One question on many people’s minds when they look into paternity testing is how accurate the paternity test results are. No test can ever be 100% accurate but how accurate can you expect your paternity test results to be and what should you expect from a DNA testing lab?
There are two results involved in a paternity test, the first is called exclusion. Exclusive paternity test results exclude a man from being a father of a child. This means that in the paternity test the DNA of the father did not sufficiently correspond to the DNA of the child to consider him as a prospective father. In this case the result should be 100% accurate, if a man is excluded from being a child’s father there should be no way he could possibly be.
Inclusive paternity test results however are different, they refer to the likelihood that someone is the father of the child. Although no test can ever be 100% certain most paternity test results should prove at least 99%, preferably closer to 99.99% that a child is the father.
The accuracy of paternity test results depends on how many loci (or points) are tested on the DNA segments of the alleged father and child; the higher the number of loci, the greater the accuracy that can be obtained.
To get the best results from your paternity test you should choose a laboratory that tests at least 13-16 loci and that excludes fathers who show a difference in two or more DNA patterns on the loci (this is the AABB standard that is used in accredited DNA testing labs). For more info see http://www.geneticdnatestinghelp.org/paternity/prenatal-postnatal-paternity-test.html on prenatal postnatal genetic testing.
In conclusion, although paternity test results can never be 100% accurate you should look for at least 99% accuracy and preferably closer to 99.99%. Accuracy is obtained through testing a larger number of loci and good DNA testing labs usually test about 16.
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Some good things about genetic testing are the ability to find out if you carry a specific gene or if you have a gene that will result in a genetic disorder in the future. Some of the conditions diagnosed by genetic testing are cystic fibrosis, Huntington disease and Down syndrome. This has become a normal procedure done with pregnant women and both parents even before conception.
Parents can be screened before deciding to have children and find out if they are a carrier of a specific gene, but doctors need to be aware of all the different ethnic groups and what to look for when any genetic testing is done. Some good things about genetic testing before conception are, you can find out if you have any specific genetic disorders and if there is a chance of passing it on to your child.
When two people who want to have children carry the same gene, they may half to make a decision about having a family a different way. The conditions diagnosed by genetic testing allow doctors to inform perspective parents if both have a gene that could cause a genetic disorder in a child. If both parents have the same gene, the child will more than likely be born with the disorder not as a carrier as they would if only one parent had the gene. For more info see http://www.geneticdnatestinghelp.org/paternity/dna-paternity-test.html
Some adoptive parents want genetic testing done on newborns and children before the adoption goes through to make sure they are completely healthy with no genetic disorders that could affect their health. This brings up some controversy about such a practice. Conditions diagnosed by genetic testing may leave some children without homes and parents because they have a specific gene or a specific genetic disorder.
There are some good things about genetic testing, but when used in for this purpose has raised questions by adoption agencies about whether parents should have a guarantee or not. When you conceive a baby, you have no idea about the health at this time so why should you when adopting. The ability to select a baby with by genetic testing defies nature. All children need homes, and if genetic testing before adoption ever becomes a regular occurrence, can you imagine all the children that will never know love and have a family to share their life with.
There many conditions diagnosed with genetic testing and this is good for the future of the world, but is good for everything and in every case. I believe genetic testing for both parents is a wonderful idea, it gives them a choice to have children or not, but in some cases, genetic testing may hurt the population if proper guidelines for testing are not put into place.
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