The DNA Test itself

[chiddicks]

So the big day is here, my Ancestry DNA kit has arrived!!

To be fair, the kit arrived only a few days after ordering it from Ancestry and considering the amount of orders that Ancestry fulfilled in their pre-Christmas order, I was impressed with the speed of delivery.

First things first and very important, you need to register the kits registration number against your Ancestry account. If you don't actually have an account with Ancestry, it's feee and easy enough to set up.

So after successfully registering my test kit, within a few minutes, I was up and running.

The next step, taking the sample itself. Even if you feel uncomfortable spitting into a tube, it's all pretty harmless and uneventful!

The instructions are very easy and straight forward to follow:

1) Do not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum for at least 30 minutes before giving your sample.

2) Fill the saliva tube with spit, to just above the wavy line indicated on the sample tube.

3) Unscrew the funnel and screw on the enclosed lid. The lid contains a stabilising solution, which when tightened, breaks a seal inside and releases the solution into the sample.

4) Shake the tube for at least 5 seconds to mix the two together and that's it, job done.

It's that quick and simple to do.

The final step is to place the sample into the sample collection bag provided and seal it. Place the bag with the sample into the prepaid mailing box and pop it into the post.

Communication from Ancestry has been first class, I received an email on 8th January to say that my sample had safely arrived. I then received a further email from Ancestry on 19th January to say that my sample was at the lab being processed.



I am now eagerly waiting for my results and will let you know of course, in my next blog, what my results bring. So watch out for the next instalment............

[peterd]

one thing I would mention if your are testing an older person be patient as they may take a lot longer than you to fill the tube with saliva

[chiddicks]

Absolutely spot on Peter and some will struggle to generate enough saliva, so maybe in this instance a swab test would be more suitable?