Is 5 months normal for a 67 marker test?

The results are accurate. I trust FTDNA more than any other service. I have used Genebase and my cousin once removed used Ancestry. Everyone's results are accurate, but FTDNA sets the standard.

I'd ask for another sample kit and assume I did not get enough material on the first kit. So far, I have had my mtDNA full genome sequenced, my yDNA tested to more than yDNA 111 markers+9 SNPs, my 30 autosomal identification markers tested, my 17 xDNA markers tested, and the 710,000 SNPs tested.

I had the most trouble with my first few panels, but they were all the same as Genebase. At this point, I guess there is a bucket of my cloned DNA somewhere, but I am never concerned about accuracy. If there was an error on your "match" I suspect it was a transcription error. I'd be interested in knowing if this was in a project, FTDNA did it, or the person changed their status regarding revealing their markers.

I am only concerned with my own interpretation of results, which FTDNA cannot ultimately help me with in my areas of interest. I am trying to pin down my ethnic/national origins of my paternal and maternal lineages.

FTDNA is the best, but my yDNA is too rare and my mtDNA is too common. Both issues can only be resolved by more and more people testing to put their information into the database that know their origins. I do not consider paperwork to ultimately be as accurate as DNA. DNA does not lie, but documents do.

I got a response from Jennifer Valentine:
I guess I'm just worried the results aren't accurate. It was March when I got 26-37, and May 10 when I got the first markers for 61-67. Additionally, my YDNA results initially had incorrect values and confirmed a 37 marker paternal match that I spent time researching before the error was found and he was removed from my list. For $800, I want to make sure this thing is accurate. I'll give it another 8 weeks.

[sbrobin]

I got a response from Jennifer Valentine:

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Thank you for your email. We are still waiting on a single panel out of the 6 that are run for your Y-DNA results. Please note that your mtDNA and Family Finder tests are complete. You can go ahead and order the Deep Clade test if you would like to since it will not be affected by this last panel of results coming in. That is up to you. We appreciate your patience as we complete your testing.
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I actually had about 3-4 failures on other panels before this, so I don't know how many swabs they have left. I understand a failure on a test and having to redo it. I understand a second failure, and maybe a third. But at some point, wouldn't it make sense to just request a brand new sample? Is it possible with a new sample to just run a test on that single panel, or do they have to do the entire 67 markers again? If it's the latter, I guess I can understand that and wait a bit longer if it's additional expense to them, but if not, I just want my results finalized. I checked my email to see how long it has been, and actually found an email from May 10 saying "Y-DNA61-67 results have been posted." I checked my DYS values and see that I have a null value for DYS487, so I guess that's the problem. The comment says that all values of 0 are retested multiple times and that "Mutations causing null values are infrequent, but are passed on to offspring just like other mutations." Does this explain why my dad and I both have vestigial gills?

I guess I'm just worried the results aren't accurate. It was March when I got 26-37, and May 10 when I got the first markers for 61-67. Additionally, my YDNA results initially had incorrect values and confirmed a 37 marker paternal match that I spent time researching before the error was found and he was removed from my list. For $800, I want to make sure this thing is accurate. I'll give it another 8 weeks.

They have always been responsive with me, but you can email them again or call them.

Elise is correct. I would be quite curious and call for clarification. FtDna is not very timely with its email responses, so please do call.

They are quite rigid over there but rarely when a test is delayed, do they offer up rationale and five months is an exceptional amount of time.

Good luck.

[Zaru]

Elise is correct. I would be quite curious and call for clarification. FtDna is not very timely with its email responses, so please do call.

They are quite rigid over there but rarely when a test is delayed, do they offer up rationale and five months is an exceptional amount of time.

Good luck.

[efgen]

Is this common for mtDNA as well as Y-DNA? I just got a delay message this evening about my HVR1 panel which was in batch 414 (originally due 7/20 now due 8/3). However, my FF results were in the same batch (due 7/20) and I got my results on 6/4! Did they use two separate vial/swabs for each of these tests? If not I think it must be something not related to my sample.

Different types of tests are run separately because they require different processing. The batches are simply weekly batches of orders, not batches of tests being done on the same plate/machine at the exact same time.

As someone else recently wrote in another thread... "this isn't like making a batch of cookies"

Elise

[Linds]

The problem is not always the sample quality--it may be something unusual in the results. For example, a Null result on a marker is re-run at least twice more, to make sure that the value is really Null and not due to some lab failure. And if the Null result is due to a nearby SNP (mutation), the lab may want to find and isolate the mutation so that they don't have the same problem again with someone else.

Is this common for mtDNA as well as Y-DNA? I just got a delay message this evening about my HVR1 panel which was in batch 414 (originally due 7/20 now due 8/3). However, my FF results were in the same batch (due 7/20) and I got my results on 6/4! Did they use two separate vial/swabs for each of these tests? If not I think it must be something not related to my sample.

Here's the message I got:

A very small percentage of the tests we perform do not return conclusive results the first time we test. In these cases, the samples do not produce a reading that allows our lab to determine with 100% certainty the values for one or more markers or regions. When this happens, we re-test the sample. We repeat this procedure up to 3 times after the initial test fails to give a clear result.

Your sample failed to produce a clear result in this run.

[lgmayka]

I don't understand why they don't just send me a new testing kit if the one they are using is so degraded that it takes 5 months to obtain a result.

The problem is not always the sample quality--it may be something unusual in the results. For example, a Null result on a marker is re-run at least twice more, to make sure that the value is really Null and not due to some lab failure. And if the Null result is due to a nearby SNP (mutation), the lab may want to find and isolate the mutation so that they don't have the same problem again with someone else.

[efgen]

FTDNA's retest process goes something like this:

* After first failure, they retest from the same swab/vial.
* If the retest on the first vial still fails, they start over with the second vial.
* If the retest on the second vial fails, they should be requesting more swabs.

Each re-test takes 3-4 weeks for the DNA to go through processing again. So you could easily wait 6-8 weeks after an initial failure before the lab can say definitively that the samples in storage aren't viable and they need new swabs for your kit.

But 5 months is a long time -- it really shouldn't take that long. So I would suggest calling FTDNA to ask them what's really happening with your kit, and if the re-tests are failing, ask them to just send you new swabs.

Dumbldorf - A delay due to retests is a "good" thing, in that it means they'll keep re-testing until the results pass their quality control checks so that they're not giving out bad/unreliable results

[Dumbldorf]

I have the same issue on the second half of the Mitochondrial test and like you each time the date comes up I just get a new one (6/5, 7/4 now 7/25). I did contact them asking about the wording on the pending message on the first change and they did not answer my question but told me my test had failed three times and they were rerunning it.

So now I guess it has failed 6 times? The delay is bad enough but if they fail so many times you would think it is a difficult task to get them right and if that is the case I now have to question how reliable the data is or if it IS right.

Would be nice if they would one explain things more and two offer a full FGS to say sorry for having to wait so long.

[Jim Barrett]

No, 5 months for the 67 marker upgrade or original order is not normal.

It does normally take two or three days to get a reply to an e-mail. Maybe they are trying to get a meaningful reply, you deserve it after this length of time.

Obviously they are not getting results they like on the remaining panel and they may not be getting the same results on reruns. Concerned, no; curious, yes. Like you I surprised they haven't sent you a new kit.

Good luck!

[sbrobin]

I order my kit in February 2011. It is now July and I still dont have results for markers 61-67. My pending results says "This test failed to yield results for your sample. Your sample is being rerun now. Results from this round of testing are expected by this date" and lists a date of 7/25/11. Do you know what will happen on 7/25/11? I will see the same message, only there will be a new date of August listed. I know this because every three weeks they reproject the date out and have done this since April. My question is, should I be concerned? I contacted ftdna a couple days ago but haven't gotten a response yet. I don't understand why they don't just send me a new testing kit if the one they are using is so degraded that it takes 5 months to obtain a result. Wouldn't that be easier/quicker?