Not knowing if a child is truly yours can be frustrating. For a long time, there was no way of knowing this fact and confirming any form of suspicions. However, through scientific advancements, it now became possible to determine who the father of a child was. Even at that, it was still done in a complicated process, involving multiple weeks of blood tests and other rigorous laboratory activities.
Now, time has passed, and technology has continued to improve. Yes, you can take a paternity test which would show results in minutes.
Although this is incredibly useful, many people don’t know what a paternity test is or how easy it is to work. If you’re one of these individuals and seek to know how it works, you’re in luck.
Read on to learn more about what a DNA paternity test kit is, how it is performed, and how long it takes to get results, find out more info.
What Is A DNA Paternity Test Kit?
As mentioned earlier, not many people know what a DNA paternity test is. Simply put, a DNA paternity test kit is a chemical substance that you can use to determine the biological parent of a child. Although there are multiple other ways to determine the parenthood of a child, such as ABO blood group typing and human leukocyte antigen antigens, DNA testing has mainly been proven to be the most effective way to determine parenthood.
DNA paternity tests are essential for many reasons, some of which include:
Uncertainty Of Parenthood
It may be shocking to hear, but many parents are unsure of the paternity and maternity of their child. This can become a problem, as the parent can build an unconscious sense of neglect and contempt for the child. Hence, a paternity test is essential to affirm the correct father or mother of the child.
Need For Provisional Care Of The Child
During separation proceedings like divorce settlements, caring for the child is extremely important. To determine how much the father would need to pay the child, the child’s paternity has to be determined. Thus, this is another important reason you need to know about the child’s fatherhood and motherhood status.
Uncertainty Of Grandparenthood
On rare occasions, children may need to show their biological connection to their grandparents due to their parent’s absence. Technology has gotten so advanced that you can now be able to determine the grandparents of a child.
How A Fatherhood Test Operates
A fatherhood test is straightforward to use, and its results come up in a short time. Basically, you only need DNA samples from the father or mother and the child or children when you want to do this test. Since there are many ways you can extract DNA, such as hair, blood, or even a cheek swab, you can go about this DNA collection in multiple ways. Mothers who are pregnant and wanting to undergo a test may be wondering things like “it is safe to do a paternity test while pregnant?”, so should be reassured to learn that there are non-invasive tests out there that pose no risk to them or their baby that they can take.
When you extract this DNA, a specialist would now subject these DNA samples for a test. Alternatively, the paternity test kit would do this for you, amplifying and analyzing your DNA using genetic markers.
The result is calculated with a percentage known as the probability of percentage. A 0% percentage means that the child isn’t biologically related to the father in any way. A 99% percent means that the child is very much related to the father. Usually, the result is either of these two percentages, although variations can occur.
How Long Can It Take To Get Results?
Typically, you can get the results in a few hours. Before these modern-day tests were made, the results of the old tests could take weeks or even months to complete. Now, you can expect the results of this test within 24-72 hours.
What To Consider Before Purchasing A Fatherhood Test Kit
Now that you know a fair amount of information about these tests, you should also know some things to consider before purchasing one of these fatherhood test kits. They are present below.
Precision Of Tests
From what had been said previously, many of these tests boast maximum precision at lightning speeds. In truth, they are highly reliable devices that determine the fatherhood of a child through a series of matches and non-matches.
However, these tests use different numbers of markers, which may jeopardize their precision. Some “affordable” tests may include 16 markers or less, while better tests would include not less than 20 markers to test more accurate.
Although a 16-marker test can accurately determine a child’s fatherhood to a large extent, you can get the best results from DNA tests that have not less than 20 markers. In fact, 20-marker tests are more likely to be accepted by courts and other governing bodies.
Multiple Test Samples
Before you start with the test, you should understand that many of these kits can only test the parenting of one person at a time. If you try to include more than one DNA sample for the parent, it would significantly disrupt the precision of the test and defeat the whole purpose. In the kit, there are only two approved collection swabs for both parties and two identification labels.
However, some kits have been specially modified to test for more than two pieces of DNA.
Some are modified to test one father with multiple children, while others are modified to test one child with multiple fathers. Hence, before you buy one of them, make sure you understand what type you’re buying and how many people you want to test.
Legal Considerations
When you want to buy one of these tests, make sure that the test can be legally accepted. As mentioned earlier, the precision of a test significantly determines its use on a legal level. If it isn’t accurate enough, it won’t be accepted in legal settings.
Another aspect you need to think about when taking this test is to get legal supervision. Without legal supervision, many of these courts will not accept the results you’ve provided.
These Kits Are Essential
Fatherhood test kits are handy, and they are currently used by millions of people worldwide now. That said, if you want to buy one, make sure it can be accurate enough to be accepted as fact.
