Paternity Testing
What relationship does it prove?
Paternity testing allows you to determine whether or not a man is the biological father of the child / children in question by comparing the DNA of the mother, possible father and child / children.
Since children inherit one half of their DNA from their mother and one half from their father, if the man tested shares one gene copy with the child at each DNA marker then there is a greater than 99.99% chance that he is the biological father of the child.
If he does not share a gene copy at two or more DNA markers then he is not the biological father of the child.
Who needs to be tested?
- Mother
Please note that paternity testing can be carried out without the mother’s DNA. However, the mother must consent for children under the age of 16 to be tested unless the test has been ordered by the Courts. - Child
- Possible Father
How reliable are the results?
The results will either show:
- The man tested IS NOT to be the biological father of the child, OR
- The man tested IS more than 99.99% certain to be the biological father of the child*
* Please note that relationship testing can never say that a man is 100% the biological father of a child because of the amount of genes that are shared within the population.
If a close male relative to the man tested (i.e. his father, brother or son) is a possible father of the child then he must also be tested in order to eliminate him from paternity.
Other relationship testing
If you would like to discuss the possibility of performing other relationship tests please contact our Customer Support Advisers on 0844 800 6951 or 0191 233 1414.