Ask Kate Paternity Testing Question of the Week
Question:
What if I mess up my DNA Paternity Test? I ate/drank/brushed my teeth before using the DNA Paternity Test and I don’t want my results to be wrong!
Answer:
Identigene DNA Paternity Tests are very easy to use. Simply rub the swab on the inside of the cheek for several seconds, put the swab in the labeled envelope and mail it off to Identigene.
DNA is extracted from your cheek cells, which are collected when you rub the swab against the inside of your cheek. Eating, drinking, or brushing your teeth will not change your DNA, but it can make for a messy sample. While eating and swabbing won’t change your DNA or cause a wrong result, it might mean that you didn’t get enough cheek cells for good DNA extraction; in other words there may not be enough DNA, but it won’t be different DNA.
Once we receive your samples they will be checked to be sure you have collected enough cheek cells for a DNA extraction. If the lab feels that there is not enough DNA present to get a good reading, we will send a recollection kit, at no charge.
That said, there are some things you can do to avoid having to recollect.
First, wait an hour after eating or drinking before using the DNA Paternity test. This will ensure you are collecting the cells from inside your mouth and not turkey sandwich. Also, drinking or brushing your teeth can wash away the loose cells which are what you want to collect with the swab.
Using the swab, rub firmly the inside of the cheek for 10-20 seconds, rotating the swab as you go. It is the loose cells inside your cheek you want to collect, not saliva or blood.
Our experienced DNA test consultants are also available at 888-404-GENE should you have any questions. Or feel free to ask me your paternity test questions on twitter at @askkate.
Hello, I recently did a dna test through identigene a piece of mind one. It came back my boyfriend not the father. Identigene had messed up my email addy along with my name. As well he is the only one that could be the father no one else was involved. Why did my test come back as him not being the father? They had 8 genes common and supposly 7 that was not. Some was mutated cells as well. Thanks
Hi there.I did a home DNA test and me and the child had 10 of the 15 that match,but they excluded me of being the dad.I don’t understand.
Hi Rose,
With paternity testing in order for there to be a biological match the alleged parent and child must match at every location (with an exception of maybe 1 mutation). In order to biologically parent a child you must give one of your markers at every location! There may be matches, that would indicate those markers are fairly common among the population. I hope this helps, if not please feel free to contact us for follow up questions at (888) 404-4363 Mon-Fri 9am-8pm EST. Or simply write me again.
Hi Amanda,
In order for your boyfriend to be the biological father of the child he must match the child at every location (with maybe an exception of 1 mutation). The 8 matches indicates those specific markers are common among the population. You can take two unrelated individuals and test them and they may come back with some matches, it does indicate they are related, it only indicates they have common markers that are in the population.
If you have questions about your testing I would invite you to contact our client support team to speak with them about your questions. They are knowledgeable and can assist you. They are available Mon-Fri 9am-8pm EST. I hope this helps.
i did the dna test mail it in an it that i wasnt the father, but when i did a dna test with the state it said i am the father .
Hello Timmy,
I would recommend that you contact our client support team at 888) 404-4363 Mon-Fri 9am-8pm EST. We would be happy to review your case and reveiw both sets of results to verify the DNA samples that were submitted are the same DNA samples that were submitted to the other testing laboratory. We would be happy to review everything with you.
Im confused
My ‘supposed’ son looks absolutely nothing like me.
The test came back that I was the father. But I just don’t believe it.
How accurate are these results?
It says he is mine by 99.99% I just don’t believe hes mine!!
The test results are VERY accurate. Keep in mind that genetics have nothing to do with DNA. Children can receive genetics from either side of the family from generations back.
Hi i did a paternity test with labcorp,only 12 markers matched out of 20 and i was excluded as the biological father yet my daughter resemblems me and even my family plz advise me.
Hi Nancy,
In order for a potential father to be considered the biological father of a child, the markers must match at each location. There may be some matches, this does not indicate a biological relationship, it simply means those specific markers are common among the population. You and I could test and may have some markers in common, but we are not related and it would mean the markers are common. If you are still unsure about the results I would recommend doing another test to help put your mind at ease, but a legally collected DNA test may be better. The legal tests are collected by a third party and submitted to the lab by the collector to ensure a chain of custody.
if you swabbed the child’s cheeks with the q tips of the supposedly father’s q tip, could that possibly alter the results any?
Hi. If I am understanding your question correctly, the answer would be yes. The Identigene kit comes with three sets (packages) of three swabs. Each set is intended for one person. For example, you would swab the child with three swabs and then place in a collection envelope with the child’s information. Then you would swab the alleged father’s cheek with the second set of three swabs. Those would then go in a separate envelope with the alleged father’s information. The third set of swabs is for the mother. Again, those three swabs would be used for the mother and then put in her envelope. Please let us know if this doesn’t answer your question.
Hi Joleah,
I am not sure if I completely understand your question, however, if you swab the children with buccal swabs that were used by the alleged father and sent them in for testing, the lab could identify that. Most likely you would end up with mixed profiles (meaning two profiles) and because we cant identify which profile belongs to the child we would request a recollected sample. Also, if the alleged father’s profile and the child’s profile are identical (same person swabbed for both) we would recollect as well because it is not possible for the the alleged father and child to have identical DNA profiles.
If there is any question of trust I always recommend a legal paternity test. That way all participants are collected at a collection facility by a third party. The collector sends the samples to the lab for testing to establish a chain of custody to verify the samples could not be tampered with. Also, the collector will verify ID and take photos of the participants in most cases. That way we can verify whose samples we actually received for testing.
I hope this helps, if you do have more questions please let us know.
Before, I purchase a test through you, I have taken another test through family tree dna. Their test came back as not a match. Would a severe mouth infection cause the test to be incorrect? This will be our third and final test. Infection gone now. Thus far, 1 test positive and 1 test negative.
Hi Larry,
To answer your question a mouth infection should not change results in any way! If you had two tests completed with different results I would suggest you review the profiles to verify the profiles for each participant are the same. The only way to get different results would most likely be caused by testing different people. In a situation like this your best option would be to do a legally collected DNA paternity test. This way all participants doing the test are collected by a third party where ID can be verified and photos are taken in most cases. The collector submits the samples to the laboratory to establish a chain of custody to verify whose samples the lab is actually receiving for testing. The laboratory you select to do the testing can help you arrange this.
can airport x-ray bag mess up the dna swab
Hello Carlos,
No, airport x-ray can not destroy or change your DNA in any way. You can rest easy knowing that if you pack your swabs (either in checked baggage or carry on) your DNA collections are safe.
hi i done a dna paternity test for my ex-partner and my 3 week old child and it came back not the father and it says 5 of 15 do not match does this mean that he could be the father of my child as i had worked out the dates and he was the only person i had slept with at the dates that are shown could any one please advise me on what to do i have rang doctors to see if they do dna and they are charging me £400 to get the dna test kit and then £30 for them to do it
Hello Samantha,
In order for the alleged father to be the biological father of the child in question all markers have to match. A child will receive half of their DNA from the mother and half from the father. This means that if the alleged father did not give the child a number at each location then he can not be the biological father. There may be some matches, this does not indicate a biological relationship in any way, it simply means those specific markers are common among the population. You and I could test and have markers in common, it does not mean we are related, it means we both received common markers from our parents. I hope this answers your questions, if you do need anything else please let us know.
I recently just took a dna test on a kid that was suppose to be mine and the results came back that i was not the father. the kid looks identical to me. all of my family and friends say the same thing. me and his mother slept together in the middle or end of april. what month would have made me the father? he was born february 19. im really considering taking another dna test just to make sure. your help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Joshua,
I suggest you visit http://www.babymed.com/conception-calculator. You didn’t tell me the year of birth so I cannot accurately plug in the dates. At this time, I would consider this your next step before retaking a paternity test.
P.S. I work for Identigene.
Hello there! I am so confused! The dna test excluded me as the biological father of child. Mother wants to all go the lab and do another test, because the previous one was by mail. I need to know before I travel 6 hours away, how certain is the dna test?. I have a court day very soon and all documents have to be done. Do you thing based on your experiences that is necessary to do a second test to verify paternity? I heard some people saying that test can be negative at first and positive the second time, is that can be true? That does not guarantee me nothing, that means that I have to do a third test to actually make a comparation with the other two if the result of the second one came out positive. Please help me to clear this out! Thank you very much.
Hello Monath,
We can only speak for the Identigene DNA Paternity Test. If this was an Identigene test, we stand by the results 100%. There is no need in doing a second test. However, if you need this test for legal purposes, sample collection and handling must be performed by a disinterested third party. The instructions included in our kit and on our website explain legal paternity testing. There is an additional processing fee for this type of testing. If you have further questions, please contact our customer support at 888-404-GENE.
hi,i also did a test and my resluts came back he was the father.i just want to say think you because i got my results back fast and they were 100%