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FEBRUARY 5, 2018

What Paternity Testing Can and Canโ€™t Tell You

If youโ€™re considering DNA paternity testing, what information do you expect to get? Todayโ€™s technology is so advanced that youโ€™re sure to get an accurate and conclusive answer to your paternity questionโ€”especially if you test with aย highly-accredited lab; but some people also think theyโ€™ll get specific details and characteristics about test participants. Is this true? What infoย doย you get? Here are some quick answers.

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What Paternity Testing CAN Tell You

Paternity testing tells you whether or not the man tested is considered the biological father of the child tested

Answering this question through DNA is why people do this test in the first place, and itโ€™s by far the most reliable and cost-effective method to determine a biological relationship. Once the DNA profiles for participants are established, results are calculated using tried-and-true statistics.ย Test resultsย will usually give a probability of paternity of 99.9% or higher when a man is considered the biological father of the child tested, and 0% if DNA data shows the man isย notย considered to be the biological father.

The sex of paternity testing participants

One of the DNA markers checked by the lab during paternity testing is the โ€œAmelogenin,โ€ or sex gene. On a report, this shows as XX for female, and XY for male. This is a useful process for a variety of reasons. For example, if the child is supposed to be male and this check shows that the childโ€™s sample is from a female, the lab can contact the customer and ask for clarification to ensure correct samples were submitted. Sometimes customers accidentally mislabel samples, and this process can catch this mistake.

Who the father is while youโ€™re still pregnant

It used to be that you could only determine paternity once the baby was born, but thatโ€™s no longer true. The technology forย non-invasive prenatal paternity testingย is so advanced now that you can reliably do paternity testing while pregnant (once the mother is 8 weeks or further along) without any risk to either mother or unborn child.

What Paternity Testing CANโ€™T Tell You

If an alleged father sent in someone elseโ€™s samples instead of his own

If you test with aย trusted and highly-regarded lab, you can be absolutely sure results are accurateย for the samples the lab is given. But there are some parts of the test that may be out of the labโ€™s control.

When doing at-home testing, the identities of participants are not verified by an impartial outside party, or witness. For this reason, peace-of-mind paternity testing wonโ€™t determine whether the sample submitted for the possible father really is his or if he submitted someone elseโ€™s. Similarly, a mother might submit DNA for her friendโ€™s child instead of collecting a sample for her own child. The lab cannot police this type of fraud and has to assume in good faith that the samples submitted really do belong to who participants say they do.

When doing at-home testing, itโ€™s best if all participants can collect their DNA in the same room, watch each other seal envelopes, and drop them off at the post office together. If this isnโ€™t possible, it might be advisable to pay a little extra for aย legal paternity testย wherein all DNA collection and submission to the lab is supervised by an approved witness. An added benefit of this type of test is that results can be used in court.

ย The age of participants

Sometimes, if there are two alleged fathers in a case who share a father/son relationship, the assumption is made that paternity can be determined based on the fact that the fatherโ€™s โ€œDNA ageโ€ would be older than his sonโ€™s. The only way to determine someoneโ€™s age based on their DNA would be toย compare a sample taken at birth with a current sample. And even that would be an educated guess.

A determination of paternity if alleged fathers are identical twins

Identical twins have identical DNA, and so itโ€™s impossible to determine paternity through affordable paternity testing at this time. To find any differences between them, their entire genomes would have to be sequencedโ€”thatโ€™s about six billion markersโ€”which would be super-costly!

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A probability of biological relationship other than father/child

Paternity testing is just that: testing for paternity between a possible father and a child. It does not determine whether the man tested is an uncle, brother, grandfather, cousin, etc. More comprehensive analysis is required for testing these types of biological relationships and itโ€™s calledย family reconstruction testing.

LEARN MORE ABOUT FAMILY RECONSTRUCTION TESTING >

Final Thoughts about Paternity Testing

Analyzing DNA is still the most accurate and reliable method for paternity testing, which is why itโ€™s trusted to settle family disputes every day by courts across America and around the world. But itโ€™s important to remember that these tests are designed for one specific purpose and one purpose only: to establish the probability of a biological relationship. If you have other familial questions that could be answered by DNA, other types of tests are a better choice.

About DNA Diagnostics Centerย (DDC)

DNA Diagnostic Center is the world leader in paternity and relationship testing. We serve healthcare professionals, government agencies, and individuals around the world to determine family relationships with trusted accuracy.

More Questions? Donโ€™t hesitate to call us: weโ€™re here to help!

CALL NOW: 888-362-2599

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