Ancestry.com please do NOT Delete Small DNA Matches!

Comments

#601

I’m a white person who thinks black people should be able to seek their heritage. Let’s not make it harder for them to do so.

Pam Klassen-Dueck (Altona, 2020-08-01)

#602

My DNA matches are mine, leave them all alone!

Shawna Mynear (EMMETT, 2020-08-01)

#604

Some of my 7cM and 6 cM matches share 4 to 6 other matches. They could be the key to unlocking some of my brick walls that I have encountered. Please keep the 7 and 6 cM matches.

Debra Daniels (Long Beach, 2020-08-01)

#606

I believe deleting these matches will harm anyone researching distant ancestry. As an example, my 105 year old cousin has great grandparents born before the Constitution and grandparents born before the Mexican War. She has consistent and dependable matches with common ancestors in the early 1700s. Her matches of 6 or 7 cM are important clues.

John Chamberlin (Little Rock, 2020-08-01)

#608

I too only have distant cousins! I’m trying to find ancestral relations to my Mother! Please don’t delete!!

Nicole Heck (Winter Garden, 2020-08-01)

#609

I’m working with The Beyond Kin Project

Laura Cleveland (Cullman, 2020-08-01)

#610

in the short time I have had my dna done I have found alot of distant cousins in the lower numbers that are not so distant. I am hoping some will connect to some unwed mothers that I have in my direct tree. 3 I know for sure.

Joann Kerschner (Arapaho, 2020-08-01)

#613

I strongly feel that my dna or anyone else’s should not be removed without my permission, which I do not give. Surely I lawfully own my own Dna. Plus, I am using these small segments to find and prove my 5th generation ancestors. This was a time in the USA when records are not plentiful. Please reconsider.

Sally Taylor (Springfield, 2020-08-01)

#614

I find them useful for crosschecking. I've found good family links with them

Elisabeth Shatwell (Torrington, 2020-08-01)

#616

I am trying to find my father’s birth family and i am using every match I can. There are lots of 6, 7 & 8cM marches that I am able to confirm are good when I compare lists with my sister’s list and my Mom’s list. They all are helping me in my search.

Gail Quigg (NanAimo, 2020-08-01)

#617

I am sure I’ll miss vital matches if they are deleted

Gill Bromley (Northwich, 2020-08-01)

#618

Every small hint can be useful ❤️

Marcia Murphy (Siler City, 2020-08-01)

#619

Deleting matches sharing fewer than 8 cMs will have a bad effect on Black Americans looking for enslaved ancestors. Please don’t do this.

Chris Gaston (Shoreline, 2020-08-01)

#622

I am still in the midst of looking at all my small matches.... please leave them accessible!

Cindy Gillman (Mesa, 2020-08-01)

#623

This decision appears to especially affect black researchers and white researchers who match with them. It is inconsistent with Ancestry's recent Black Lives Matter statement. Please reconsider, and also consider who corporate decisions are made.

Sue Guptill (Durham, 2020-08-01)

#628

This is critical for our African American brothers and sisters in finding the answers to their heritage. Please reconsider.

Jannice Hubbard (Grabill, 2020-08-01)

#629

I have found some 6 cM matches significant in making connections with matches with much greater cMs connections to myself and other members of my family.

Samuel Richardson (Penn Hills, 2020-08-01)

#631

I have already confirmed 15 "common ancestor" matches...all of which are 6-7cm! I have a grandmother who was born & orphaned in another country and any matches I find from her country are going to be "low" matches. Every 6cm and 7cm are very VERY valuable to ME!

Karrie S (Plover, WI 54467, 2020-08-01)

#632

I'm and signing because I want all my DNA results preserved and NOT deleted

Christine Fensbo (KOOTINGAL, 2020-08-01)

#633

Sometimes these people can be of great assistance when researching comes to a block.

Kym Cross (Brisbane, 2020-08-01)

#637

My DNA and history is important to me

Lola Maree Anderson (Caboolture, 2020-08-01)

#639

I want to know all my family and it encourages you to research further

Maree Croxon (Yenda, 2020-08-01)

#640

I have matched with distant relatives confirming ancestors that would otherwise have been theory only. It’s sometimes the only way to trace a confirmed link.

Leane Lawrence (Newcastle, 2020-08-02)

#641

I have found distant family members on my mothers side. My mother died before I could get a DNA sample done so it is important to me

Barbara Parker (Perth, 2020-08-02)

#643

I have African American matches who are looking for their American roots. I’ve just recently been in conversation with a man who matches me at 6 cm. He’s looking for information on his father. How can I help him if you delete our matches? Please be mindful of our black community. Also, help me cross “the pond. Please don’t delete the 6-7 cm’s.

Ginger Kilgour (Henrico, 2020-08-02)

#650

I find some of them valuable. One I just found led me to find 10 children of my wife's 3rd great grandfather's sister. I do clustering and a low match in a cluster may have the best tree.

Brian Morris (Cockeysville, 2020-08-02)

#652

I use these small matches in search of my ancestors prior to our arrival in Australia, especially for my very elusive Irish links. Losing such matches would be significantly detriment to my future research.

Gayle Quantock (Cameron Park, 2020-08-02)

#656

I broke a 20 year brick wall with a 7cm match. DO NOT REMOVE MATCHES!!

Jo McIlwain (Inverell, 2020-08-02)

#657

Please no no no, do not delete small percentage matches. My genealogy hunt depends on these. You will throw up brick walls in my search that will be impossible to overcome. I implore you to retain all matches. My kit is on the way now for me to do the DNA analysis with ancestry and by the time you process it, you might have already made this disastrous decision. One of the reasons I wanted to do the ancestry.com DNA (I've already done 23andMe) was for the greater number of matches--and now I risk to have this benefit.

Claudia Moore (London, 2020-08-02)

#659

I have Numerous matches whom I personally know are correct matches and how they fit in my tree.
I also help NPE friends and it's often easier to build trees backwards for them.
For medical family tree information shared on different lines .

Tanya Boylan (Coonarr, 2020-08-02)

#660

I have found so many good matches since I started going through the small ones - loads!

Cherie Sinton Griffiths (Al Khor, 2020-08-02)

#661

I am about to lose matches that I KNOW are significant to me. My ancestors that I'm researching are several generations back and I've found so many with 6cM and below (on Gedmatch) that have solved some of my mysteries.

Mary Kaifer (Kansas City, 2020-08-02)

#662

Every tiny little strand can lead to great things.

Annie MACKINTOSH (Tauranga, 2020-08-02)

#665

I'm signing because even the smallest dna match may provide a lead.

Teresa Klaiber (Rush, 2020-08-02)

#666

I use these matches all the time to solve problems and break through brick walls.

Rick Allen (Vienna, 2020-08-02)

#668

I feel I paid for this data and I have found it very useful in finding matches.

Brenda Heartwell (Vancouver, 2020-08-02)

#669

This information is important especially to African American researchers. Please do not delete it.

Susan Hedgpeth (Pleasant Hill, 2020-08-02)

#671

I'm signing because Black lives matter.

Margaret Schubert (Hilton, 2020-08-02)

#675

I am aware of the risks and work hard to validate small segment matches

Jennifer Franklin (MOUNT VERNON, 2020-08-03)

#679

I may only have a small match. So I would like it to be kept accessable as much as possible. Everybody should have the chance to be able to trace their Ancestry no matter how small the mc's are.

Jeannette Harris (Dimbulah, 2020-08-03)

#680

Deleting those matches sharing 8cm and below DNA greatly diminishes the ability for people to find their African ancestors. I have matches below 8cm who I personally know. Our ancestry has been broken due to slavery and those matches help us to find those people. This is just a part of the racial justice that Ancestry said they wanted to be a part of. There is no racial justice in this act at all.
Kind regards

Ingrid Marshall (Virginia Beach, 2020-08-03)

#681

I'm signing because I think that it's wrong for Ancestry to remove our low cM matches. I have made good family links from them. So I hope ancestry review this decision

Helene Shepherd (Belmont North, 2020-08-03)

#683

I have found many links to family in the 5-8 cousin range. Please retain this info.

Ros Saunders (Adelaide, 2020-08-03)

#684

Slavery systematically denied my family their history & DNA is key to accessing the past white people take for granted. Please do not extend this historical injustice by deleting small matches. Please

MICHELLE FORD (APPLE VALLEY, 2020-08-03)

#686

I'm signing because I may well find relatives with small matches, as there are many in NZ, Sweden, and other areas not covered with huge numbers of samples. It may also help immensely with the dreaded Irish ancestors, pre 1800!

Karen Sydow (Ballarat, 2020-08-03)

#688

I am trying to trace family where they were separated by World War II. I need to go far enough back, that these matches are my only hope.

Shaylene Parry (Ogden, 2020-08-03)

#689

I want to keep researching without worry that I won't be able to find that missing link to a family member. Every DNA Match should be shown and not removed unless I choose to.

Dorothy Lynn Ball (Forest, 2020-08-03)

#690

Thanks to those small matches, I've discovered where in Inverness-shire my family is from and I have at least a dozen small matches which all lead back to the same place/families. Perhaps one day we'll be able to find the one or two generations we're missing, but without those small matches, we'd be even further apart and impossible to connect at all.

pat innes (vancouver, 2020-08-04)

#691

I don't what my small dna remove.

Laverne Cook (Compton, 2020-08-04)

#693

I feel very strongly that Ancestry should retain the matches of 6 cM and 7 cM. Sometimes these small matches can provide the only clues we have to certain ancestors.

Dannah McCauley (Huntsville, 2020-08-04)

#694

This move is most unfair as it will seriously hamper African Americans researching their ancestry.

Penelope Durell (Beara, 2020-08-04)

#695

My mother was adopted and I have very few matches with her side.. but most are 1/2 cousins with low matches. I have used the DNA matches between 6 - 8 to find these cousins.

Kerry Dressler (Cartago, 2020-08-04)

#699

Dont delete it please I'm trying to find out how I am Norwegian and Italian among British African Irish or Scottish

Mark Anthony Harris-lunningham (Newark, 2020-08-05)

#706

Anything that adds to the difficulty of African American research is the wrong choice, Ancestry. Educate us on the likelihood that small matches may be bad matches, but don't remove the possibility that the needle in the haystack lies in a 7 cm string.

Donna Baker (Tuscaloosa, 2020-08-05)

#707

I am signing this to make a request for you to PLEASE DO NOT delete Any of my 8cm or less Ancestors out of my list. I cherish my whole Ancestors, which it’d impact on my Ancestors, thank you.

Susan Hosman (Middletown, 2020-08-05)

#708

I have found alot of 7cM matches from the UK, Ireland, and Germany. Any matches mean alot to me. I have made friends by Ancestry communication with them and I don't want to loose them. Thank you

Vicki Golden (Smyrna, 2020-08-05)

#709

I'm signing because not only can you trace your African DNA through the 8cm or less but I have also eliminated brick walls by going to the small DNA and working my way back. The majority of my connections are small. Please do not take this away from us.

Dorinda McLeod (New Braunfels, 2020-08-05)

#710

Please let the researcher access all data including those matches with 8cm or less. I need these to help me find my African and German connections!

Mona Tisler (Nokesville, 2020-08-05)

#712

I am just beginning and you are taking away information that I might can use. Some people have had luck with 6-7 cM.

Mary Moody (Maryville, 2020-08-05)

#713

We pay too much. We should have all dna regardless of how distant.

Janis Ward (New Smyrna Beach, 2020-08-05)

#715

Small matches are the only way to trace my fathers family.

Bev Bremness (Sherwood Park, 2020-08-05)

#720

I don't want them to be removed!

LARRY YORK (Candler, 2020-08-06)

#725

The small matches help the Afro-Haitian community connect with Africa and other countries.

Alain Pierre Etheart (Miami, 2020-08-07)

#727

Please don’t perpetuate past harms by cutting the only links some people have to their ancestors.

Vicki Edge (Oakland, 2020-08-08)

#736

I am signing because this will help me find my great great grand parents

Geraldine Taylor (Columbia,MD, 2020-08-10)

#738

Ancestry will become obsolete if it continues down this path.

Sandra Gamble (Glenbrook, 2020-08-11)

#739

As a genealogist, DNA is an important factor in making connections particularly for ,more distant relations going back 200+ years. The lower cMs numbers are relevant.

Francis Ginorio (Frederick, 2020-08-11)

#740

I'm signing so that Ancestry understands that we don't need fewer matches but more tools to allow some of us with a tougher road to find their ancestors to find their people.

Elizabeth Christensen (Parkville, 2020-08-11)

#741

Suggestion: If it's a burden to Ancestry to keep providing all this data to everyone, perhaps Ancestry could give customers an option to explain why they need these matches (African-American, etc.), and you could retain small matches for just these customers.

Katje Janisch (Gainesville, 2020-08-11)

#742

08-11-2020
Tuesday
10:40 PM ET

I am a PROUD African American currently on DAY 7 of a mad scramble to rescue my family's shared DNA matches.

I have an accumulation of over 4 years worth of intense, industrious family history research.

It has been, and continues to be, an investment of my heart and soul.

To lose access to 30,000 family members, distant though they may be; and the wealth of genealogical history that they have chosen to share on A.com renders all my efforts pointless, most especially in light of the fact that just as most all of us African Americans, I have a pitiful dearth of information about my melanin-infused ancestors who were swept up in the protracted Holocaust that was racial slavery, and that continues to exist as systematic racial oppression, here in the good old USA.

Meanwhile,
white folk can "proudly" trace their forefathers, with their castles and their coats of arms, all the way back to UK/Europe, circa 963. That's a three-digit year. It's also a fact of my half-caucasian DNA. Woo-hoo.

In summmation, this family history research project is not some light and frivolous pastime of mine . . .

it's my Life's work.

Papillon Noir (Atlanta Georgia, 2020-08-12)

#743

I believe even smaller DNA matches are still helpful to figure out ancestry !

Deborah Phelps (Harriman, 2020-08-14)

#745

the small amounts I have traced to my family

Alec Quarterman (bracknell, 2020-08-14)

#751

I don't want the small matches to be eliminated. It is in those small matches that we truely find where we came from.

Sor Tejera Tropf (Hernando, 2020-08-17)

#753

This is important, and the change is unnecessary.

Gary Batroff (mill valley, 2020-08-20)

#758

this helps me. This is what I paid for. Not to have it taken away

Bronwyn Bernie (Mt. Maunganui, 2020-08-20)

#759

I am a member of Ancestry.com as an African American and an adoptee, it has been of great value in connecting me with lost relatives.

Malik Mubashshir (Philadelphia, 2020-08-20)

#762

I am signing because it is through these barely related people we find our connections. Due to these people I have proved 2x grandmother was indeed the illegitimate daughter of a powerful man. We had some other ways being related but through my mother sharing less than 10 cm with this mans sisters descendants who never left Kentucky. I got them

Kimberly Ephraim (Rio Rancho, 2020-08-20)

#764

I have made some connections using 6cm shared dna

Cathy Pidgeon (Bekfast, 2020-08-20)

#766

This hurts my ability as a slave descendant to find my ancestors.

Sasha King (Pittsburgh, 2020-08-20)

#767

I found a distant cousin who i love very much and can't imagine life without other ppl deserve the same

Jamie Diaz (Valdese, 2020-08-20)

#770

I'm looking for links to my GGF from Ireland with a very common name.
Thank you

Marion Daniel (Evans, Georgua, 2020-08-20)

#771

I want to see all relatives connected to my DNA.

Pamela Bennett (Houston, 2020-08-20)

#773

I find my lower cm matches very crucial to identify and learning more about my enslaved ancestors.

Tanisha Grier (Montclair, 2020-08-20)

#774

I do not want to lose the connections with my DNA relatives who have 7cm! I has been difficult as an African American to locate my people. Removing my 7cm relatives makes it even more difficult to determine my relatives. One of my 7cm folks is connected to my great aunt. Please reconsider!!
SheilaGatling

Sheila Gatling (Hempstead, 2020-08-20)

#778

My brickwalls are about 1750-1800 and these small segments are important clues to add to the Ydna tests and tons of research.

Suzanne Carpenter (WACO, 2020-08-20)

#782

I'm signing because I feel low cm numbers could be an 'opt in' option, instead of eliminating the feature entirely.

Raymond Petit (Portland, 2020-08-20)

#783

I'm from the caribbean, and I need those matches to trace my roots. Ancestry is limited when it comes to the Caribbean.

Steve Marcelle (Brooklyn, 2020-08-20)