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Parentage testing, including maternity and paternity testing, is an analysis that uses genetic
markers to establish the genetic relationship between two tested individuals. Although blood typing
was one of the bio-markers in determining parentage, it always gives an inconclusive result. Today,
the most accurate parentage testing is molecular genetic analysis, which is a DNA-based
test.
FAQs
Why choose our Molecular Genetics Laboratory?
Unlike profit driven commercial labs, our Diagnostic Molecular
Genetics Laboratory is an academic laboratory, whose mission is to provide the
highest quality services by a highly qualified team.
We have state-of-art equipment and computers for genetic
analysis to ensure the accuracy of the test results.
We have the most advanced genetic typing system. Our system is
able to analyze 15 genetic markers at the same time and achieves a very high
power of discrimination. The matching probability of our system is about 1 per
183,000,000,000,000,000 or less in the Caucasian population.
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How accurate is DNA Testing?
DNA testing is the most accurate and reliable genetic analysis
available for parentage testing. However, the accuracy or specificity of the DNA
testing depends on the sample and procedure that the DNA laboratory has
used. Since we utilize the most advanced genetic testing procedure, we are
able to achieve at least specificity of 99.9%. In most cases, DNA
testing will result in specificities of 99.99% or greater.
If DNA patterns between the child and the alleged father do
not match on three or more genetic markers, then the alleged father is excluded
with 100% certainty. That means he can not be the biological father of the child.
There is no test available which can prove with 100%
certainty that a man or woman is the biological parent of a child.
Thus, if the DNA patterns between mother, child
and the alleged father match on the tested DNA markers, the likelihood of
paternity is calculated with the general population of the same ethnic group.
When the likelihood of paternity is greater than 99.9%, the result practically
proves that the alleged father is the biological father of the child. Most
courts in the U.S. accept 99.0% as proof of paternity.
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Is the paternity testing result admissible in a court of law?
Yes. The Laboratory has been certified by the Health Care
Financing Administration, Department of Health and Human Services (CLIA ID#
01D0641774), The College of American Pathologists (CAP# 42094-01), and Alabama
State Board of Health (Lic#3060). All of the testing
is performed in accordance with the standards set forth by the Parentage
Committee of the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB).
The testing procedure has detailed records for the "Chain of
Custody". The Chain of Custody refers to the various "hands" that
the individual sample passes through. That is why the samples have to be
collected in the presence of a neutral third party at a lab or hospital
facility, and the individual has to be photographed in order to verify the
identity. The test results from a legal chain of custody will be admissible in a
court of law.
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What are the benefits of DNA paternity testing?
DNA paternity testing is useful in many situations, including:
- To assist women seeking child support from a man who denies he is a
child's biological father. Courts usually accept DNA testing results in
determining whether or not an alleged father should be responsible for child
support. If DNA paternity test results show that a tested man
is not excluded as being the father of a child, the courts usually
determine him to be responsible for child support.
- To help men attempting to win custody or visitation rights.
- To provide peace of mind for men wishing to confirm paternity.
- To establish conclave proof of heritage for an adopted child seeking their biological parents.
- To determine grand-parentage, inheritance rights, insurance claims or Social Security benefits.
- To assist in immigration cases on the grounds that an individual is a biological relative of a citizen.
- To determine rightful heirs by DNA profiling for estate purposes.
- Insurance companies often require proof of paternity in order
for them to add a child on an alleged father's insurance
policy. This most often happens when the mother and father are not married, or
if the alleged father's name was not put on the birth certificate at the time of
birth. In these cases, DNA testing is the only proof of paternity that insurance
companies will accept.
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