Introduction
The news of becoming a parent is overwhelming in itself. Just the news can turn your world upside down, let alone the baby being born. It is as stressful as it is ecstatic. Sometimes people need to be sure whether they are a parent of a child. Especially if the duties and the rights of a father are in question. In such cases, the only way to be sure is with paternity testing.
A DNA paternity test is the use of DNA samples of the people to determine whether an individual is the biological parent of another individual. This test can also determine someone being a grandparent of an individual. An individual can depend upon this test. If the consequences are so life-altering, you must make an informed decision. The way and the place you choose to do these tests also determine the authenticity. The two ways in which a paternity test can be done are at home with a paternity test kit and in the doctor’s office. Although the results received are almost the same. There are some differences. Here are the differences:
Court-Admissible Results
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Home paternity testing
The tests which are taken at home are not considered authentic at the court of law. This is because of many reasons. One of the reasons is because the court can not verify that the swabs are of the same person. People can tamper with the results as well. Hence, if you are to present a home paternity test at a court, you will need the samples to be collected under the supervision of a third-party witness. Also, the IDs of the participants are checked.
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Doctor-ordered test
This way of testing is considered authentic because doctors do the paternity test and collect the samples for the same. The collected samples are generally supervised by the third-party, either in their office itself or in the lab where it is tested. They must follow a legal test protocol.
Convenience
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Home paternity testing
It is the easiest and convenient way to do a paternity test. All you have to do is to take the cheek swabs of you and your child. There are no paper works involved or no need to travel to the doctor’s office.
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Doctor-ordered test
The only difference is that you will have to travel to your doctor’s office or the lab with your child. The doctors will take the samples and do the tests and give you the results in hand.
Conclusion
There are two ways of doing paternity. One is to get it done at home and the other is to go to a doctor’s office. Although when you do a paternity test both ways require the same method of sample collection, that is by using a painless cheek swab. The results that are taken with cheek swabs are similar to the results taken with blood samples. This is because the DNA of a person is the same in every cell in that body.
Hence, if you follow the instructions properly, you can receive the same results in a home test as the one done in a doctor’s office. However, it is necessary to get the results accurate. And for that, you need proper testing practices. Different labs have all the answers to your questions. They guarantee you accuracy and complete confidentiality. The tests are legally admissible as well. You can get an authentic paternity test just with a google search. Hence, home paternity tests are as accurate as those done through the doctor’s office.
