At-home DNA testing is becoming more and more popular as companies have begun offering paternity test kits in pharmacies and on the internet. Do it yourself DNA tests have three major benefits: confidentiality, convenience, and cost.
Since you can purchase a home DNA test online and have it shipped to your door, there is no need to worry about friends or acquaintances seeing you walk into a DNA testing center to get a paternity test. You can draw the shades and swab your cheek in the privacy of your kitchen or dining room.
Most people work during DNA testing center office hours, so it can be difficult to schedule an appointment. A do it yourself DNA test allows you to collect samples for a paternity test whenever you have the time. It’s very convenient.
Generally speaking, do it yourself DNA tests cost less than legal testing, because there are no collection or notary fees. Cost savings is often an important factor to families trying to gain peace of mind.
Along with the benefits of at home DNA tests come questions about validity. The primary concern is that the samples provided by one of the participants is not their true sample. For example, a father wants a paternity test and the child lives with the mother. We send home testing kits to the father’s home as well as the mother’s home. The father must trust that the mother collects the child’s sample, and not the sample of a different individual.
The whole point of a paternity test is to gain certainty and peace of mind. In order to achieve that peace of mind the participants need to be confident in the samples that are collected. The only way to be 100% sure is to observe the collection, or pay a little bit extra to have a trained DNA technician collect the sample.
