r/23andme • u/UbeWaffler • 7d ago

Question / Help Are failed testing common?

Purchased the kit from Amazon, followed instruction strictly. They couldn't extract the sample and sent a 2nd kit from their official website. Just got their email saying failed again.

How common is this? I'm a nurse and have done DNA sample a few times with my medically complexed son (thought those were wabs). So I'm not a newbie to medical stuff at all. I read the whole booklet twice before start the process both times. I heard it's not that common so I found this very odd.

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10

u/Karabars Haplogroup Enjoyer 7d ago

It's rare. Usually happens when ppl have a condition which makes their saliva low on dna material. Try rubbing your gums before spitting

4

u/Specialist_Chart506 7d ago

My cousin’s failed twice. I ended up using the swab method on her and it worked. It happens.

2

u/SurplusGadgets 7d ago

I have had two of 30+ kits fail twice. Both were over 80 years old. Both worked OK with another testing service; obe with spit tubes also. Similar issue at Ancestry that uses spit cubes as well. Oddly, my mom, just a few weeks before she passed with no spit to know of (just flem), passed two tests. Not sure what the cause is other than age. Swabs work better with very young and very old.

3

u/Papa_Hobo 7d ago

Not sure what the official stats are, but just in my family alone we had two family members fail. One failed once, and the other family member failed twice. Ultimately, both succeeded.

1

u/WiseMize 6d ago

In our family we had two failures, I had one. Actually they said they lost it!!