Father Only DNA Testing in Australia
Identilab offers DNA testing for the father and child only however we highly recommend including both parents in any parentage test. The usual response to this is “I know I’m the mum” or “I know who the mum is” and whilst you can still do the test without them, there are a few reasons why collecting a DNA sample from BOTH mum and dad is always a good idea.
Father & Child Only DNA Testing Options
If you are only interested in paternity DNA testing involving the father and child either our at home, peace-of-mind test or legally admissible test are suitable depending on what you’re wanting to use the results for.
If it is possible to collect a sample from the mother & the father keep reading to learn why we recommend including both for the most accurate results.
The Benefits Of Including Both The Mother & Father
DNA makes us who we are. It can be thought of as the recipe for putting together all the ingredients that make you unique. Half your ingredients came from your mother, and the other half came from your father.
Including the mother in a paternity test allows us to determine which half of a child’s DNA came from her. By cancelling out her contribution, we are left with only the DNA contribution from the father. Comparing this to the DNA from the alleged father then allows us to more clearly determine how likely it is that the child inherited their DNA from him. By removing the mother’s contribution from the child’s DNA profile first, the results are strengthened and are much more conclusive than they are without her.
This is especially important if there are two possible fathers who are related to each other. For example, brothers may have a lot in common at the DNA markers that we look at, which could lead to reporting a “false positive” result. That is, the results could mistakenly identify one brother as the father, when in fact the true father is the other brother. Including the mother’s sample in our interpretations can help eliminate this risk.
Having the mother’s DNA profile available can also help us to detect “paternity fraud”, where a participant in the test has intentionally switched a sample with a sample from an unrelated person. For example, a child’s mother might send in a sample from an unrelated child in order to get a negative paternity result. By having the ability to compare the mother’s DNA profile with the child’s, we can determine that the mother is in fact the mother of the child being tested.
You may also be wondering if you can proceed with paternity testing without the consent of the mother. Due to the complexities surrounding consent, we recommend you seek advice from a legal professional if you have any questions about this. For legally admissible parentage testing, the Family Law Regulations 1984 (Cth) require the consent of only one parent, guardian or carer for parentage testing to be carried out on a child under 18 years or a person with an intellectual disability, but there is no specification about which parent must give consent. For peace of mind parentage testing, there is no formal regulation of parental consent.
For more information about including a mother’s sample in DNA testing for paternity, please call us on 1300 114 294 or email us at [email protected]. Identilab does not charge any additional fees to include the known parent in testing.
