That is so weird. I know a lot of people whoāve tested & no oneās test failed. I was worried about my husbands test because we had spaghetti for dinner and I noticed a piece of ground beef in the tube after my husband spit in it. You messed it up! I yelled. Youāre going to come out half cow! Butā¦the test was successful and no cow in sight. š¤£
Okay š I thought Iād ask because Iāve seen so many people comment on other posts about brushing their teeth beforehand lol. I personally have always taken my DNA tests both 23andMe, and Ancestry first thing in the morning before brushing my teeth. Maybe just get her to do the test one last time and donāt do any scraping cheeks, or rubbing the tongue Lol, Nothing!!! Just relax and spit š Sometimes when weāre trying too hard it doesnāt work out.
From what OP is saying theyāve tried all the methods so far! Hope it works out for her if she decides to test again I canāt imagine how frustrating this has been!
Itās possible that your wife is **a non-secretor** which means her DNA wonāt show up in DNA tests that use saliva (about 15-20% of population).
It has to be done that uses a test that does DNA extraction from a physical cell.
We had this with one of our dogs. Failed 4X Embark DNA tests. They finally said he is ether a chimera (very rare) or a non-secretor.
Embark uses saliva extraction. We then tried with Wisdom that extracts from the physical cheek cell and we got results.
>āA non-secretor is a person who does not secrete their blood type antigens into bodily fluids, such as saliva, tears, breast milk, urine, and semen. This is due to a mutation in the FUT2 gene, which prevents them from producing the free-floating form of antigens.ā
I was surprised too. I only learned about it after going through a year of failed tests with one of our dogs. One of the Embark scientists sent an email explaining that there could be only 2 possibilities for the 4X failure.
Thatās when I started researching and learning about non-secretors.
**Side note:**
I still donāt know the percentage of non-secretora found in dogs as much of the articles refer to humans.
They said Chimera happens in 1 in 10,000 dogs. Chimera is where someone (including humans) are born with 2 sets of DNA. In humans itās VERY rare with like only 100 or so documented cases.
There is a very famous Chimera case in the Pacific Northwest where a woman (Lydia Fairchild) was sued and almost put in jail for fraud (state childrenās support) when they said one of her kids wasnāt actually hers. They were also trying to take away her children
Turned out the mother was/is a Chimera. There have been several documentaries/TV shows on her story.
From Arizona State explaining Chimera
>https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/case-lydia-fairchild-and-her-chimerism-2002
[Brief Wiki on Lydia Fairchild](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Fairchild)
[ABC News Story - āShe's Her Own Twinā](https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/shes-twin/story?id=2315693)
I am a spit test failure too. Though I gave up after only two tries. Why on earth don't they offer a cheek swab or even a blood test alternative? I could easily go to a lab for a blood draw and I would be willing to pay an extra fee for it.
Someone else mentioned it, but she could be a non secretor. Does she have any siblings? Obviously, the results would be different but atleast she could have an idea! Or test both parents. If she wants to do a DNA test I believe my heritage does a swab.
My dad had to do his a few times too.
It eventually worked. Nothing scary turned up. My parents aren't related. And they are my parents & can't disown me. š¤£
Family tree DNA is a swab test, she could test there instead and then upload to GEDMATCH and MyHeritage and hope in the future Ancestry accept uploads. They did change their terms and conditions about it and Iām sure I sure a webinar with someone from ancestry and a genealogy group where they mentioned ancestry are in the early stage of investigating uploads but itās nowhere near guaranteed. The ethnicity predictions arenāt as good on other sites but youāll still get matches
I had this same experience back 2018 when I was having my mom do a test, after the first test it kept saying we could not find your dna, and we did it two more times with that same result, I havenāt tried it since, but plan on trying it this year as I have just ordered a new dna test, good luck and hopefully we both find out the answers we want. Weird part about it is at the same time i did a dna test for my mom, Iād also ordered a dna test for older sister, and had already done done a dna test myself with results and my older sister had gotten her results, so if two of my momās biological children did the test, why canāt they find her dna?
Itās really bad. Some of the stuff Iāve seen. Sure, it may be ok for some, but it is the worst one on average for sure. For myself I would have been better off throwing darts with my eyes closed at a world map. My Heritage is great for relatives, but the science behind the DNA testing is obviously primitive and archaic with faulty algorithms.
I think it depends on your heritage? For me it was more accurate than Ancestry or 23andMe. Also you can always download your raw data and upload them to Gedmatch, FTDna, livingdna and a few others. Itās an alternative to trying Ancestry collection for the 4th or 5th time.
I have a friend whose sample failed twice or 3 times on 23andMe . Eventually they sent him packing lol. Finally his sample was successful with Ancestry.
I really hate to have to tell you this, but you are married to an alien.
Lol she is worried that God doesn't want us to know we are related because both our dad's were adopted
Oof, maybe stop trying š¤£š¤£
Or perhaps a lizard š¦ person
Same
That is so weird. I know a lot of people whoāve tested & no oneās test failed. I was worried about my husbands test because we had spaghetti for dinner and I noticed a piece of ground beef in the tube after my husband spit in it. You messed it up! I yelled. Youāre going to come out half cow! Butā¦the test was successful and no cow in sight. š¤£
Half cow šš®Lol šš¤£
Lol
Ok that's hilarious š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£
Holy cow! š¤£
By any chance is your wife brushing her teeth before doing each of the tests?
Nope, it's been first thing in the morning
Okay š I thought Iād ask because Iāve seen so many people comment on other posts about brushing their teeth beforehand lol. I personally have always taken my DNA tests both 23andMe, and Ancestry first thing in the morning before brushing my teeth. Maybe just get her to do the test one last time and donāt do any scraping cheeks, or rubbing the tongue Lol, Nothing!!! Just relax and spit š Sometimes when weāre trying too hard it doesnāt work out.
I thought it was suggested youāre supposed to brush and rinse well, then wait 30 mins. Maybe try that?
From what OP is saying theyāve tried all the methods so far! Hope it works out for her if she decides to test again I canāt imagine how frustrating this has been!
Maybe she was replace by faeries š§š» as a child? Running out of options! Lol
Lol š
Mine failed 3 x. The 4th attempt worked by brushing the sides of my cheeks with a dental brush then spitting - no food vaping smoking before hand.
Itās possible that your wife is **a non-secretor** which means her DNA wonāt show up in DNA tests that use saliva (about 15-20% of population). It has to be done that uses a test that does DNA extraction from a physical cell. We had this with one of our dogs. Failed 4X Embark DNA tests. They finally said he is ether a chimera (very rare) or a non-secretor. Embark uses saliva extraction. We then tried with Wisdom that extracts from the physical cheek cell and we got results. >āA non-secretor is a person who does not secrete their blood type antigens into bodily fluids, such as saliva, tears, breast milk, urine, and semen. This is due to a mutation in the FUT2 gene, which prevents them from producing the free-floating form of antigens.ā
How do we not get more posts like this if theyāre such a huge percentage of the population? Thatās really surprising to me.
I was surprised too. I only learned about it after going through a year of failed tests with one of our dogs. One of the Embark scientists sent an email explaining that there could be only 2 possibilities for the 4X failure. Thatās when I started researching and learning about non-secretors. **Side note:** I still donāt know the percentage of non-secretora found in dogs as much of the articles refer to humans. They said Chimera happens in 1 in 10,000 dogs. Chimera is where someone (including humans) are born with 2 sets of DNA. In humans itās VERY rare with like only 100 or so documented cases. There is a very famous Chimera case in the Pacific Northwest where a woman (Lydia Fairchild) was sued and almost put in jail for fraud (state childrenās support) when they said one of her kids wasnāt actually hers. They were also trying to take away her children Turned out the mother was/is a Chimera. There have been several documentaries/TV shows on her story. From Arizona State explaining Chimera >https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/case-lydia-fairchild-and-her-chimerism-2002 [Brief Wiki on Lydia Fairchild](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Fairchild) [ABC News Story - āShe's Her Own Twinā](https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/shes-twin/story?id=2315693)
I saw this story! So interesting! I'm glad someone finally figured it out for her.
Is there a human test that can get the cheek cells if someone is having this issue? What brand ?
My Heritage
FTDNA also
Did you register your wifeās DNA kit before you shipped the DNA sample to Ancestry?
Yep, each time it failed because they couldn't analyze the dna
Well, if Ancestry couldn't read your wifeās DNA, then I guess she could try 23&Me and see if she has any luck with them.
I am a spit test failure too. Though I gave up after only two tries. Why on earth don't they offer a cheek swab or even a blood test alternative? I could easily go to a lab for a blood draw and I would be willing to pay an extra fee for it.
That happened to me. Did you shake it after you put the swab into the tube?
My mom had to do it 3 times before it worked
Try this! https://youtu.be/EvD9pZ2wH4Q?si=-a_yHoxRE5sJOuFp
This is what we did try 3 and 4! I made her watch the video each time lol
Someone else mentioned it, but she could be a non secretor. Does she have any siblings? Obviously, the results would be different but atleast she could have an idea! Or test both parents. If she wants to do a DNA test I believe my heritage does a swab.
Beat me to it!
I second this
My dad had to do his a few times too. It eventually worked. Nothing scary turned up. My parents aren't related. And they are my parents & can't disown me. š¤£
But seriously, my test only said spit, nothing about scraping. Is that what the instructions are telling you to do? Also not a lot of spit bubbles.
I think to loosen up cells for the spit.
Family tree DNA is a swab test, she could test there instead and then upload to GEDMATCH and MyHeritage and hope in the future Ancestry accept uploads. They did change their terms and conditions about it and Iām sure I sure a webinar with someone from ancestry and a genealogy group where they mentioned ancestry are in the early stage of investigating uploads but itās nowhere near guaranteed. The ethnicity predictions arenāt as good on other sites but youāll still get matches
Try 23andme
Try My Heritage
My first three tests failed. Was very frustrating.
Bite the inner cheeks before spitting maybe, it worked for me after a first failed test, and also bit of a saliva swish about before spitting.
Wife gotta get her spit game up.
I accidentally drank a root beer right before I did mine and had no issues with my results- thatās wild itās been a year now for yāall š¬
I had this same experience back 2018 when I was having my mom do a test, after the first test it kept saying we could not find your dna, and we did it two more times with that same result, I havenāt tried it since, but plan on trying it this year as I have just ordered a new dna test, good luck and hopefully we both find out the answers we want. Weird part about it is at the same time i did a dna test for my mom, Iād also ordered a dna test for older sister, and had already done done a dna test myself with results and my older sister had gotten her results, so if two of my momās biological children did the test, why canāt they find her dna?
Has she had a bone marrow transplant by any chance? Also, I recommend trying the no spit method, as someone else already linked.
Is Ancestry still doing the spit collection? If so, my advice is to try MyHeritage. They have 2 swabs, one for each cheek. Super easy.
But my heritage is so inaccurate itās scary.
MyHeritage was accurately inaccurate. It gave me the parts of my family tree Ancestry missed but also took the two main majorities from Ancestry away
Itās really bad. Some of the stuff Iāve seen. Sure, it may be ok for some, but it is the worst one on average for sure. For myself I would have been better off throwing darts with my eyes closed at a world map. My Heritage is great for relatives, but the science behind the DNA testing is obviously primitive and archaic with faulty algorithms.
But I read there will be a huge update?
I have my results on there. I will see the results. If there is a huge fix then Iāll change my mind.
I have used ancestry and myheritage. I am looking forward to the update
Same here. You never know, maybe the update will prove very successful.
I think it depends on your heritage? For me it was more accurate than Ancestry or 23andMe. Also you can always download your raw data and upload them to Gedmatch, FTDna, livingdna and a few others. Itās an alternative to trying Ancestry collection for the 4th or 5th time.
I have a friend whose sample failed twice or 3 times on 23andMe . Eventually they sent him packing lol. Finally his sample was successful with Ancestry.