Performing a paternity test is the best way to find out for sure if a man is the true biological father of a child. The most frequent reasons paternity becomes an issue are divorce, child custody and child support court cases. However, it can also arise if a man questions the woman’s fidelity.

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).

Viability test uses remarkable samples to check for the DNA. This is commonly used when the alleged father is not present or cannot be found. In this process, preserved samples like hair, body tissues, and blood are being used.

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.

A paternity test can be conducted for either personal or legal purposes. For personal paternity tests, the people involved can do the collection of samples themselves and simply send the DNA samples to the paternity test lab for processing. On the other hand, legal paternity tests require a detailed documentation to be admissible in court.

There are only two possible outcomes after taking a paternity test. If the man’s DNA types do not match the child’s DNA, then he is excluded as the biological father. However, if the DNA types match, then the man is not excluded as the father.

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.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.