The moment you realize you may need a paternity test you should consider how the results of the test will be used. Not knowing whether or not you are the biological father of a child can impact many areas of your life including your emotional and financial well-being. Despite the feelings you may go through when you get the paternity test results back it is important to get the test done because without it, you will always wonder in the back of your mind whether or not your child is biologically yours, and that element of doubt will always be in the back of your mind.
When you need a paternity test that will hold up in court, a legally admissible paternity test is the only way to go. There are DNA tests that you can do at home but these will not hold up in a court because there are too many ways that the results could be compromised or falsified. Establishing paternity in a court of law does a lot for both the alleged father, the mother of the child, and the child. It is imperative for the alleged father of a child to know without a doubt about his role in the child's life. To leave this question unanswered leaves him unsure and it can cause him to resent the child if he feels he is raising a child that may not be biologically his.
The differences between a home paternity test and a legal paternity test exist both in how the DNA sample is collected and how the test results may be used. A home paternity test can be done within the comfort of your own home because the tested parties will collect their own DNA samples. Using the test kit you order, just take a swab from the inside of the potential father's cheek and a swab from the inside of the child's cheek. Send the DNA samples to the laboratory you've chosen and usually you will have your results within 5-7 days.
A legal paternity DNA sample has to be collected by a neutral third party. This ensures that the person taking the DNA samples has no vested interest in the paternity of the child and will not try to falsify the DNA samples in any way. In a legal paternity test the chain of custody is maintained. This term refers to the way in which DNA samples are collected, sent to the lab and analyzed. Since the DNA samples are accounted for at every step of the process the test results can be relied upon by the court. Since these results are completely acceptable in a court they can be used to determine whether or not a man has to pay child support, whose name goes on the birth certificate as "father", whether or not a child is eligible for an inheritance and many other important legal decisions. It is a more expensive test than an at-home DNA test but the extra expense is well worth the investment.
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