be that much better when it finally comes about.

[Riverman]

Nothing yet. Kind of discouraging. As much as I sincerely love FTDNA - and I do - I wish they would hold their horses and not announce things until they are really ready to deliver them.

Reminds me on the Time Tree. It was first announced how long before it actually got delivered? Fantastic feature, but the waiting time was too long and the communication not appropriate either.

[Jalisciense]

I really want this for AncestryDNA instead.

I'd prefer the mtDNA tbh

[rmstevens2]

I really want this for AncestryDNA instead.

I'd prefer the mtDNA tbh

I'm much more interested in Y-DNA, because I have some Family Finder matches with my surname, and I've never been able to convince them to do any Y-DNA testing on their own. The Y-DNA results may eliminate them as paternal line relatives, but at least then I can cross them off my list. If the results go at least as far as 23andMe does and match mine, then I can be pretty sure they are paternal line matches. I can consider even offering to pay for the Big Y-700 if the potential is great enough. 

I did FTDNA's FGS mtDNA test and the Chromo2 from BritainsDNA, but mtDNA results haven't done much for me genealogically. Nice to know the full haplogroup, but that's about it.