DNA paternity tests have become very accessible to the public leading to thousands of tests now being carried out each year. It used to be the case that paternity tests were usually requested by mothers seeking financial support from reluctant ex-partners, but these days the DNA tests are equally likely to be sought by men who believe their wives or girlfriends may have been unfaithful.

It has been estimated that around 1 in 20 men are unknowingly raising a child who biologically is not their own, although there is no way to verify this figure. Around a third of men undergoing a paternity test find out that the child is not their own. Men seeking paternity tests should bear these statistics and mind and question how they may feel if the results of the test are undesirable. Consider undergoing counselling first to assess whether a DNA test is genuinely the best course of action for your family, in particular the child.

Women seeking paternity tests for the purpose of obtaining financial support from the father will often receive assistance with the cost of the test. For instance, in the UK the alleged father is required to pay the cost of the test but will be given a discounted rate by the Child Support Agency. Should the DNA results show that he is not the father, the cost will be refunded.

Rather than travelling to a clinic to have samples taken for the DNA test, most people prefer to purchase a home DNA test. As well as being more convenient, buying a DNA test online can be much more cost effective. A home DNA test kit will include everything needed to take the sample - often a cotton swab which needs to be wiped around the inner cheek to collect cells. This will then need to be put in the provided packaging and sent to a DNA test laboratory for the results to be analysed. These should be received back in around 3 to 5 working days and will show that either the man is definitely not the father or that there is a 99.99 percent probability that he is.

In the unfortunate event that an unwanted result is received, counselling is usually recommended. The DNA testing laboratory will be able to refer the family to a counselling service or an organisation offering family support.

Errors in paternity tests are extremely rare, but mistakes can happen. For instance, celebrity hairstylist Andre Chreky took the DNA testing company LabCorp to court after test results showed he was the father of the child of a woman he had not had relations with for several years. After a two year legal battle it was concluded that human error had led to an incorrect result. However, the error rate for paternity tests is thought to be less than 1 percent and families can be confident that they are receiving reliable results.

Lily has recently had articles published about men's Halloween costumes, including creating a grim reaper costume and finding a Ghostbusters costume.

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