Paternity Testing: What Will The Report Include?
The final step in the paternity testing process is reading the report, which naturally, may raise a range of questions. Interpreting the report may bring up some misconceptions at times, and individuals have the right to expect any questions they have to be answered. In this article, we explain what you will and will not be able to reveal from the report given at the end of the paternity testing process.
What The Report WILL Tell You
Probability of Paternity: The main reason why paternity testing is done, is to determine if the man being tested is the biological father of the child in question. Our laboratory experts use the provided samples to identify genetic markers and construct DNA profiles for each tested party, then use special software coupled with established analyses to compare both profiles and get a result. If the results are showing a probability of paternity of 99.99% or higher, then the biological father-child relationship is confirmed. Contrarily, if the results are showing a probability of paternity of 0.0%, then the biological father-child relationship is not confirmed
Sex of Participants: Not only are you able to confirm or deny a biological relationship with a paternity test, you are also able to establish the sex of the testing parties involved. One of the markers that is identified for the testing process is the “Amelogenin (AMEL)” gene. This is also known as the sex gene marker. The two possible outcomes for this gene are XY for males, and XX for females.
What The Report WON’T Tell You
Age of Participants: While there are now methods in practice that can help determine around what age a person may be, the methods used in paternity testing do no allow for this. The process of determining age of DNA uses certain gene detection that is not required for paternity testing.
Source of DNA Samples: While our partnered labs ensure accuracy, we are not able to determine whether the submitted samples are genuinely from the identified party. For any legal testing, we are able to verify and compare identifications to testing parties, but for at home kits, participants may unknowingly submit samples from different sources.
Non-Paternal Relationships: A paternity test is specific to testing biological relationship between a father and child. For other relationships such as grandfather-grandson, or nephew-uncle, we have specific relationship testing specific for different biological relationships.