One of the ways you can have a DNA test or paternity test is to do it yourself at home. A number of laboratories sell DNA test kits to use at home, you will then send the results back to the laboratory and they will send you the results. In this article we are going to look at how you can administer a DNA test in the comfort of your own home and what is needed.
The first step in conducting a home DNA test is choosing a high quality home test kit. There are a number of available kits online but what should you be looking for when choosing a kit? The first thing is that you should find a kit that is preferably both ISO17025 accredited and AABB Parentage Accreditation program accredited. You should also look at the results which they offer; a good home test kit will offer 100% exclusion and 99% inclusion. This means that it will prove 100% who is not a parent and with 99% certainty who is the parent.
Once you have ordered and received your home DNA test kit the next step will be to actually conduct the DNA test. Your test kit should have come with instructions on how to go about collecting the sample and you should follow these instructions but generally samples will be collected either through taking some blood or through a swab of the inner cheek.
Using cotton swabs on the inner cheeks to collect DNA samples is the most popular method. You will rub both sides of the inner cheek with a piece of cotton wool, place it in a sealed test tube and then this will be sent to the laboratory. You will need to do this for the child and the suspected parent and perhaps also the mother of the child. This is a very simple procedure and painless.
If the child has not yet been born you should work with your local physician or gynecologist to collect a sample via amniocentesis or CVS. Although this cannot be done at home, it is still a relatively easy procedure for your gynecologist to carry out and involves either taking some of the fluid which surrounds the baby (amniocentesis) or taking some chorionic villi from the placenta (CVS).
In conclusion, a home DNA test is a relatively simple and painless procedure and usually involves taking a swab of the inner cheek of both the suspected father as well as the child and, if possible, it’s mother. When choosing a home DNA test kit you should look for a kit that is ISO 17025 and AABB accredited and which offer a 99% inclusion and 100% exclusion rate.
Glossary:
Amniocentesis: Extraction of fluid surrounding the fetus
CVS: extraction of choroniac villi from the placenta
Chorionic villi: fingerlike projections that connect the embryo to the placenta