I do not know who my father is, by taking one of the DNA tests offered, will I be able to find out what nationality he would have been?
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Kris Hewitt It really depends on many factors. Without knowing your full story, its hard to say. It is rare, but it is possible if you took the Family Finder test that you would be matched with a close paternal relative who would know who exactly who your father is (ie a half sibling or paternal aunt/uncle etc). Once you are in the database, a new match could come at any time that is close enough that you are able to figure out who your father is. If you are able to test your mother or maternal relatives as well as yourself it can help to see which people are related to your father within the Family Finder matches.
The Y-DNA test will give you the distant ancestry of your fathers father father etc, but it is probable that this isn't a full picture of his background. He could for example have a Chinese paternal haplogroup and only be 5% or less Chinese, if the only ancestor who was Chinese was the direct paternal line. The Y-DNA test may give you a likely surname for your father, as its direct paternal line, it is usually surname linked. If you get many matches to a certain surname it is likely (not 100% certain, as there are adoptions, non-paternal events etc) that this is your fathers surname as well.
After testing with Family Finder you can use your raw data at Gedmatch or a few other places and get a probable more detailed ethnic background on yourself for free.
This all assumes you mean ethnicity and not nationality, because of course the DNA cant tell where he was actually born. If he has for example 2 Chinese parents, he would show as 100% Chinese, but he could have been born in Africa, or the North Pole.
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Victar It's worth also noting that STR markers, the higher the better, might give you a chance in discovering your father's surname.
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