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* My mtDNA Haplogroup is L1c1a, and My Sister's mtDNA Haplogroup is L1c1 ... Is is possible that we (may) still share the SAME Mother? *

I come from a family of 7 Siblings--of which the Eldest Sibling is 25 years older than the Youngest Sibling.

Recently, various DNA tests show that our Youngest Sibling (in comparison to my DNA tests) reflect the following:

Largest Segment = 73.7 cM

Total # of Segments > 7 cM = 1,834.4 cM

52 Matching Segments

Estimated number of generations to Most Common Recent Ancestor (MCRA) = 1.5

441132 SNPs used for this comparison.

MY RESULTS [mtDNA Haplogroup: L1c1a] versus MY "SISTER's" RESULTS [mtDNA Haplogroup: L1c1]

* Again, what does ALL of the above mean? Is it (still) possible that we do share the SAME Mother, even though our mtDNA Haplogroups are different? Do the facts that our MRCA=1.5, Largest Segment=73.7 cM, and Total # of Segments=1,834.4 cM all indicate that we may (possibly) be Half-Siblings? *

godfirst
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    Welcome to G&FH SE! As a new user be sure to take the [Tour] to learn about our focussed Q&A format which is quite different from bulletin boards, discussion forums and other Q&A sites you may be used to. For example, things like thanks are usually removed because the way to thank people here is by upvoting their posts. Also, there was an image in your post that seemed unrelated to its text so I have removed that. If you decide that it is important to your question and re-include it can you please include an explanation as to why. – PolyGeo Sep 20 '17 at 01:24
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    Which companies' tests did you take? – Jan Murphy Sep 20 '17 at 05:35
  • Jan Murphy - Yes, my DNA results were generated by AncestryDNA. My Sister's DNA results were generated by both AncestryDNA and 23andMe. – godfirst Sep 20 '17 at 21:08
  • PolyGeo - As of approximately 5:00 PM (9-20-17 CST), I did upload "another" JPG as my New Profile ... I pray that this newly-added "Shared cM Relationship Tree" developed by Blaine T. Bettinger - CC 4.0 Attribution License (2015) will provide quite useful data.

    Please let me know if my "new" image is related, when it comes to pinpointing and distinguishing varying degrees of cM relationships.

     – godfirst Sep 20 '17 at 22:20
  • Did both of you take the Ancestry DNA test on the same chip? see the blog post here: https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/05/12/customer-testing-begins-on-new-ancestrydna-chip/ – Jan Murphy Sep 21 '17 at 06:01
  • What was alarming is that we always just "knew" that we (were) Full Siblings until the mtDNA showed L1c1 (my Sister) versus L1c1a (myself). Also, our MRCA=1.5. I have read that since our mtDNA Haplogroups are not identical, then we cannot share the "same" Mother. I am hoping this is not true ... – godfirst Sep 22 '17 at 00:41
  • Actually, Jan, it does appear that my Sister & I did take the Ancestry DNA test on the same chip--after all. – godfirst Sep 22 '17 at 01:10
  • I think what must have happened is that when you tried to post a profile picture you actually posted it into your question. There is nothing wrong with that picture as part of your profile. It just did not belong in the question. – PolyGeo Sep 22 '17 at 04:25
  • Yes, @PolyGeo ... I am glad to realize the above scenario happened, when I initially tried to post my Profile photo; however, today (9-22-17), I am still having a problem, too. It is now approximately 2:10 PM (CST), and I am unfortunately unable to update my Profile with my most recent JPG that represents images of (both) my Sister & myself--along with valuable/helpful L1c1 vs. L1c1a information. I am not quite sure of what (else) that I need to do, as I have appropriately "uploaded" my Most Current JPG to no avail. I will wait for more clarification from you, also ... – godfirst Sep 22 '17 at 19:15
  • @PolyGeo - I still have no success in uploading my MOST RECENT Profile Photo (???) The MOST RECENT Profile Photo contains "all" pertinent information regarding my "Sister's" mtDNA information--as well as "my" mtDNA information. Actually, the MOST RECENT Profile Photo has both of our corresponding photos/mtDNA information, too. I have unsuccessfully tried to upload the correct Profile Photo at least 5-6 times. It says that the photo is successfully uploaded; nevertheless, the "incorrect" photo continues to be displayed in my Profile ... – godfirst Sep 22 '17 at 22:39
  • We normally have no problem with pictures used in questions, and profile pictures, which are two different things. For help with inserting a picture into a question see https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/75498/215590 and for help with changing your profile picture see https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/41277/how-do-i-change-my-profile-picture-or-avatar – PolyGeo Sep 23 '17 at 03:34

1 Answers1

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You need to name things precisely i.e. your sister can't have Y chromosome, so it is incorrect to talk about HAPLOGROUP (it's all about classification of Y choromosome), but to talk about MITOGROUP (i.e. the type of mtDNA) or mtDNA haplogroup. The haplogroups and mitogroups may have the same abbreviations, but completely different meaning.

For example, mitogroup N1c vs haplogroup N1c

Are we Half-Siblings?

To get the answer to this question the autosomal testing is enough. You state that you share with this person 1,834.4 cM of DNA. It is relatively great overlap and it states that this person is your very close relative like uncle/aunt or sibling/half-sibling. Unfortunately, DNA test can't state precisely the relation but only the distance to the MCRA.

PolyGeo
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GEORG GAAL
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  • GEORG GAAL - Yes, I am referring to the GEDmatch Results (re: mtDNA Haplogroup Findings)

    MY SISTER: L1c1 MYSELF: L1c1a

    ***SPECIAL NOTE: Prior to the above mtDNA Haplogroup reference, my Sister & myself were "always" under the impression that we are Full-Siblings--with the same Mother & Father (???)

     – godfirst Sep 20 '17 at 21:23
  • Also, I was able to view the "Shared cM Relationship Tree" developed by Blaine T. Bettinger-CC 4.0 Attribution License (2015) that gave further helpful distinctions that "may" allow me to determine whether my Sister & my "cM" relationship is distinguishable (i.e., between being a Half-Sibling versus reflecting an Aunt-Niece relationship)

    FOR EXAMPLE (according to Blaine T. Bettinger):

    Half-Sibling: EXPECTED PERCENTAGE: 25; AVERAGE SHARED cM: 1731; RANGE OF SHARED cM: 787-2134

    versus

    Niece/Nephew: EXPECTED PERCENTAGE: 25; AVERAGE SHARED cM: 1703; RANGE OF SHARED cM: 121-2227

     – godfirst Sep 20 '17 at 22:09
  • @godfirst It looks like that I didn't correctly understand your questions. Is it correct that you are sure that the person is your sister and you want to distinguish is it FULL sister or only HALF sister? – GEORG GAAL Sep 22 '17 at 11:05
  • Yes @GEORG GAAL, my Sister was the "7th" of 7 Siblings; I am the "5th" of 7 Siblings, and we were all raised in the same household. Before the AncestryDNA and 23andMe testings were performed, we had no reason to question whether or not we (are) FULL Sisters. However, GEDmatch findings, follow: [MY "SISTER's" mtDNA = L1c1 versus "MY" mtDNA = L1c1a]. The issue now is whether or not it is "possible" that she and I are FULL Sisters, since our mtDNA is NOT the same. Is it (still) possible that we share the SAME Mother--regardless of our L1c1 vs. L1c1a mtDNA Haplogroup "non-similarity" ? – godfirst Sep 22 '17 at 19:51
  • Also, @GEORG GAAL, please comment on the following (i.e., FULL SIBLING vs, HALF SIBLING possibilities) ... Largest Segment = 73.7 cM;

    Total # of Segments > 7 cM = 1,834.4 cM;

    52 Matching Segments;

    Estimated number of generations to Most Common Recent Ancestor (MCRA) = 1.5

    [441132 SNPs used for this comparison]

     – godfirst Sep 22 '17 at 20:12
  • @godfirst, the difference between mtDNA L1c1a and mtDNA L1c1 is very small. I understood your confusion if we'd talk about completely different mtDNA haplogroups. It assured us that you and your sister have different mothers. But in your case it may be the artifact of test and gives no useful information. – GEORG GAAL Sep 25 '17 at 07:09
  • @godfirst regarding the autosomal result, please refer to the tables in https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Shared_cM_Project_2017.pdf All data says that it is more probable that your 'sister' belongs to Cluster #2 (half-siblings etc.) than to Cluster #1 (full siblings) – GEORG GAAL Sep 25 '17 at 07:14
  • This is truly the most helpful information to receive, @GEORG GAAL! From what I am concluding from your (above) Comments, my Sister & I are most probably "Half Sisters"; however, we "may" still have the same Mother since our mtDNA haplogroup difference is very small. We should not conclude that the mtDNA haplogroup (L1c1a vs. L1c1) difference is enough to suggest a different Mother; however, we "may" conclude there may have been a different Father ... And, most definitely, I will eagerly refer to the tables in thegeneticgenealogist.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/… for sure! – godfirst Sep 27 '17 at 17:18
  • @godfirst, unfortunately I don't know if your mother and father are still alive. I think it is the good idea to get the DNA test from them both and check the result against you and your sister. It will put the final point in your question. – GEORG GAAL Sep 28 '17 at 07:49
  • Unfortunately ... both our mother and father are not still alive. And you know, @GEORG GAAL, a little less than 1 year ago (i.e., before AncestryDNA labeled MY SISTER as my "CLOSE FAMILY - 1st Cousins" instead of "IMMEDIATE FAMILY" - Confidence Extremely High), there was NEVER any talk or question that we are "Full Sisters" (???) Again, really NONE of us "7" Siblings ever looked very much alike--please also refer to the details that I shared in my attached "Genealogy & Family History" Profile, too. MY SISTER has (now) formally declared herself as NOT our Sister--but our Niece (???) – godfirst Sep 29 '17 at 18:59