It finally arrived today, and as it said I must not have eaten or had anything to drink for half an hour before doing the test, I had to do it immediately before breakfast. I then started wondering about the cost of return postage from England to MyHeritage in Texas, and whether I would have to do a Customs declaration and what the cost would be. I spent ages reading out of date information on the internet and ended up none the wiser. I thought it would be useful if I reported my experiences.
I took it into the local post office, I said I'd like to send it to the United States, he asked me to put it on the scales, told me it would be £3.30 for a tiny little padded bag and didn't ask me about the contents or even read the words on the back of the envelope which said "Contains cheek swab from a healthy human not Known or suspected to have infectious substances."
The one sensible piece of advice I found on the internet, was that it is not a DNA sample you are returning it is a swab. It only becomes a DNA sample after it has been processed by the receiving laboratory.
It is now on its way and I can expect an email in 28 days telling me to log on to my account.
15:22 update. I will add that this was all a lot easier to post than I expected, and I really was ready to say that I could have sealed the return envelope with my own spit, just as if I was sending a birthday card in a lick-to-seal envelope!
Martin
