FIBIS Blog

Win a Free DNA Test!

10 Oct | News,

Often in British India family research we hit a brick wall and suspect the cause is that an ancestor could be Indian. This can be hard to prove due to lack of documentary evidence and FIBIS started a DNA project a few years ago to help people in these situations. FIBIS would like to help a few more of its members by giving away three Family Finder Tests from Family Tree DNA.

Free DNA test image

What is a Family Finder Test?

A Family Finder Test can identify living genetic relatives who share an ancestor with you up to 5 generations back. The test can be taken by men or women. Family Finder uses autosomal DNA (Chromosomes 1-22) and the X chromosome to identify regions of your DNA that are ‘identical by descent’ (IBD) with other members of the Family Tree DNA database. The amount of IBD DNA shared between two individuals is used to determine a relationship range and a suggested relationship.

The test also provides percentages of your ancestral make-up. For example it might say you are 90% European and 10% Central/South Asian. It might then break it down European further into 50% British Isles, 20% Central and Western Europe, 15% Scandinavian and 5% Southern European and Central/South Asian into 5% Eurasian Heartland and 5% Indian Tectonic. There are currently 22 population clusters in seven geographic groups used to evaluate your biogeographic ethnicity or ancestry.

Due to the nature of autosomal DNA, the test does not specify from which branch of your family tree your matches or the percentages of your geographic heritage derive.

If you have hit a brick wall in your family history in India and think a DNA test might help then why not enter the competition?

How to enter

The competition is open to FIBIS members only. To enter please submit 400-600 words on why you feel a DNA test would be useful in helping you with your British India research and include brief details of your family and your brick wall. If you feel a Y-DNA or mtDNA test will be more beneficial to your research please explain why and we may consider providing a discount off the relevant test in place of the Family Finder test. Send you entries to [email protected] and please remember to include  your FIBIS membership number.

Terms & Conditions

  • All entrants must be FIBIS members.
  • FIBIS trustees and their immediate family may not enter.
  • The FIBIS Committee will pick the winning entrants and the judges ‘ decision will be final with no correspondence being entered into regarding judging.
  • The judges reserve the right not to award any free tests if the quality of entries justifies that action.
  • The competition closes on 31st December 2014 and winners will be notified by 1st March  2015.
  • Winners agree to having their stories publicised by FIBIS, but full test results will not be released to the public.

Not a FIBIS member? To find out more about the benefits of membership see the membership page or join online