There are additional testing procedures that must be performed after DNA samples have been properly collected and submitted to a certified lab for paternity testing.
Whether for confirmation of paternity, maternity, genetic relationships, legal requirements or simply peace of mind, once the samples have been delivered to the testing facility, the actions performed and the results provided are beyond the control of the potential biological parents, relatives, lawyers and all government agencies.
This is EXACTLY how it should be so as to ensure that the samples have not been tampered with, the identities of those submitting the samples are confirmed and that there is no abuse or interference with how the DNA testing lab conducts the tests and the lab analysis provided.
Confirming DNA Samples and Preparation for Testing
It is not necessary for any one submitting to a DNA test to fully understand the procedures involved in preparation of the samples for testing. The information provided is provided for those wishing to comprehend how such lab testing is performed.
What is likely far more important is to establish a communication interface between the testing laboratory, legal representatives and the individuals requesting the DNA analysis. This is highly warranted in legal cases involving paternity identification, child custody issues and financial support concerns.
Testing for paternity identity using a DNA test involves a series of processes and actions that begin with the individuals seeking confirmation about fatherhood, motherhood and perhaps also their genealogy or sibling relationships.
Before proceeding with any form of certified DNA testing, it is suggested to learn more about the nature of DNA and how it chemically defines relationships among family members and possibly those not previously considered to be so.
Understanding DNA and Family
Once a decision has been made to identify paternity with DNA, either by legal directive or voluntarily using a home DNA kit, the chosen laboratory for testing will require the collection of genetic sampling material from each of the individuals involved.
This is a simple and painless process involving swabbing the cells within the mouth and submitting them for DNA analysis. This procedure may be conducted by a professional on your behalf for a legal based paternity test or individually using a home testing kit.
An important aspect to consider prior to engaging in a paternity test is understanding more about what is DNA.
Although not a requirement, many people feel more confident with the sample collection, laboratory testing, analysis and results if they understand what is actually being tested.
DNA or as technically referred to, deoxyribonucleic acid is a chemical molecular signature that distinguishes one individual from another and each human from other forms of life.
Prior to the emergence of easily accessible DNA testing methods, blood tests were used to assist in determining paternity, maternity, genealogy and sibling relationships.
Testing paternity using DNA is now the defacto standard due to the information the analysis can provide and the extremely high degree of accuracy.
When voluntarily requesting or submitting to a legally directed DNA test for paternity or even using a home testing DNA kit, the actions required may be quite different.
This is considered as the initial part of the testing process and may vary greatly for each family or individual.
What is likely not different is what occurs after the results are submitted to a certified DNA testing laboratory for analysis.
There are certain common procedures and actions that virtually all test labs must follow.
Once DNA samples have been properly collected from the potential biological parents and delivered to the testing laboratory, a DNA profile must be generated corresponding to each of the individuals submitting a DNA sample.
After the genetic profiles are created, the next step required is to compare these profiles and determine the probability of a DNA match or the possibility of a non-match.
The laboratory will strive to determine to an accuracy approaching virtually 100 percent that the individuals are related or not. It is also important to note that the lab tests are performed twice in order to ensure that the analysis is completely replicatable and not suspect.
A local paternity case and others like it throughout the country are raising a firestorm of questions and concerns. State legislatures and judges are grappling with questions that go to the heart of what defines being a father.
Pennsylvania says Mike is the father of his child – even though he can prove he’s not the biological father. When his daughter was 2-years-old, Mike found out his wife was having an affair. But his wife told him she would end it, and assured him that their child was his.
However, two years later, he found out that the affair was still going on and he demanded a paternity test. “Got the results back and it was zero percent chance that I could be the biological father,” said Mike.
Mike filed for divorce and after it was granted – his ex-wife remarried. But in the meantime, she sued Mike for child support even though DNA proved that he was not the biological father. He went to court expecting an open and shut case.
He was not the biological father; in fact, the child was now living with her biological father. And yet, to his surprise, Judge David Wecht ruled that Mike had to pay child support – that under state law Mike was in fact the father of the child.
Wecht says what may appear to be an obvious case is less so under state paternity law, which says that when a child is born into an intact marriage the husband in that marriage is presumed to be the father. The law pre-dates DNA testing and Wecht could not consider that evidence.
