Ancestry's Maternal/Paternal Groups ~ How Accurate Are They?

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2023: Week 34 (NEWEST DISCOVERY)

Today I got a message from Ancestry about my matches being sorted into maternal/paternal matches:

Interesting - this is not new in my account. 

If memory serves me correctly I was one of the first to get this feature. 

Recently I canceled my paid subscription.
From the email it sounds like only paid memberships can see this.
In reading this email It sounds like I will lose this feature when my membership expires. 

I suspect this is the first step in trying to get me to renew my membership before it expires.

I only renewed my paid membership 5 months ago to assist a friend in their search. Prior to that renewal I had the maternal/paternal groups feature in my Ancestry account without a paid membership. Maybe that has stopped over the past 5 months. 

About 10 years ago was the first time I paid for a membership. After I researched what I could I let the membership lapse. I would usually renew my membership only when I had something specific I was researching. This has been my pattern over the past 10 years.

I will be intrigued to see if I lose the maternal/paternal feature when my membership actually runs out next month. 

If I lose this feature there will be no real impact on my research. 

Long ago I used the Leeds method on my matches sorting them maternally and paternally. For more information about the Leeds Method of match sorting check the Sources below. 

My newest discovery on Ancestry shows I have: 

15,171 maternal matches
14,303 paternal matches 
34 both side matches
940 unassigned matches

The majority of the unassigned matches have already been identified by my colour coding. Things get murky when looking at the unassigned matches as low as 22cMs. There is one match that is unknown with 4 other unknown matches in common. This is odd in that I have my maternal grandmother, maternal aunt, and father in Ancestry who are not showing as in common matches. When I look more carefully at the shared matches 2 of them have my mother's paternal line as a colour coded match. This leaves me to believe my mother received some of her father's paternal DNA that her sister did not. That DNA was passed to me. 

In looking at the both sided matches - the top 3 are on my father's maternal line and well documented as paternal matches. My mother's maternal line has a connection to first arrival Colonialism. Those original families intermarried creating many small matches to descendants of those families. This creates a bit of confusion when trying to establish where exactly matching takes place. The available Ancestry tools are not very helpful. Beyond the top 3 unassigned matches all of them are in the 8-15 cM range. Matches this small are likely endogamy with the line mentioned above & my paternal Jewish line. Given only 3 of the unassigned matches have more than 15 cMs in common it is unlikely I will find the exact spot they belong in our Bramble Bush. 

In looking at the maternal and paternal matches Ancestry is accurate for all of the matches down to 40 cMs that I have colour coded. 

I had already divided my maternal and paternal matches so didn't need ancestry to do so. 

For anyone who hasn't yet done the Leeds Method on their matches and is wondering if Ancestry's breakdowns are correct - I can confirm mine are. Then again I do have my father's DNA in my account so that might be contributing to the accuracy. 

When the research tools work as expected!!! 

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Sources:

DNA Color Clustering: The Leeds Method for Easily Visualizing Matches. Leeds, Dana. Originally published August 23rd 2023. Retrieved August 22nd 2023 from
https://www.danaleeds.com/dna-color-clustering-the-leeds-method-for-easily-visualizing-matches/ 

Leeds Method for Organizing DNA Matches. Your DNA Guide. Retrieved August 22nd 2023 from
https://www.yourdnaguide.com/leeds-method

Leeds Method of DNA Color Clustering. McDermott, Marc. Originally published December 23rd 2022. Retrieved August 22nd 2023 from
https://www.genealogyexplained.com/leeds-method/

MODULE 2: Grouping your AncestryDNA matches - The Leeds Method and my "twisted" Leeds Method. Mossie's Musings. Originally published May 28th 2023. Retrieved August 22nd 2023 from
https://mossiesmusings.blogspot.com/2020/08/grouping-your-ancestrydna-matches-using.html

Photos:

Email & Ancestry Clipped

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

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