Although it doesn’t happen often, there may come a time when a man is unsure if he is or not the father of a child. The good news is that the truth can be discovered very easily. There are 3 types of DNA testing for paternity available so you can choose the one that best suits your situation. It is often thought that a man can only perform this type of test with legal authorization. However, thanks to advances in technology, you can purchase a home paternity test and take the samples in the comfort of your own home. Although the results of this type of test cannot be used in a legal proceeding, it is useful for a man to discover whether or not he is the father of a child.
Testing during pregnancy
In the past, men had to wait until the baby was born before they could draw a blood sample and take a paternity test. That is now a thing of the past. Nowadays, you can collect DNA from the baby as early as the 7th week of pregnancy. The baby’s DNA sample is obtained from the mother’s blood sample. In other words, this type of test is non-invasive in every way and poses no risk to the baby or the mother. Although you can schedule an appointment online directly on the laboratory’s website, you will need to travel to the address they give you to provide the samples. Samples from the prospective father can be obtained from his saliva. The results will be available in approximately 4 days and may be admissible in court if the sample collection was supervised.
Admissible paternity test at trial
You should understand that DNA testing for paternity can be performed without the results having to be used in a legal trial. That is, the results will be used as information for the testing partner. An example of this type of test is the home paternity test. If there is some kind of legal dispute in which it is necessary to establish whether there is a parental relationship between a man and a child, you will need a test that is legally valid. There are laboratories that offer this service and explain all the steps you will need to take. Keep in mind that this type of test has a very strict procedure that you must follow to avoid the judge annulling the results. If this were to happen, you would have to pay again for another test.