Family Tree DNA

Ok, so, following up on last post, I want to talk a little more about the DNA test itself.

The DNA tests for Korean adoptees and Korean birth parents are provided by a donation from Thomas Park Clement, who is himself a Korean adoptee.  The kits are from Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) (www.familytreedna.com) which will analyze your initial results.  You are then at liberty to upload your results to additional third-party family tree/DNA analyzing sites.



So, inside the kit:

Two cheek swabs and vials, an instruction sheet, a consent form (saying you allow Family Tree DNA to see and archive your results), and a padded return envelope.

It's a simple process, you should swab each cheek (one at a time) 30 or so times with a little bit of pressure to make sure you get enough cells.  Then you put the tip of the swab about halfway down the vial and push the release button (kinda like a clicky-top pen) and drop the swab end into the vial.  Be sure you put the lid on nice and tight so it doesn't dry out during mailing and processing time.

My swabs, all ready to go

Be sure to fill out your consent form and drop everything into the envelope.  Seal it up, drop it in the mail and wait.

All packed up and ready to go!

Obviously, I mailed mine from here in Korea.  Using Korea Post it cost about 700 won or so, so less than a US dollar.

As of this post, I am still waiting for my DNA analysis results.  It's been almost two months since I sent mine in.  I think the post took about 3 of those weeks...I did get an email from Family Tree DNA saying my kit had been received.  I checked just before writing this post and so far the results are not ready.

So, I wait.