A paternity test is carried out to determine whether an alleged father is in fact the biological father of a particular child. In this case, the standard paternity test, where samples from the child, mother and alleged father are tested, produces results with a very high degree of certainty. The inclusion of DNA samples from the mother are recommended in any paternity test although not an absolute necessity.
The motherless paternity test is frequently carried out, particularly in cases where the mother refuses to take part in the test or may not be available for testing. In this case, only samples from the child and alleged father are tested. The motherless test practically always attains levels of certainty similar to the standard paternity test, and is generally just as conclusive.
If the paternity of more than one child is in question, it is comparatively less expensive to combine the paternity tests of brothers and sisters. Such a test would require samples from the alleged father, all the siblings involved, and the mother (unless it is a motherless test).
Paternity tests that include samples from more than one alleged father can be carried out if more than one possible father consents to be tested. A paternity test excludes non-biological fathers with 100% certainty, so if all possible fathers are tested the real biological father is identified with 100% certainty. This method is often employed to increase the certainty of a paternity test in the special situations where the alleged fathers are related.
The maternity test is similar in principle to the paternity test and is used to establish whether an alleged mother is in fact the biological mother of a particular child. The test is often employed in the case of an adopted child wishing to identify his or her real mother or in situations when there is a suspicion of a baby being switched at birth, and in other cases where the biological maternity of a mother is disputed. The test is performed on samples from the child, the alleged mother (or alleged mothers if there is more than one woman concerned), and where possible, the father.
Other options to a Paternity Test
The DNA relationship test is similar to the paternity test but may be applied in a broader sense to test familial relationships. In such cases samples from one or more alleged relatives and from one or more family members would be tested. The precise sampling requirements have to be determined depending on specifics of the case.
It is also common for a person to obtain a copy of his or her genetic profile for safekeeping. This can be used whenever the need may arise for possible future identification or verification of the person or the person’s relatives through a paternity test or relationship test. Possible uses include the identification of remains following accidental death and investigation of inheritance claims by alleged relatives.
Deciding who needs to be tested is essentially not too difficult in a DNA paternity test. The test however, must include the father’s samples. There are other relationship tests which can however, establish relationships to an alleged father without the father being tested.
The next step to ordering the test is to decide if you require a Legal Paternity Test or Home Paternity test.
