Originally published 8/12/2013 | Republished 11/1/2021 Twenty-four million children in America (that’s one out of every three) currently live in homes where their biological father is not part of their life. Unfortunately, these kids are more likely to face financial challenges, use drugs, drop out of school or engage in criminal behavior.* Having both biological parents active in a child’s life is very important to that child’s long-term development, health and well-being. Dual-parenting has proven to have a positive effect on both a child’s social development and academic achievement. W ..read more

DNA testing has become an overarching definition for a variety of genetic tests, but each DNA test is meant for very different purposes. Here’s a brief overview of several common DNA tests. There are three main groups of DNA testing: Forensics DNA testing, Relationship DNA testing, and Genetic DNA testing. Forensic DNA Testing Forensic DNA testing is also called DNA typing or genetic fingerprinting and is used by forensic scientists to help identify people by their DNA. Forensic DNA testing not only helps to identify those involved in a crime, but it’s also used to help identify ..read more

The first time a parent holds their baby is a moment that forever bonds parent and child. But what if you have a nagging feeling that this infant in your arms may not be yours? Would you trust your intuition? Richard Cushworth and his wife Mercy Casanellas dealt with this exact situation, and trusting their intuition made all the difference. A case of mistaken identity In 2015, the couple traveled to El Salvador to give birth to their baby boy. But what should have been a happy occasion instead left the family full of uncertainty. For three months, the couple raised the baby as their own despi ..read more

The precise language used in your paternity report is very important but, because it’s also very technical, it can sometimes be hard to understand. The report language is familiar to scientists, lawyers, and judges. To help with understanding your results, we’ve also shown you how they might say it on TV, instead of in a courtroom. Your Report IMPORTANT:  If you did an at-home peace-of-mind test, your report will not show the names of participants: participants are only identified by number and by their role in the test (for example, alleged father or child). We include names of part ..read more

Establishing Paternity Establishing paternity (fatherhood) can get tricky in the legal world since being the “legal” father can be distinctly different than being the “biological” father. Fatherhood is usually determined first by marriage. Although all states have differing laws for establishing paternity, most state laws say that if a married woman gives birth to a child, the husband is the “legal” father. But what happens if the woman isn’t married? This is where establishing paternity can get complicated. Though most children are born to a mother and a father, the CDC reporte ..read more

There are many choices for a woman to make when she finds out she’s expecting, from what kinds of food she’s going to eat to which doctor she wants to see. With over 40% of children in the United States being born out of wedlock (CDC), many pregnant women are facing an additional choice: whether or not to have a prenatal paternity test. This is a personal decision, and one that possibly comes with societal ethical and moral dilemmas attached. So before deciding whether or not to even consider such a procedure, it’s critical for a woman to have solid information about what her options are for p ..read more

You and your partner have welcomed a sweet little baby into the world. You’re busy changing diapers and arranging schedules and figuring out the ins and outs of daily life that all new parents face. In the middle of the hustle and bustle and sleep deprivation, probably the last thing on your mind is the thought that the two of you might split up someday. You haven’t married, but that’s not really necessary nowadays, right? When it was just the two of you, probably not. But now that you have a little one, it’s important to know what happens when unmarried parents split up and what the paternity ..read more

If you’re planning on doing  DNA paternity testing, one of the first questions you think of may be, ‘Is this going to hurt?’  As a top DNA paternity testing lab, we get asked all the time whether there are going to be needles involved. The answer is simply, ‘Probably not.’ The overwhelming majority of post-natal paternity tests are conducted using cheek (or buccal) cells, collected with a painless swab. Here’s why blood, spit, or cheek cells may be used for DNA tests and also why cheek cells are the method of choice for most DNA paternity testing. Is Spit Used for DNA Paternity Testi ..read more

QA: Ensuring the Integrity of DNA Test Samples Q: How long are the paternity test samples good for? A: This is a question asked quite often by paternity testing participants. Our expert client support agents  advise participants that once the samples for a paternity test are collected, we ask they are sent into our laboratory within six months. This should give time to collect all participants and get them sent to the laboratory for DNA testing. Q: How should the DNA testing samples be stored? A: Once the paternity-test samples have been collected you do not want to place them back i ..read more

Originally published in November, 2014, this story is so sweet we want to share it again.    How did you find out about your daughter? My daughter was searching for me and she said her first attempt she found me, she went to my Facebook page and there were a lot of clues that I was her father. So she told her mother, then her mother started messaging me on Facebook and I started putting it together in my mind, thinking, something’s going on. Me and the mother talked, and then my daughter started talking, and I was ready to go see her and all that type of stuff so I immediately went ..read more