The DNA Journey - Update on my MtDNA Test

On May 10th I mailed my completed Family Tree DNA kit. Yesterday I received an email saying the kit has been received. Now I wait. If I recall it took a month or more for my brother's Y-DNA test results.

I took the MtDNA test for my maternal lineage. I know my maternal ancestors back to England in the late 1700s so it will be quite interesting for me to learn more about the very early origins of my maternal DNA.

The MtDNA test traces from either a man or a woman back up the mother's lineage, following the mothers (maternal) one generation at a time. So for me it goes like this:

Me
My mom
My mom's mom (my maternal grandmother)
My maternal grandmother's mother
and so on

Let me demonstrate with names

Me
My mom
Ruth (my mother's mother Ruth Simpson)
Sarah #1 (Ruth's mother Sarah Stead)
Sarah #2 (Sarah #1's mother Sarah Elvery)
Hannah (Sarah #2's mother Hannah Elvery)
Mary (Hannah's mother, Mary Ansell born 1771)

That's as far as I know. Will my MtDNA results give me my ancestors' names? No. But it should give me a glimpse into the earliest geographical origins of this female line. It may link me to others who descend from the same lineage.

My MtDNA test will tell me what haplogroup I am in. A haplogroup is the major branch on either the maternal or paternal tree of humankind. Haplogroups are associated with early human migrations and are associated with a geographic region or regions.

I am honestly not sure what other information I will find from this test, but I'll take you on my journey as I discover more.