Paternity Test Confirms Military Dad Killed in Afghanistan

A paternity test has proven that a UK soldier, Pvt. Daniel Wade, was the father of a baby born in June, giving her access to his death benefits. Emma Hickman, the baby’s mother, was denied the right to put the father’s name in birth certificate because they were not married at the time the baby was born. The soldier had died in a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in March, just three months before the baby’s birth.

Hickman, who was engaged to Wade, had to fight the Ministry of Defence to obtain a DNA sample for the paternity test.

Post-mortem DNA samples can be obtained from tissues of the deceased, such as blood, hair, or other preserved tissue samples. At DDC, we offer viability DNA testing of postmortem samples to determine whether a tissue sample contains enough DNA for a paternity test when the father is missing, deceased, or otherwise unavailable. A paternity test can then be performed to compare the viable sample DNA with that of the possible child.

For those working in hostile or dangerous situations, DDC recommends DNA banking, which ensures that a DNA sample will be available at anytime, in case it is needed for personal identification and/or future relationship testing.

For more information on postmortem/viability paternity testing or DNA banking, call us at 1-800-613-5768.