Portfolio Research Opportunity

Would you like to explore a family mystery through DNA? 

As The Missing Branch develops, I am looking for a small number of volunteers who would be willing to take part in DNA and family-history research for my professional portfolio.

For selected cases, I will provide an AncestryDNA test at no cost to the participant. In return, participants will agree to give me collaborator access to their DNA results and family tree so that I can undertake the agreed research.

The research may be used to create an anonymised case study demonstrating the research methods used and the findings reached. Personal details and the identities of living people will not be published without specific permission.

What kind of questions am I looking for? 

I'm particularly interested in volunteers who have a genuine family-history question that DNA might help investigate, such as:

• Who was an unknown biological parent or grandparent?
• Could an old family story about biological parentage be true?
• Is there a biological connection to a particular family?
• Can DNA help identify an unknown branch of the family tree?

Not every case will be suitable 

DNA cannot guarantee an answer to every family mystery. Before offering a free test, I will need some basic information about the question you would like to investigate and what is already known about the family.

I will select cases where I believe an autosomal DNA test has a reasonable possibility of providing useful evidence and where the research will contribute something different to my developing portfolio.

There is no charge for the DNA test or the agreed portfolio research.

Taking part is entirely voluntary. You will be given information about the research and asked to provide written consent before a DNA test is ordered or any research begins.