Reasons for Paternity Testing

Chances are if you've had more than on partner, you might have questions about who the father of your baby may be. Whether for financial support or emotional reasons, or even just to have some sense of closure, paternity testing is there to help you answer some of the bigger questions that effect your life and that of your child.

Usually paternity testing is handled by an accredited laboratory and can cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars based on where you live and the type of testing you are interested in. Paternity tests can be performed by a non-accredited facility and probably cheaper because they do not have to meet the stringent testing environment and careful handling techniques that insure sample integrity and accuracy in reporting. Frequently, these labs do not qualify for legal, court, or immigration standards as well as being subject to inaccuracies and mishandling of samples and data.

For more information about Paternity Testing, call us at 1-888-404-GENE

For this reason, we highly recommend that you choose a facility that has AABB‡ accreditation. Another useful specification is LAB (ISO-17025) compliance - a specification that must meet the highest standards for lab cleanliness, work quality, consumer privacy, competency, and accuracy of results. Identigene and DNATesting.com meet or exceed these specs, and even if you don't decide to get your testing done with us, please make sure you find a DNA testing lab that carries these qualifications.

The Importance of Establishing Fatherhood.

In order to protect the rights of you and your child, determining true paternity will help to maintain the integrity of your legal and financial issues regarding parenting that you will inevitably face. Establishing a biological relationship between parent and child is significant because:

Inheritance Benefits Depend on Biological Parentage

• Social security and Veteran's benefits are based on parental information.
• Maintain a basis for health care tracking - assisting in diagnosis and prevention of diseases and ailments that show a genetic trend.
  

The Power of Knowing and the 'Acknowledgment of Paternity'

Where the question of fatherhood of your child is not known, it is recommended to do a paternity test as soon as feasibly possible. In fact, it is a requirement in most states in the U.S. to complete an 'AOP' or Acknowledgment of Paternity form at the hospital to document paternity. If the mother is not married, and hasn't been for 300 days, no father will be listed on the birth certificate if the AOP is not filed. If the AOP is completed, it is given to the Bureau of Vital statistics for that state and the listed father becomes the official father by law.

Based on state law, which vary, once a couple has signed the AOP, they have a limited time to amend or alter the form. If changes are not made before the time limit, the father originally indicated on the AOP could become the legal guardian regardless of whether he is biologically related to the child.

No Father = Lack of Protected Benefits for the Child

A baby's rights are not protected during the time there is no father indicated on the AOP form - so there is some urgency needed to set the records straight and to retain the benefits mentioned previously.

Please visit our DNA testing FAQ for more information regarding DNA paternity tests, or visit our DNA testing blog.

Need a court-admissible paternity test?

If you need results for court, or if you are an New York State resident you will need a witnessed collection. Just purchase the kit and call IDENTIGENE to arrange for a witnessed collection (learn more about the legal paternity testing process).

 

Learn how to use IDENTIGENE's Home Paternity Test kit with this short video.

paternity test questions?

• » How do I use the test kit?
• » Where do I send my swabs?
• » Why include the mother?
• » What if the father isn't available?
• » When will my results be ready?
• » More paternity testing questions...