There are various reasons why either a mother or presumed father of a particular child may seek a prenatal paternity test.

Usually, the desire is to confirm or disprove whether there is a genetic DNA relationship between the alleged father and the unborn child.

This may be motivated by potential issues involving child support, legal custody, financial aspects, relationship conflicts, suspicion of an illicit affair and arguably, just simple peace of mind.

How Prenatal Paternity Tests are Performed

Collecting DNA samples from either of the designated potential parents is painless and only involves collecting small amounts of cells from the inner cheeks using swabs.

Extracting samples of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from an unborn child is completely different and obviously invasive in nature.

Presently, there are two methods of initiating a prenatal paternity test. The first involves collecting cells from the placenta and is referred to as Chorionic Villi Sampling (CVS).

The second requires performing an amniocentesis which focuses on collecting loose fetal cells, but may also be used to screen for genetic anomalies that may affect the child in the near or later future.

Having amniocentesis performed can be used to determine if the child may genetically inherit any life threatening or debilitating diseases or challenges. There are many women that pursue this, simply because they desire to know if their child will be completely healthy prior to giving birth.

But this should not be considered as an opportunity to request a DNA test for paternity. If that is what is preferred, then be completely honest with your medical practitioners, otherwise they will likely suspect that something is not quite correct.

Prenatal Paternity Test Risks

In either case, these procedures can be performed as early into the pregnancy as 10 weeks, and as late as 24 weeks. As these are invasive procedures, there are always potential medical risks to the unborn child.

In all cases, such procedures must be performed by certified medical practitioners, and prior to considering them, a family Gynecologist and/or Obstetrician should be consulted.

There are some DNA testing companies that claim it is possible to avoid the risks involved with prenatal DNA extraction, simply by taking a sample of the mother’s blood.

Such tests have not yet proven to be scientifically accurate and are not endorsed by laboratories that are AABB certified.

These procedures should not be performed unless absolutely necessary because of the apparent risks to the child, perhaps even the mother and the obvious high costs of involving medical specialists.

A safer and less costly method would be to wait until the child’s birth and collect a blood sample from the umbilical cord.

This is simple and painless and will likely not impact the newborn child or the mother in virtually all instances.

Regardless of the prenatal or post-natal procedure used, the primary purpose is to extract an accurate DNA sample that will be processed by an accredited DNA testing facility.

The laboratory would then proceed to amplify the DNA and analyze these samples for the presence of at least 13 genetic markers.

Also, the lab would likely perform these tests twice in order to produce results that are extremely high in accuracy, with a probability of 99.999 percent.

Prenatal Paternity Testing Suggestions

To repeat, because it is incredibly important, if you absolutely deem it necessary to have a prenatal DNA paternity test performed, it is strongly recommended that you consult with expert medical practitioners that will be performing the procedure as well as a Gynecologist, Obstetrician and your family doctor.

You should also strive to anticipate the medical costs involved and determine if your medical insurance plan will cover any or all expenses. Receiving an unexpected medical bill for thousands of dollars is not what most people would prefer.

It may also be necessary to engage a paternity lawyer if there are possible legal issues.

Lastly, consider what is truly important before proceeding and this should be the health of the child. There may be strong emotions experienced by the mother, the assumed father and other family members regarding paternity, maternity, child support, custody issues and likely others.

These should always be secondary considerations to bringing a healthy child into the world regardless of who the true biological parents are.

Prenatal Testing Methods

Whether using a home DNA paternity testing kit or deciding to use a DNA test lab for determining child parenthood, there are important differences that you should understand before pursuing either option.

Obviously, a DNA home test is very likely to cost less, but does it provide the results required when compared to using a DNA lab testing facility in determining the parenthood of a child?

There are several advantages and disadvantages to either which you must be aware of before making a final decision.

Certainly, paternity implies fatherhood and this can be established by an accredited testing laboratory using proper DNA genetic testing methods.

Any DNA paternity test must be performed to the legal standards set forth by authorized government regulations.

The results virtually ensure that the assumed father is also the biological father of a child.

Paternity is effectively disproved when the identical methods and standards employed demonstrate that a proposed father can not actually be the true biological father and with an extremely high degree of accuracy.

Lab or Home DNA Test Kit?

In prior years, DNA testing required using a laboratory presence; however, there are now various types of DNA tests presented for home use.

These DNA test kits are available either via online shopping or even direct from your favourite pharmacy. The cost for these home DNA tests can vary, depending on your preferences.

So what’s the difference? Either you buy a DNA testing kit or you engage the services of a reputable laboratory that is certified to perform DNA testing.

If you purchase a paternity testing kit, you are provided with tools for collecting and marking the DNA samples. Afterwards, you submit the results to the testing lab for verification.

Some weeks later, you receive the results that confirm or disprove the parenthood of the child.

If you buy a home kit for DNA testing, submit the results to the designated lab, you will almost certainly discover and confirm the nature of the parental relationship.

But, what you will NOT be able to do is submit these results in any court of law. This is the problem with home paternity DNA test kits.

If you only need to know if you are genetically related to the child in question, then this is your low cost and perhaps best option to pursue.

If perhaps there are child custody issues and substantial financial issues at stakes, it is likely better to adopt a strategy that is bullet-proof with respect to confirming genetic identity and paternity.

This implies that you should consider using a certified DNA paternity testing lab and forgo the home testing kits.

By recognizing the importance of all aspects with respect to collecting DNA samples, delivering them properly, analyzing them and providing certified results, you are likely to receive guaranteed proof in almost all courts of law.

It may cost somewhat more, but the results may definitely be worth it in the long run.

Free DNA Testing Kits

With a minimum of research, you can most likely find a free DNA test online or otherwise.  Most home DNA test kits are essentially the same and easy to use.

A basic and easy to use DNA paternity test kit can cost roughly $200.00.  A low-cost DNA test kit like this is often used for proving paternity to an unbelieving father or perhaps for family members who are only looking for basic confirmation and some peace of mind.

Other in-home DNA tests can include testing for perhaps the mother, assumed father, and obviously the child in question.  It is not necessary that the mother be tested but this is recommended if her DNA samples are available.

DNA paternity testing is effectively so powerful that tests can be conducted even when no mother is available.

There are no age limits with respect to DNA paternity testing.  In the past, it was the case that only newborns over the age of six months could be tested.

But this is definitely no longer the case and it is usually only necessary to extract some umbilical cord blood at birth or use swabs to collect from the cheek cells of an infant.

A DNA paternity test is most likely the most accurate manner of paternity testing possible. If the DNA patterns between the child and the presumed father do not match with respect to two or more DNA probes, then it is virtually without a doubt that the alleged father is 100% excluded and therefore cannot possibly be the biological father of the child.

What to Consider Before having a Paternity Test