mtDNA Maternal Line Report
Trace your direct maternal line deep into prehistory — your mtDNA haplogroup, ancient matches, and how to read the results.
28 articles
- Where does the data come from?The open scientific resources behind your report — the AADR ancient-DNA dataset, a peer-reviewed mtDNA tree, and published ages.
- My result doesn’t match my documented maternal genealogy — what could explain that?The usual causes — file coverage, a stray variant, and deep-time lineage — and how to send us your file.
- Does my mtDNA result tell me anything about my health?No — this is a deep-ancestry report about your maternal line, not health, medical, or diagnostic information.
- Does my report prove an unbroken mother-to-child line going back thousands of years?Yes — mtDNA records an unbroken maternal line deep into the past, with two caveats about place and dates.
- Is my mtDNA result the same as my ethnicity or ancestry percentages?No — mtDNA follows one deep line while ancestry percentages blend all your lines. Both can be true at once.
- Does my haplogroup tell me my nationality or ethnicity?No — a haplogroup is a deep-time lineage that predates modern countries and ethnic groups by thousands of years.
- Can I use this report for regular genealogy or to break through a brick wall in my family tree?Not directly — it’s a deep-history view of one maternal line, not a tool for tracing recent relatives.
- Will I find living relatives in this report?No — the relatives here are published ancient specimens, not living contacts to message.
- What do “Paleolithic,” “Neolithic,” and “Bronze Age” mean on my timeline?What the archaeological periods on your timeline mean, and the rough dates behind each one.
- How precise are the age / TMRCA dates?These are molecular-clock estimates with a real margin — best read as “at least this old.”
- The report shows a region my recent family isn’t from — is it wrong?Usually not — these regions describe where your maternal line was in deep antiquity, not where your recent family lived.
- Are the ancient “relatives” my direct ancestors — and why are some in places my family isn’t from?They’re distant maternal cousins from deep time, not direct ancestors — and why their locations range so widely.
- Why do you match me to ancient people instead of showing where my haplogroup lives today?Why real, dated, published ancient people tell you more about your maternal line than a modern frequency map.
- What if my file doesn’t have enough mitochondrial coverage?What the free eligibility check does when coverage is too low — no charge, plus a higher-coverage option.
- Do I need to take a new DNA test?No — we read mitochondrial variants from the AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or MyHeritage raw file (or GRCh37 VCF) you already have.
- Why didn’t my previous DNA tests report this?Why AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and MyHeritage didn’t show this, and what Genomelink draws out of your existing file.
- How is this different from a full mtDNA sequencing test?How our report differs from full mtDNA sequencing — your existing file and ancient matches, no new test, and when to upgrade.
- My full mtDNA sequencing test gives a deeper or different terminal branch — is your result wrong?Almost always a difference in depth, not a contradiction — the deeper branch usually sits directly below ours.
- Another test or website gave me a completely different haplogroup, a different main branch — which is right?Why calls can differ across tools, what a different main branch usually means, and how to send us your file for review.
- My file has extra variants that don’t match any named branch — what are those?What unnamed mitochondrial variants in your file are, and why we note them rather than use them to over-call your result.
- Why did my result change from an earlier version?Why a newer result is usually more accurate as we improve the calling method, reference tree, and ancient-DNA data.
- Can my haplogroup change over time?Your biology can’t change — but our reading of it can get more precise as the reference tree grows.
- How accurate is the call?How we place you only on the deepest branch your own variants support — never a guess — after a free eligibility check.
- My mother, sibling, or maternal cousin and I both uploaded — should we get the same result?Yes, along the same maternal line — small depth differences just reflect how much each file covers.
- Can men get an mtDNA report?Yes — everyone inherits mtDNA from their mother, so men get a full report too. They just don’t pass it on.
- What’s the difference between Y-DNA and mtDNA?How mtDNA traces your maternal line and Y-DNA the paternal line — two opposite single threads of your tree.
- What do the letters and numbers in a haplogroup name mean, like H1a1?How each added character marks a deeper split on the same branch, and why a longer name just means a finer twig.
- What’s an mtDNA haplogroup, exactly?What an mtDNA haplogroup is — a branch of the maternal family tree defined by inherited mitochondrial DNA changes.