Although the most evident and common application of a paternity test is to determine whether an alleged father is in fact the biological father of a child, the information provided by the test could be helpful for a number of reasons. The main uses of a paternity test are presented below.
- For peace of mind; in such cases, a man wants to confirm that a child is his own.
- In custody or visitation disputes when a man wants to confirm his relationship to the child to again his legal rights as father.
- To assist a woman seeking child support from a man who denies he is the biological father of the child or refuses to accept his legal paternal responsibilities.
- In issues of inheritance to determine rightful heirs.
- Identification of missing persons remains.
Maternity Testing
Maternity tests operate on the same basis as a paternity test but seek to determine the relationship between a woman and a child. The test may be useful in cases of an abducted or abandoned child. In rare cases, adopted children may wish to establish who their biological mother is and thus, may carry out a maternity test to find out whether an alleged mother is their really biological mother. Maternity tests are far less in demand than paternity tests, since for rather obvious reasons, there are rarely doubts related to whom the mother of a child may be. The results of a maternity test results will show an inclusion rate for maternity in excess of 99.99% and an exclusion rate of 100%.
Other types of Relationship Testing
Whilst paternity testing is strictly related to testing of the mother, father and child – there are also a number of other DNA tests that can be utilized for determining relationships between brothers and sisters, cousins, grandparents and aunts/uncles. These tests are more commonly referred to as Relationship Testing and cover testing for a wide variety of relationships. The uses of these tests can vary but more commonly they are used when it is not possible to test either the mother or the father to determine the paternity/maternity of a child because the latter are not available for testing.
Click on the following link to read more about the Uses of a DNA Relationship Test.
