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

Great news for mothers to be and potential fathers! It is now possible to determine DNA paternity during pregnancy and without using any invasive procedures that could harm the baby.

Previously, it was necessary to extract DNA from the fetus that could potentially involve risks and an obviously emotionally painful decision on the part of the mother to judge the value in doing so.

DDC (DNA Diagnostics Center), the largest provider of private DNA paternity and other DNA tests in the United States and around the world, announced today the company’s exclusive license for the first non-invasive prenatal paternity test.

It involves using SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) Microarray Technology, which requires only a simple blood draw from the mother and alleged father. This is a huge leap forward in rendering paternity determination prior to birth virtually painless and with no risk to the child.

Costs have not been indicated but are likely in the same range as a standard DNA paternity test using DNA samples collected from child, mother and potential father. Congratulations DDC!

Would a doctor have to do it? And how much does it usually cost? Any information is appreciated!

Also, I read that they could do this test with the mother’s blood instead of inserting a long needle into her belly.

Is this true? If so, is it less expensive?

I’ve been reading a lot about it and for my situation it seems like a great option. I’d like to hear from people who have gotten this.

Did it hurt? How expensive was it? Did insurance cover any of it? Were the results accurate?