Phelps DNA Project

Prices, Considerations, and Privacy

This project has no contractual or financial arrangement with any DNA testing company and is strictly voluntary.

Revised 08/11/2009

Membership: The testee must be a male whose surname is *Phelps (or an acceptable spelling variant) and who considers himself to be a Phelps descendant. Membership is open to anyone and is indicated by the two email addresses associated with the FTDNA test. * Those not meeting the requirements may be given a temporary membership to allow access to FTDNA analysis and contact with matched Phelps..
The test will be conducted by Family Tree DNA, of Houston TX, the World's leading testing company for Surname DNA Projects. The cost depends on the number of markers tested, but all tests include an estimate of the Haplogroup (an indication of deep ancestrial origins). A 12-marker test will tell you if you do NOT match with someone but you will want to upgrade to a 25-marker test to tell you if you do. Matching at 12 markers is like have the same first three digits of a zip code. If you do not match at 12 markers you won't match at 25 any better.

Standard prices are discounted as shown if you join the free Phelps Project. Shipping is extra. (These prices are unofficial and should be confirmed at the time of ordering. Specials may reduce the listed charges.))

12 marker test $99

25 marker test $124

37 marker test $149

67 marker test $248

The test is a simple cheek swab. The kit will arrive and leave your house by mail. You simply rub the inside of your cheek a number of times with a special scraper, put the kit back into the envelope, and put it in the mail.
If you have concerns about privacy, see What About Privacy and please contact dphelps61 AT alumni.wfu.edu for special ordering proceedures.
If you are ordering for another person, make certain they are aware of the information/disclaimer seen on our "Join" page.

Other considerations

The DNA information is to be used in conjunction with historical and traditional research. DNA testing will prove a common ancestor and can be extremely helpful in guiding research. On the other hand, if a DNA profile does not match traditional researched genealogy, a hypothesized relationship may be incorrect. At other times DNA results may point to an unknown adoption in the family, or some other so-called non-paternity event.

Please understand that the y-dna results may not confirm even the most meticulous researched family genealogy. Your ancestries will always be displayed as you have provided, but may not be indicated as "proven" or "confirmed" if there are insufficient or contradictory y-dna tests. We urge you to NOT test the DNA of a close relative which would point to a living common ancestor. There is no point in doing so since your dna should match almost perfectly and you have proved nothing. On the other hand, if your dna does not match you have unnerving information. added 2/2007

Once your order is placed you are automatically a member. Your kit number and earliest ancestor will appear on the "Y-results" page of the a FTDNA provided page. . Your supplied ancestry and your DNA kit number will appear on this page. As a member you will have access to a private "forum" at a Google discussion group just for your family line.

So that all our Phelps "cousins" can make sense of the DNA results, it will be helpful if all members will provide a brief male ancestry - as they understand it. If provided it will be posted on the lineage page. Your kit number and cryptic email address will be placed with it. We will not list anyone born after 1910 for privacy reasons. In a few cases the tested person will not be actively involved via email but will have another person, with an email, who will act as his proxy (one authorized to act for another).

You may want to read the article "What Are The Rewards And Risks of DNA Testing"? found at http://www.kerchner.com/anonftp/pub/introg&g.htm (Scroll down the page to that section)

Since a Surname Project traces members of a family that share a common surname, and females (a) don't carry their father's Y-DNA, and (b) acquire a new surname by the way of marriage, in order to be relevant to the Surname Project, the tested individual must be a male that wants to check his paternal line (father's father's father's...). The test to be ordered is either the Y-DNA 59, Y-DNA37, Y-DNA25 or Y-DNA12, and females should look for a brother or cousin with that surname to be tested.

What about privacy

Remember that Y-DNA testing is strictly for the male inherited chromosomes. It has nothing to do with physical characteristics. A test submitted has no affidavit proving who took the test. However, if you want to completely isolate yourself, have the kit mailed to a person to be tested at your home address using the name of a non-existing person – or even a test naming your wife or anyone with any name you choose. Of course, it must be deliverable. The scraping would be done by you but the release signature and the identified name on the kit would name the other person (real or not). For example, it could be sent to a fictitious Eunice Phelps named as the one taking the test, in care of you or your wife at your address. The usual release-of-information signature would have the signature of Eunice Phelps. FTDNA does not care. Only those of us who are doing genealogy would know that it is of your male line – at least we hope so - but have no proof of it. We don’t really have to know if it was from you or your close male Phelps relative.

We strongly recommend to not test more than one member of the same family lineage (son, father, uncle, grandfather for example). There is no point in doing this since the Y-DNA is the same for all.

If you have further concerns about privacy at the testing company, give FTDNA a call at (713) 868-1438.