How Do You Get A Paternity Test?
How Do You Get A Paternity Test?
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| How Can I Get A Paternity Test?
First you need to decide if you want to determine paternity for curiosity sake or for legal reasons. The procedure (and cost!) is different. Testing Because You Just Want To Know.... If you just want to satisfy your own curiosity then a home paternity testing kit will suffice. You can buy a kit online and they will post it out to you, or you can buy a kit in most large stores like Kmart and Walmart. Typically a kit will contain a set of cotton swabs (which look like Q-tips). You (the alleged father) rub a swab inside your cheek to collect a sample of cells. You do the same to the child. Once completed, you place the swabs in an envelope provided and post to the laboratory. You should receive your results by post, or by logging into the supplier's website within 7 days. While the results are accurate, they are not sufficient to stand up in a court of law. Why not? Because a Chain of Custody has to be established. See next section ...
Testing For Legal Purposes If you would like to use the results of a paternity test in court, then you will need to physically go to a paternity testing clinic to do the test. While the test itself is the same (a cheek swab), you need to do it in the presence of a clinic employee who can testify that the sample is actually yours (so-called Chain of Custody). The child will also need to be bought to the clinic. Some clinics have centers across the United States, so if you don't live in the same state as the child, it doesn't matter. You can simply attend the nearest clinic to you. Obviously, as there is more organization and paper work involved, legal tests are considerably more expensive. List Of Paternity Testing Clinics In The United States The following is a list of clinics accredited by the AABB (formerly the American Association of Blood Banks). If you can't find a clinic in your area, contact any of the labs on the list and they will arrange for a sample collection near you.
Interesting Facts About 4 percent of fathers, without their knowledge, are raising a child that is not their own.
Related Questions • Need more information? See: Paternity Testing |
WOMENS HEALTH ADVICE: ABOUT QUESTIONS ON PATERNITY TESTING |
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