Hi all,

I asked a similar question a couple months back but made the mistake of including a surname so it was moved to that board.

My grandmother was adopted as an infant, and I am trying to use AncestryDNA (+2 other companies as well as Gedmatch) to figure out her family tree. I have noticed certain surnames/locations popping up on many DNA relatives' trees. I can usually trace those surnames back to a Most Recent Common Ancestor for most of the matches, meaning I can reasonably hypothesize that I am likely descended from that same MRCA.

Let's say these DNA relatives' trees all go back to HusbandX and WifeX. They had five children - BoyA, GirlA, GirlB, GirlC, BoyB. One match might be descended from GirlB, another from GirlC, two from BoyB, etc.

The next step, I'm sure, is to ask them all to upload at Gedmatch and then hope to triangulate. Is it as simple as seeing which DNA relatives share the longest segment or most cMs with me to figure out which of the five children is my direct ancestor?

I'm trying to be as clear as I can be with the question, but I apologize if my post/question is difficult to follow. Happy to clarify anything if it helps anyone. Thank you for your help!