Types of Paternity Testing

 Posted on September 30, 2013 in Child Custody

In this modern day and age, having sex out of wedlock is more and more common. Usually, nowadays, when two people get married, they have already had sex either with each other or with other partners. It is also becoming increasingly common to have children out of wedlock and because of that, the father is not always known for sure. If the father of a child is not known, there a few tests that can be taken to determine who it is. You first must determine when the test will be conducted: before or after the child is born. Here are some options for paternity testing from the American Pregnancy Association: If you choose to perform the test before the child is born, your options include:

• Amniocentesis:
  • This test is for the second trimester of pregnancy, between week 14-20. Doctors use ultrasound and guide a needle through the uterus to collect a little bit of amniotic fluid. This fluid will be used for the test to determine the father.
  • Risks of this test include:
    • Miscarriage, although it is a very small chance
    • Cramping
    • Vaginal bleeding
    • Leaking of amniotic fluid

• Chorionic Villis Sampling (CVS)
  • This test is meant to be conducted between week 10-13 of the pregnancy. For this test, the doctor inserts a thin needle or tube through the vagina and cervix to obtain a chorionic villi. This needle is also guided by ultrasound. The chorionic villi are pieces of tissue on the uterus wall, which come from the same fertilized egg as the fetus, therefore they have the same genetic makeup.

• SNO Macroarray
  • This type of test does not require a needle to be inserted into the mother like the first two options. This is a newer type of test that preserves and analyzes the baby’s DNA that is naturally found in the mother’s bloodstream.
  • This test is 99.9% accurate, but much less invasive that the first two options

If you decide to wait to perform the tests until after the child is born, your options include:

• Blood collection and testing
• Cheek swab collection and testing
• Umbilical cord collection and testing

If you are having a child or you already have a child and you would like to find out who the father is, or you would like to find out if you are the father of a child, contact a family law attorney for assistance. Attorneys at the Davi Law Group in Illinois will help you decide which test to take and what the best way to going about it would be today.