WHAT CAN THIS TEST BE USED FOR?
A Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity DNA Test (Blood) can be used for peace-of-mind (there is no chain-of-custody of samples, meaning you pick up a blood collection kit from our office or we post the kit to you, and you return the blood samples to us after having blood drawn at any clinic), and in some countries, also for legal, official purposes (your samples must follow a strict chain-of-custody procedure, meaning the DNA is collected by a certified, independent third party, and your identity has been verified and documented).
Please note that this test cannot be used for 3 or more multiple gestation pregnancies (i.e. if the Mother is pregnant with triplets, quadruplets, etc.). This test can be used for surrogates and twins (fraternal, identical or vanishing). Kindly contact us directly for more information.
HOW EARLY IN THE PREGNANCY CAN THIS TEST BE TAKEN?
Our prenatal paternity test can be performed as early as 6 weeks of pregnancy. We recommend waiting until 9 weeks, to ensure there is enough free-floating fetal DNA present in the Mother’s blood for a conclusive test, and to avoid having to redraw a new blood sample. When testing between 6-8 weeks, about 20% of tests will require the Mother’s blood to be redrawn due to low levels of Fetal DNA.
There is no fee from the laboratory for testing a new sample, however you will have to pay for the cost of redrawing your blood sample (paid directly to your sample collector) and the shipping of the new samples to the laboratory via first-class, international priority courier.
IS THERE ANY RISK TO THE UNBORN BABY?
The DNA test does not pose any risk at all to the unborn Child or the Mother, and is completely non-invasive. It is the safest prenatal test currently available.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET MY RESULTS?
- Testing time is approximately 14 working days.
- This time may be extended if there are low levels of Fetal DNA in the Mother’s blood, if any mutations are found in the Fetal DNA, or reasons for poor samples beyond our control.
- Your digital result report will be sent to you immediately by email.
WHAT IS THE GUARANTEED PROBABILITY OF THIS TEST?
In the event of a negative test, the report you will receive will show 0% probability of paternity, which conclusively excludes the man tested as being the Father of the Child. In the event of a positive test, the report you will receive will show 99.99% not excluding the tested man as being the Child’s Father. This guaranteed probability is above industry standards, and we will not issue a result that does not match this conclusive level of probability.
WHAT KIND OF DNA SAMPLES CAN I USE?
- A blood sample from the Mother (1 x 10cc tubes) and a blood sample from the Alleged Father (1 x 6cc tube) is all that is needed for this test.
- Contact us for our DNA Sample Collection Kit, as special tubes must be used to preserve the blood samples. The cost of the blood draw to collect the samples is not part of the test fee, and you will pay the doctor/sample collector directly for this. We can recommend reputable doctors around Thailand, or you can suggest your own.
- Unusual samples can also be provided.
- For surrogacy cases, we require blood samples from egg donor, surrogate and alleged father or sperm donor.
HOW DOES THIS TEST ACTUALLY WORK?
- There is cell-free free-floating fetal DNA (cffDNA) in the Mother’s blood while she is pregnant. After pregnancy, all cffDNA is cleared within a few hours, therefore, there is no possibility that a Child’s DNA from a previous pregnancy is still in the Mother’s blood. The Alleged Father’s and Mother’s DNA are found in the buffy coat fraction of the corresponding blood samples.
- Our analysis involves a target region capture of over 13,000 SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) from all blood samples. Then, we use Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology to sequence these SNPs.
- The resulting data is subjected to proprietary bioinformatics analysis, to return a result with a non-paternal exclusive rate of more than 99.99%.
THE ALLEGED FATHERS OF THE CHILD ARE RELATED. CAN I JUST TEST ONE OF THEM?
No, you must test any Alleged Father that may be related to each other. If there is more than one possible Father of the Child and the possible Fathers are closely related to each other (i.e. as brothers, or as father and son, etc.), then it is very important to test them both due to the similarities in their DNA, in order to avoid a false-positive result; a positive result for one relation will not exclude the other, unless both/all are tested. The same applies to related Alleged Mothers in a Maternity DNA Test. Learn more about DNA testing related Alleged Fathers/Mothers in our FAQ.