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Legal Paternity Test

In a standard DNA paternity test, the DNA of a child is tested against the father to determine whether there is a biological relationship. A Legal Paternity test simply means there is a chain of custody which proves that all individuals tested are who they claim to be, and the result is admissible in court.

Of course some “children” are adults.

Painless

Samples for most DNA Paternity tests are collected with a painless cheek swab. A swab is rubbed in each cheek to collect cells from which the lab extracts a DNA profile. The DNA profiles are compared and if there are enough that match, the lab can determine whether the individuals are related.

Alternative samples

In some circumstances, DNA can be extracted from toothbrushes, cigarette butts, clothing, finger nails, blood, ear wax and bed sheets. If you are not sure, please ask.

How a DNA Paternity Test works

You can come to our Morton Grove clinic and do it all with us.
If all or none of the parties are in the Chicago area, contact us and we’ll make arrangements for you to test near home.
At time of collection for legal paternity test, we verify the identities of all parties, so be sure to bring government issued photo identification. For children, we will take a photo and certify that the sample was collected from the individual in the photo.
DNA samples from the parties are transported securely in tamper-proof packaging to our AABB accredited laboratory.
Once the results are generated, the reports will be sent to you.

Maternity, Siblingship, Grandparentage and more.

DNA relationship testing is not limited to paternity. We can test siblings, half siblings and grandparents. Sometimes the father is not available, and we can check a potential uncle to see if there is a relationship. If you’re not sure, ask.

What a DNA Paternity Test Tells You

A DNA Paternity Test determines whether or not a man is the biological father of a child. Legal paternity tests are performed according to standards established by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). The DNA test is based on the analysis of 22 Short Tandem Repeat (STR) human genetic markers. The relationship is based on the number of alleles shared between two people. A child will receive half of its DNA from the mother and half from the father; therefore, each birth parent must share one allele with the child on each marker.

If the man is not the father of the child, the result will say he is “excluded as the father of the child.” This means that the laboratory has determined that the DNA of the alleged father does not match that of the examined child. The results will produce a probability of paternity at 0.00%

If the tested man is the father of the child, the result will read he “cannot be excluded as the father of the child.” This means that the laboratory has determined that the DNA of the alleged father matches that of the examined child and that statistical analysis produces a combined paternity index (CPI) that is greater than 100. The result is a probability of paternity greater than 99% that the US court of law has established the minimum number necessary to declare that the man is the biological father of the child.