If you have one of the tests done–despite which one you do, time spent waiting to get the test and time spent waiting to get the results is not time that should be wasted. Think about your goals for the autosomal test. Think about the individuals and families you are hoping to make discoveries on.

But don’t forget the families you think you already have figured out. There’s two reasons for this:

• you may make discoveries you didn’t even dream of on families that are “done”
• working on the families you already know will help you to sort your matches

 

We’ve written before about what to do while waiting:

• While I’m Waiting for the DNA Test Results on Two Siblings

• As Many Descendants as I Can Find

• While Waiting for DNA Results

We’ve also written a few posts with some things to think about in terms of analyzing and interpreting your results:

• Emmar’s Descendant Has Done A DNA Test and Thinking About What It Means

• That Chance We Share No DNA

• Bubba, Tommy, and Me

• Why Five of Erasmus’ Descendants Aren’t All Matches for Each Other

Taking a DNA test is not just as simple as spitting in a tube and waiting for your genealogy answers to be spit back at you in the form of test results. It will take time and patience to analyze your results.

Preparing for those results will help you to utilize the information you do receive. And remember that DNA will not answer every question. It will help you to make sense of some of the information you have already located and may give you some direction on other families.