As we’ve discussed at PaternityTest.com in the past, there are several different types of paternity tests. The most popular type of test is the at home paternity test. Although not admissible in a court of law, an at home paternity test provides you with the peace of mind knowing that the man you presume to be the father truly is the father. The major benefits of this type of test is that it is affordable and can be administered in the privacy of your own home.

If you’ve already decided that an at home test is right for you, the next decision to make it to figure out which paternity test kit should you purchase. One of the more popular tests is the STK Paternity Test Kit which is available only at Amazon.com. As of early 2012, this test has 25 positive five-star reviews, making it one of the few products sold at Amazon with a perfect score.

How does the STK Paternity Test Kit work? After you complete your purchase, STK will mail the home testing kit directly to your door. This kit includes online registration information, cheek swabs, and a return mailer. Simply collect the genetic samples using the swabs by following the provided instructions. Mail these cheek swabs back to STK using the included mailer and you’re finished. After waiting an estimated three to five days, your paternity results will be made available online. This confidential online report is accessible only by you. You will also receive a physical copy of your report in the mail.

STK Paternity Test Kit Facts
- The STK Paternity Test is 99.999% accurate.
- STK laboratory testing facilities are accredited with the AABB.
- Unlike other kits, STK lab costs are included with your purchase.
- Not admissible in court, but can be made legally binding for an extra fee.
- A 1-800 customer support number is available to answer your questions.
- You will receive the paternity test results both online and by mail.
- Available for $199 with free shipping.
- For $5 off, use coupon code SAVEU005 [Click to Use].

A Paternity Test examines the DNA of a child to determine the identity of his or her father. DNA is our genetic code, which we inherit from both our parents; it gives instructions to our body about our features, for example, the color of our eyes. A Paternity Test is usually carried out when a woman has had multiple sexual partners around the time she conceived giving rise to doubt as to the proclaimed identity of the child’s father. Sometimes Paternity Tests are court-directed which means that they are ordered by the courts to be used as evidence in a legal case.

In a Paternity Test, the mother, father, and child are usually tested, although some tests involve just the father and child. Each individual has to give their written consent to the test. Consent must be obtained from a legal guardian or person with parental responsibility on behalf of minors, individuals with a mental disorder, or those unable to give their own consent.

A simple test using the blood types of both mother and father can help to rule out a particular man being the child’s father. However, to completely prove paternity, samples of DNA have to be examined. This can be done using a blood sample, but an increasing number of tests now involve the use of a swab with samples of cells taken from inside the individual’s cheek. In either test, all individuals concerned have to provide the same type of sample (blood or cheek cells). From examining the genetic markers in the samples, scientists are able to determine, with more than 99 percent accuracy, the child’s biological father.

Testing can also be carried out before a child is born, and during its birth. Chorionic villus sampling, which involves taking a small piece of the placenta, or amniocentesis, in which a sample of the fluid that bathes the baby is collected, can both be used to perform a paternity test while pregnant. Both these tests are also performed to detect any serious birth defects and carry with them a small risk to both mother and baby; therefore, it’s recommended that this type of testing is not used solely to determine the identity of the child’s father. Testing can also be done using a blood sample collected from the umbilical cord during the birth of the baby.

It’s also possible to carry out a Paternity Test at home. Materials can be ordered to help with the collection of the samples, which are then sent off for testing and the results posted once they are available. Samples can include hair (with root in tact), sperm, and other biological specimens. However, the results of a home Paternity Test cannot be used in court or for any other legal or official purpose. These “at home” testing kits are generally used by individuals seeking peace of mind as to the identity of the child’s father.

If the Paternity Test is needed for legal reasons, then the sample must be taken by a doctor who will also need confirmation of the identity of the individuals being tested (usually two passport photos). In some regions of the US, fingerprints will also need to be taken and the process witnessed by an independent third party.

Paternity testing has made a lot of progress in recent years with the increased understanding of DNA testing, but paternity testing for twins could present a unique challenge in certain cases. Is it possible for a set of twins to have different fathers? Only a Paternity Test can tell.

Testing for Twins’ Paternity: What’s First

Identical twins share the same DNA and any paternity testing performed will reveal a single father. However, fraternal twins do not share the same DNA because they are formed from separate fertilized eggs and are two completely different children sharing a womb. In this case only of fraternal twins is it possible for each twin to have a different father.

If you aren’t certain whether the twins are identical or fraternal because of their age, a twin zygosity test can be performed. Also, DNA paternity testing will reveal, under analysis, whether the twins share identical DNA or different DNA. It’s important for DNA samples to be collected from both twins, even if they are known to be identical. This way, all avenues are covered in case a mistake has been made.

Paternity Testing for Bi-Paternal Twins

Interestingly enough, the occurrence of fraternal twins is fairly rare and only represents two percent of the global population. However, with the rise in fertility clinics and non-traditional methods of conceiving, it’s possible that two eggs, fertilized by different men, could be implanted in a woman by a mistake or through negligence. In this case, paternity testing would reveal that these fraternal twins are, in fact, bi-paternal twins, meaning they have different fathers.

Another very rare phenomenon is that the eggs are simply fertilized by two different men when the woman releases more than one egg during ovulation and has multiple partners. Bi-paternal twins statistically occur 1 in 12 times, according to the National Institute of Health.

Usually, DNA samples are collected from the mother, both twins and the suspected father for paternity testing. If the father turns out to be the father of both twins, everyone goes home happy. If the father is only related to one of the twins, the mother should request additional partners to submit DNA samples for paternity testing for the other twin. Of course, if the alleged father isn’t related to either twin, the mother must once more solicit DNA samples from other partners for comparison.

Why Paternity Testing is Important for Bi-Paternal Twins

If a set of twins turns out to be bi-paternal and these results are admitted in court as evidence, each father could be sued for child support of the single child he fathered instead of being responsible for both children. Also, the twins will get to know their own fathers, although this could present issues, if discovered early, hopefully the parents can work out a suitable arrangement.

Paternity testing using DNA samples has come a long way and is very reliable provided the testing is done in a reputable lab. Legally, paternity testing means the twins can receive financial care but also can, hopefully, get to know who their real dad is.

When the court system requires you to undergo DNA paternity testing, usually for the purpose of obtaining child support from the father, the chain of custody becomes very important. Basically, you can’t just go anywhere and have a DNA paternity test done because the results might not be admissible in court and will only serve to delay the case. Understanding chain of custody is important, thus below is an overview to help you get started.

Why Chain of Custody is Important

DNA testing for a court case must adhere to the chain of custody, which is simply meant to ensure the objectivity of the test results. If the court is in control of who takes the DNA samples (an unbiased party) and having the proper paperwork and the samples delivered to an approved DNA testing facility intact, then the results are more likely to be impartial. Also, the chain of custody dictates that certain, reputable DNA testing labs must handle the test for accuracy. The DNA testing process is monitored and documented and the test results are notarized for court.

Chain of custody also means that the DNA testing results are more likely to stand up in court and usually these cases are important enough to warrant reliable and admissible paternity testing. For example, cases of awarding child support and custody along with benefits from estates, military, social security and insurance might also require paternity testing. Adoption inquiries, immigration cases and establishing paternity on a birth certificate are other examples where chain of custody for DNA testing is vitally important.

How is DNA Taken

DNA samples are typically painless and involve a simple cheek swab. The importance is being able to document that the testing and sample collection were impartial and never tampered with to alter the court ruling. Also, following the chain of custody makes it difficult for one party to claim that the other party cheated. Also, when DNA samples are taken, the lab will require identification for each person along with a photo and fingerprints to make sure that everyone is who they say they are.

Why is DNA Testing Important in Court Cases

DNA fingerprinting was the first DNA evidence to be allowed into court cases back in the 1980s. As DNA identification got more sophisticated, law enforcement started seeing how DNA testing could help solve crimes and the court system created guidelines and procedures to ensure DNA testing is fair during the case.

In paternity cases, DNA testing has a 99.99 percent accuracy rate, meaning that the courts use these paternity tests to settle disputes and award financial support to children. The Frye Standard was a case from 1923 that set the precedent that before scientific evidence can be admitted in court, it must first be recognized as reliable by the scientific community. Most recently, the Daubert Test came into effect in 1993 because it calls for the court to examine four separate factors before admitting scientific evidence in court.

Thus, the chain of custody was born and DNA testing is now a regular fixture in many court cases.

Along with the rise in paternity testing is the reliability factor surrounding DNA testing, specifically DNA paternity testing. DNA evidence is, in most cases, 99.99 percent accurate. Also, DNA paternity testing is easy to do with a simple cheek swab to collect DNA from the possible father to compare to the child.

Dr. Ed Walsh, founding president of Ireland’s University of Limerick, feels that DNA testing should be required to help put a stop to single parents being forced to rely on welfare and to encourage two-parent households.

Two-Parent Households Linked to Happier Children

Dr. Walsh thinks that the rising trend of single parents, as evidenced by an increasing number of single applicants for state support, is contributing to a variety of other problems in youth’s behavior. Dr. Walsh also notes that the welfare code rewards single parents by moving them forward to the head of the line for subsidized housing, for example.

He attributes the rising prevalence of excessive teen drinking and drug use along with a rise in STDs is the direct result of poor parenting that tends to occur in one-parent households. He cites many international studies that continually show that single parents are not as well-equipped to raise well-adjusted children alone.

Dr. Walsh also mentions a U.S. study of 20,000 households. The results of this study showed that despite the economic condition of the communities studied (poor, middle class and wealthy), there was more criminal behavior from those children coming from a single-parent home rather than neighboring children from two-parent homes.

Stopping Deadbeat Dads With DNA Paternity Testing

Dr. Walsh proposes to force deadbeat dads to submit to DNA testing and, once proved to be the biological father of the child in question, to financially support the child but also be encouraged to participate emotionally in the child’s life. Dr. Walsh feels that with more two-parent households, children will have a better and more stable upbringing and make them less likely to turn to drugs or alcohol or petty crime.

Karen Kiernan of One Parent Exchange Network does not agree with Dr. Walsh’s views on children from one-parent homes, however. She feels that his views serve to stereotype children from single-parent homes, especially since, in Ireland, 65 percent of poor children on welfare come from single-parent households.

If the welfare code were changed to encourage the prevalence of two-parent households, according to Dr. Walsh, he feels that the children would be better off having a father in the picture and that this can easily be achieved by making DNA paternity testing more common.

Although Dr. Walsh admits his views are not politically correct, he feels strongly that encouraging DNA testing among the single parents will help relieve the state’s welfare system and also benefit these children. Often, the father will simply disappear and not contribute to his child’s financial or emotional welfare, leaving it all to the mother.

That is not a fair situation and DNA paternity testing can help fight the occurrence of situations like these by forcing the father to take some form of responsibility for a child he helped create.

What if a DNA test could reveal whether a child is the product of incest and what if that DNA test does not include testing DNA samples from either of the parents? That’s what a Houston, Texas lab is working on at Baylor College of Medicine.

How Can a DNA Test Reveal Incest

Doctors at Baylor College of Medicine have been doing genetic testing as part of their research into finding which genes are most likely to cause disabilities in children. These disability causing genes are usually defective in some way, but another known cause of disabilities in children are when that child is a product of incest.

Physicians performing this genetic research performed DNA tests on disabled children only to discover that a specific genetic pattern was present in roughly 10 cases that indicated these children were products of an incestual relationship. A DNA test won’t specify what type of incestual relationship caused the defects but just that the child was born from mother and son, brother and sister, or father and daughter incest.

The DNA test revealed that in these 10 cases, the children didn’t receive the normal sets of separate genetic make-up from each parent, which are always different when the parents are not related. In the case of incest, the two sets of genes aren’t different, indicating a familial relationship in the parents. These physicians were using a sophisticated, relatively new chromosome testing kit that also shows when a child presents identical sets of genes resulting from incest.

What Does This Mean?

If this type of DNA test is routinely performed, doctors will soon face the decision of reporting possible child abuse to the authorities because the DNA test will prove that the child was a result of an incestuous relationship, which is illegal. Unfortunately, a Clinical Psychological Review study done in 2009 showed that an estimated one in four women (in the U.S.) have been victims of childhood sexual abuse at some point. This doesn’t always mean incest, but often enough, the victim is abused by a male relative, such as a brother, uncle, cousin or father.

Some doctors feel that official guidelines should be developed so that when a doctor learns of a child resulting from incest, the doctor has a clear path to follow. Procedures should be set up so that child abuse and incest can be reported safely and effectively. However, an obstetrical geneticist from Florida International University feels that DNA tests for incest still have a ways to go before this type of DNA test can be administered with confidence. Falsely accusing someone of incest could be catastrophic, so the testing needs to mature.

A DNA test that can show, without a doubt, that a child was a product of incest will be a valuable leap forward in medicine and genetics because not only can it help prevent further incestuous relationships from forming, especially if a relative is abusing more than one person, but could help provide the necessary evidence in a court of law to successfully bring charges against child abusers.

Paternity tests have become much easier to obtain with the advances made in science and technology, thus the top five reasons people give for not having a paternity performed is no longer valid.

Below are the top five paternity myths that should not discourage you from getting the Paternity Test!

Myth #1: Cheaper is Better

Several places offer $99 paternity tests and many succeed in luring the unsuspecting consumer into their den of seemingly great deals. Unfortunately, reputable DNA testing labs cannot charge $99 for paternity testing, meaning that your “great deal” is likely being handled by untrained or inexperienced staff. It is essential that the delicate results of a paternity test are interpreted correctly. Otherwise, the incorrect results could tear apart a family or let a man believe he is (or isn’t) the father of a child when the opposite is true. Also, these results won’t be admissible in a court case, meaning you would need to pay for another test. It’s best to just choose a reputable DNA testing lab to perform this important test.

Myth #2: DNA Testing is Painful

Great news-DNA testing does not have to be painful or uncomfortable for those who dislike needles. DNA samples for paternity tests are usually simple cheek swabs. A blood test will also work, but unless you already need blood drawn for another reason, paternity tests don’t require invasive DNA samples.

Myth#3: Test Results Take Forever

Again, science and technology have made paternity testing much easier and more efficient for consumers wanting a DNA test done. Large, reputable DNA testing labs can often return results in five business days once DNA samples are received. Expedited paternity test results are also available, sometimes in one business day, although expedited services will cost more. Typically, the only reason paternity test results take more than a month to receive is when you must go through a government agency for testing. Although the test itself is still done fairly quickly, the red tape associated with a government agency is what extends the waiting time.

Myth #4: Paternity Tests Can’t Be Done During Pregnancy

A prenatal paternity test is possible through two different methods, but both must be done by a doctor and are invasive procedures. If you need prenatal testing however, you will either have a chorionic villi sampling (CVS) or an amniocentesis, depending on how far along you are. CVS is typically done earlier in a pregnancy and is a process whereby chorionic villi are taken from the wall of the uterus for DNA testing. Amniocentesis is usually done later in pregnancy and collects DNA from the placenta. Both present some risk to the mother and baby, so a doctor should always be consulted before the decision is made.

Myth #5: Paternity Tests are Expensive

This might have been true several years ago, but the streamlining of the process and the improved technology makes paternity tests affordable. A reliable paternity test done in a reputable DNA lab usually costs between $400 and $500. That few hundred dollars means the difference between uncertainty and peace of mind once the test you confirm who the father is.

So many children are kidnapped all over the world every year, leaving families feeling hopeless and lost until the child is found. Thankfully, with increases in technology and communication, kidnapped children have better odds than they used to of being returned to their families. Scientific advances, specifically in DNA testing and paternity testing, can help reunite families who lost children years ago and need positive identification before a child can be returned.

How Paternity Testing Saved Young Wenle

Three years ago, young Wenle was kidnapped from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in 2008. Wenle was taken in a public square in Shenzhen and his father, Peng Gaofeng, never gave up hope that Wenle would be found.

Peng enlisted help from Deng Fei, a Chinese journalist who helped launch the Chinese internet campaign to find Wenle. Deng Fei posted photos of Wenle on his blog and helped fuel the search for Peng’s son. This method was successful because someone who viewed the site on the internet got in contact claiming to have seen Wenle.

Chinese police found Wenle with a woman reporting to be his adoptive mother. She said that her husband brought Wenle home with him and that Wenle was the son of his mistress. Her husband died in June 2010 and the woman had been raising Wenle as her own. However, surveillance cameras spotted her husband taking Wenle from the same public square in Shenzhen where Peng claimed he was kidnapped in 2008.

Now, DNA paternity testing has proved that the boy identified by the internet user was indeed Wenle. In order for the police to confirm that the boy was the kidnapped Wenle (beside Peng identifying his son on sight), paternity testing had to be done. Also, Chinese police procedure requires a second round of paternity testing to be done using Wenle’s grandparents’ DNA also, just to be absolutely certain. Initial DNA paternity testing results indicate that the boy is definitely Wenle.

Peng said he doesn’t bear the woman ill will since she was unaware of the circumstances surrounding Wenle’s disappearance. He even agreed to let her stay in contact with Wenle because the little boy had grown attached to her during his stay.

How Paternity Testing Can Help Other Children

The Ministry of Public Security in China released a statement that detailed how Chinese citizens have come forward in recent years to help solve cases involving kidnapped children. The Ministry also stated that they will continue to use DNA paternity testing to identify lost or kidnapped children.

For example, children pan handling in the streets without parents and identification will have DNA samples taken and entered into a national database in case parents come forward with matching DNA for paternity testing. Since April 2009, almost 10,000 kidnapped Chinese children have been found due to increased awareness and new techniques being employed by Chinese police.

Paternity testing is an important tool for identifying kidnapped children, especially after a lot of time has elapsed or if an infant is taken and not many physical identifying factors are available. DNA paternity testing will also give parents peace knowing that the child they lost and now found is indeed the same child.

A recent case study reveals the tragic situation of a man who probably now understands the value of paternity testing. Genetic testing is becoming more and more popular because marriage is not the sacred, monogamous bond it once was, statistically speaking. Many women have affairs and, if a pregnancy results from that affair, do not reveal this fact to their husbands.

Genetic Testing Bursts John’s Bubble

John (whose name has been changed), who works for NGO in rural Tanzania, received great news from his boss at NGO. John had been promoted. Not only was the promotion welcome news but it came with a move to the UK for him and his family-a wife and three children. This meant that his children would receive a top-notch education in a London school and John couldn’t be happier.

John’s employer, however, required the formality of submitting him and his children to paternity testing to ensure that NGO was paying for the education of John’s biological children. This is when his bubble burst. His oldest child, a girl, was his but his twin boys, seven years old, were not.

Although John was devastated by his wife’s infidelity and for harboring this secret, he ultimately decided to accept his boys as his own since he had bonded and raised them since birth. However, this occurrence is, unfortunately, all too common.

Genetic Testing in Tanzania is Needed More Often

In Tanzania, professionals working at the Dar es Salaam health facility note that this type of situation is becoming more and more common, with three to four occurrences a month. They witness the results of home paternity testing or genetic testing done that ultimately proves that the husband, who thinks his children are his, proves they belong to another man.

Genetic testing is not mandatory, however, and must be consented to. This means that often the woman will not reveal even the possibility that the children don’t belong to her husband, so unless the husband performs home paternity testing or a situation arises, like John’s, that demands genetic testing be done.

In Tanzania, their culture, traditionally, didn’t concentrate on the biological aspect but focused on where the child was born and what clan the child was born into. Now, hospital officials note that men are more concerned about the children not sharing their genes.

Why More Couples Choose Home Paternity Testing

Home paternity testing means that DNA samples are collected from the father and the children, usually being a cheek swab, and the samples are sent to a DNA testing lab for comparison. Many men in Tanzania and elsewhere are talking to their wives and fiancées prior to having children and stating their desire for home paternity testing once they have children for peace of mind.

Although this isn’t always popular or easy to hear, especially for wives who are true to their husbands, home paternity testing can set husbands’ minds at ease and help foster a home environment of trust and love between husband and wife and helps keep the husband emotionally involved with his children.

Steven Soderbergh, a famous Hollywood director, is now understanding the power of DNA paternity testing. When he was working on some projects in Sydney, Australia in 2009, he allegedly fathered a baby girl with a local woman, who is now suing for a child support citing a DNA test that proves paternity.

Sydney Love Child Proven to be Soderbergh’s Own

While Soderbergh was working in Sydney, Australia in 2009, he was apparently working off set with Frances Lawrencina Anderson because she later bore his daughter, naming her Pearl Button. Thanks to a DNA test, Anderson can prove that Soderbergh is the father of little Pearl Button. However, Soderbergh’s lawyer say that he had already verbally acknowledged paternity (without DNA testing) and had helped her financially throughout the pregnancy for medical expenses.

Soderbergh, 48, was in Sydney creating and directing the play Tot Mom, which would debut at the Sydney Theatre Company. He was also directing a comedic film with the Tot Mom cast when they had breaks from the play, but he still managed time to have an affair with Anderson and father a baby, which he does not deny.

Anderson Files a Paternity Suit

Anderson and her lawyer filed a paternity suit in a New York court and plans to uphold her claim with the results of DNA paternity testing proving Pearl Button is Soderbergh’s daughter. Although Soderbergh, according to his lawyer, was already talking to Anderson about financial obligations, she decided to take it to the next level and file this suit seeking child support in an unspecified amount.

Soderbergh’s lawyer notes that Soderbergh voluntarily submitted to DNA testing and wasn’t fighting Anderson regarding financial obligations. Soderbergh was then surprised when Anderson filed this formal suit against him in a New York court, especially when she resides in Sydney.

About Steven Soderbergh

Soderbergh is an Oscar-winning director and is best known for directing blockbuster films like Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen, Erin Brockovich and Traffic. He is currently married to former E! host Jules Asner. The couple wed in 2003 and have no children, although Soderbergh has a child from his first marriage. Soderbergh owns property in multiple places, including London, California and New York and makes a potentially lucrative target for Anderson.

DNA paternity testing is completely reliable, as long as a reputable DNA testing lab is used. Not all DNA tests are admissible in court during a paternity suit, however, due to the chain of evidence not being substantiated. In order for DNA paternity testing to hold up in court, a court-approved DNA testing lab must be used to analyze the samples and an unbiased party would have to take the DNA samples-usually a simple cheek swab.

Although DNA paternity testing has proved that Soderbergh is the father of the baby girl, will it be enough for Anderson to demand child support? In most cases, the answer is yes. If a DNA test proves Soderbergh is the biological father, then he will likely be required to financially support little Pearl Button as she grows up.