The Truth About Paternity Testing
A paternity test is the test that determines the likelihood that a man is the biological father of the child. A paternity test can provide unequivocal results in cases where there is any doubt as to the identity of a child’s father, such as where a mother’s fidelity is in question, or in some legal child support or custody cases.
Paternity testing is done by DNA paternity test analysis of the three individuals, although older methods have included ABO blood group typing, analysis of various other proteins and enzymes, or using HLA antigens. Prenatal paternity testing, viability test, and in-home testing are the test options available in undergoing a paternity test.
Prenatal paternity testing is done when the pregnant mother is still on her 10th through the 13th week or 14th to 24th week of pregnancy, depending on the procedure to be used. This test may be conducted either through amniocentesis or chronic villi sampling (CVS).
In cases where the father is missing, a viability test can help determine the paternity. The viability test involves testing material like preserved samples of hair or other body tissues.
If you simply want to know “discretely” who the father of a child is, then a home-conducted paternity test is for you. Do-it-yourself kits use the buccal swab to get the needed material, this swab placed into the mouth and performing a quick swipe of the inside of the cheek. Once the samples have been taken, they are sent to a lab for testing. The DNA material that was collected from the man in question as well as from the baby is then processed in the lab for possible matches. However, it must be kept in mind that the result derived from this process is not admissible in court.
It is possible to undergo a world of different types of DNA paternity testing, whether for personal or legal circumstances. People who do it for personal reasons usually wouldn’t want other people to know about it. Legal paternity tests can be used to settle adoption issues and settle child-support disputes.
There can only be two outcomes in DNA paternity testing. The first is a “no-match scenario”, known as exclusion where the possibility of the individual being the biological father of the child is eliminated. The second is a “match” scenario, wherein there is a degree of certainty associated with the likelihood that the alleged male is the biological father of the child.
Many lives have been forever changed with paternity testing. So, it is very important that you fully anticipate all potential outcomes before the paternity testing is conducted. The Internet is a great place to purchase a home DNA paternity testing kit.
