Paternity DNA tests are 99.9999% accurate, easy, and painless. Most paternity tests analyze 16 DNA markers (unique sequences) in the DNA. Each person has a pair of each of these DNA markers: one inherited from mom and one inherited from dad.

Paternity testing compares the numbers for each of these markers between the father-in-question, mother, and child. Half of the child’s numbers at the DNA markers should match the mother’s and half should match the biological father’s. Although the mother doesn’t need to submit a sample, the laboratory will need to take extra steps during DNA analysis without her.

After placing an order, you are sent a self-collection kit that includes cheek swabs, return envelopes, and instructions. It is important to follow the instructions carefully. To collect each DNA sample, you rub a cheek swab up and down the inside of the person’s cheek. The laboratory extracts the DNA from the cheek swab and analyzes it using standard laboratory procedures.

Paternity Test Results

In addition to your lab test results, which show the DNA marker values of the child, mother, and father-in-question, you will be given two other numbers:

• Probability of paternity value: This number is the percentage, based on the DNA results, of how likely it is that the father-in-question is the biological father of the child. For example, a PP value of 0% means that the father-in-question is excluded, or cannot be the biological father. A PP value of 99% or greater means that the father-in-question is most likely the biological father. PP results range is from 0 % to 99.99999%.
  
  
• Combined paternity index value: This number is the odds, based on the DNA results, that the father-in-question is the biological father of the child. For example, if the CPI is 100,000, that means that the father-in-question is 100,000 times more likely to be the biological father of the child than a man randomly chosen from the general population. Most CPI results fall into the range of 100,000 to 1,000,000.