DNA Testing To Establish Paternity

Paternity testing is probably one of the best known forms of DNA testing. The test is most often used in child custody and child support cases where a putative father denies that he is the biological father of the child in question. There are sometimes opposite situations, where multiple men claim to be the father. When there is no clear answer to who the father is, the court will order the man and the child to submit to paternity testing to determine who the biological father is.

The actual test is painless for both the putative father and the child. A skin scraping is taken from inside the cheek of both people and then analyzed by a testing facility. DNA testing for paternity is generally thought to be 99.99% accurate. However, accuracy is dependent on the lab performing the testing in terms of how careful they are with the samples and how many loci (locations) that they test. It is preferable to use a DNA testing lab to analyzes at least 15 loci.

The cost of paternity tests has decreased dramatically in the past few years. A test can be performed for less than $500 in most cases. For some, this may still be a lot of money, but determining paternity is potentially a lifelong committment to the raising of a child, so accurate results are worth the cost involved.

To process the DNA that has been collected, the lab first isolates the DNA. Most labs use Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing for analysis. This process breaks down the DNA and looks at specific loci to see if the child and the father's DNA match. Because each person has a pair of each chromosome, one will match their mother and the other will match their father. If a child's DNA does not match the man's DNA at 3 or more loci, then it is usually determined that he is not the father.

Once the results of the paternity test are provided, the couple and/or the court must make a decision about custody and child support. Establishing paternity is the first crucial step in what can be a long drawn out legal process. However, if both parents can agree on the best custody arrangement for their child, the child support is usually determined by a preset formula.

The ease and low cost of paternity testing has made establishing paternity much more accessible to everyone. Courts and parents no longer have to rely on memories and calendars to try to determine who fathered a child.