DNA Personal Paternity Tests

It's now relatively easy to obtain a self-testing DNA paternity testing kit and there are a number of suppliers and testing laboratories in the UK, USA, Canada and even Australia that can provide confidential paternity testing for you.

The DNA paternity testing does not always require DNA samples from both parents, but it is recommended. Some labs will accept samples of hair roots from hair brushes, tooth brushes, dried body fluids such as blood or saliva etc.

All that is required, is a swab taken from inside the cheek of one parent and the child concerned. You then send the samples in the post, together with your payment in most cases and wait for the results, which is often within a 10 day timescale.

Personal DNA tests are not admissible in a court of law in most cases, but provide the individual with the information they are seeking in a short period of time and at least cost.

The DNA paternity tests offered by most providers offer 99.9% accuracy.

Legal DNA Paternity Testing

If you are involved in a legal child support dispute, it is recommended that you do not use personal DNA services. This is because you need to have evidence that the samples provided for each party actually belonged to them.

You need a servicethat offers results in a format that the courts will accept.

Many companies and DNA testing laboratories will arrange formal collection of specimens - even if the parties live in different parts of the world.

They will certify the authenticity of all samples collected and then provide the results to the relevant parties.

As you would expect, the DNA testing laboratories will require photo evidence of identity when conducting these tests. You should check the precise requirements with your laboratory.

Which DNA Tests Are Best?

Paternity-Testing.co.uk isn't qualified to answer that question but there are several things that you should look out for from a common sense point of view.

The science behind DNA testing is extremely complex and it's easy to visit a web site and simply look for the cheapest DNA test available.

That's not always the best thing to do. This is an important issue and so you must look for evidence that the people you are employing to conduct your test, can actually provide you with an accurate result.

Beware of companies offering extremely low prices. You get what you pay for.

Paternity tests are generally available for between $200 and $400 from US based companies and from about £180 in the UK, so you have to be careful!

Look for the accuracy claims. 99.9% isn't good enough in many cases. It's usually an indication that the testing procedure isn't quite as thorough as it could be.

Ideally you are looking for inclusion accuracy of greater than 99.999% (that means you are the biological father) and exclusion accuracy of 100%.

Only laboratories testing at least 16 genetic locations are able to provide this level of accuracy. Some test only 12 or even 8 genetic locations and this simply doesn't provide accurate analysis.

Of course, some labs will try to confuse their customers with claims that they often achieve 99.999% inclusion rates - but that's usually only for those clients who have purchased a premium DNA testing service from them. The standard headline tests are often not 99.999% accurate.

Common Practices - Beware Of The Broker!

Many of the companies advertising on the Internet are not actually testing laboratories at all.

Instead they are brokers who simply collect samples on behalf of laboratories and then earn a commission on the sale of the DNA paternity test.

You can spot a broker site because they will claim to be members of trade organisations such as AABB or BBB (USA based mainly). But this is no endorsement of the firm concerned and carries no weight whatsoever.

The best people to deal with are the laboratories themselves.

By removing the middleman you might well be removingup to 80% of the total cost - which is worth knowing.

Our advice is to call the company and ask them whether they conduct the DNA testing themselves or if they subcontract it to a testing lab.

(That's the kind of language they will use. Subcontracting sounds so much more efficient than, "well actually sir, we don't have a lab. We just take an 80% commission for providing the customer")

DNA Paternity Testing -
Personal Considerations

Before using a DNA paternity test, you should consider carefully what might happen in the event of a negative result.

What happens if the test shows that you are not the biological father? Will that make you happy, or not so happy?

What affect will that have on the child concerned?

Often, no consideration is given to the innocent children when adults get embroiled in personal disputes. It's only the child that can lose in this situation.

Whether or not you are the biological father of a child becomes insignificant to the child whose world gets turned upside down as unconditional love is withdrawn.

It's important to consider this at this stage. Sure, you're feeling emotional at the moment. Hurt, betrayed, devastated probably. But now is the time to let logic take it's part.

Think very carefully about what you are about to do. Lives will change no matter what the result of the paternity test, especially if the mother of the child is unaware that you are about to get a DNA test.

Whatever you decide to do, we wish you every success and hope that a few of the links provided on this page help you at this incredibly difficult time.

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