Having a child brings a whole new joy to life, but when it’s not clear who the father is, it can also bring a lot of stress, both finically and emotionally. Child support and legal fees can begin to pile up. A legal paternity test can be done to increase the likelihood of child support and custody cases. It can also strengthen the bond between father and child.
Every person inherits DNA from their biological parents, half from their mother and half from their father. A DNA paternity test compares 13+ highly variable regions of the child’s DNA to the same regions of an alleged father’s DNA to determine if there is a match. The DNA profiles must have at least a 99.5% probability of paternity to be considered a match. A person with less than 99.5% probability can be excluded as the biological father.
In a standard paternity test, DNA samples will be painlessly collected through buccal swabs of the inside cheek from the mother, child, and alleged father. Then, the samples will be replicated through PCR and compared for similarities. Because half of the child’s DNA is inherited from the mother and the other half from the father, the child’s DNA should match portions of both biological parents. The mother is tested in order to eliminate the alleles inherited from her and to better compare the child’s alleles inherited from the biological father to the alleged father. This process has become the standard for biological identification, because it requires only a small sample from any person. It is also highly conclusive and provides results very quickly.
To schedule a legal paternity test or receive more information call (781) 546-4620 or visit https://www.ARCpointLabs.com/Woburn.