Establishing paternity means
being declared the legal
father after the
child is
born. If the parents of a
child were not married when
the
mother
became pregnant or when the
child was born, the child
does
not have
a legal father until
paternity is established.
Establishing paternity is
important for both the child
and the parents.
A child
is entitled to the sense of
belonging and identity that
comes
from
knowing both parents.
Establishing paternity often
has an
important
emotional and psychological
benefit for the child.
Until
there is a determination
that a biological father is
the legal father,
the child
has no right to receive
financial support from the
father, to
inherit
from the father or to obtain
insurance, veterans’, social
security
or other
benefits through the father.
Likewise,
until paternity is legally
established, the biological
father has
no legal
rights to the child, such as
parenting time with the
child, or
participation in major
decisions about the child,
such as medical
treatment, education or
religious training.
Additionally, genetic
diseases are inherited, thus
knowing your
biological ancestry can be
useful in proactive care and
transplantation.
Paternity
laws tend to vary from state
to state. Click here for
individual
state
laws.
Fast, Easy and Painless
Sample Collection
Collecting samples for DNA
analysis is an easy and
painless process
that can
be performed in the privacy
of your own home, or at a
sample
collection site, if a court
admissible test is required.
A sterile swab,
similar
to a Q-tip is rubbed on the
inside of the cheek for 30
seconds,
placed
into an envelope and sent
back to the lab for
analysis.
Accuracy
Industry wide, paternity
tests are
generated
using as few as four
markers,
to as many as 16 markers.
Chromosomal Laboratories
routinely
uses a 16
marker test that can achieve
a
probability of > 99.999%.
Should a
complex
case arise, Chromosomal
Laboratories can test an
additional 5
markers,
for a total of 21 genetic
markers.
