Prenatal Paternity/DNA Testing – What You Should Know

1. Prenatal Paternity/DNA Testing – What You Should know Prenatal paternity testing can be required in various cases to establish paternity or fighting a legal battle. A certified screening center can be trusted for accurate results. There are several instances when paternity testing is required – to settle a divorce case, establish parentage and other legal battles. Paternity testing is done by means of DNA testing, which is usually performed to ascertain parental biological relationships. There are could be normal paternity testing and prenatal paternity testing. The latter one is also a DNA testing, but it is performed during pregnancy, before the child birth. There are different ways to obtain the sample for prenatal DNA testing – one from the amniotic fluid surrounding the mother’s womb, a process called Amniocentesis; another one is about obtaining the sample from the placenta surface, known as Chronic Villus Sampling (CVS). Whatever the method is preferred, it is performed with the use of an ultrasound in order to ensure the safety of the mother and the unborn child. Sample collection can be done in two ways – 1.A thin needle may be inserted into the uterus, through belly, to collect a small tissue sample from outside the amniotic sac. 2.A thin tube may be inserted through vagina, past the cervix, into the uterus to collect the sample. As one can conclude from the above two methods, there is a huge risk involved in prenatal testing. Risk may be similar to miscarriage, or the risk of birth defects. There have been many cases when birth defects have been in noted in the child’s toes or fingers after Amniocentesis or CVS. One more thing to note is that the risk was higher or a defect was likely if the test was performed before 9th week of the pregnancy. Keeping the safety of baby in mind, CVS should be recommended between 10th and 12th week of the pregnancy; whereas Amniocentesis should be recommended between the 12th and 21st week. In order to ensure the baby’s health, it is recommended to consult a Gynecologist or an Obstetrician and discuss the implications of these methods. Thereafter a decision can be made accordingly.

2. If there is some legality involved with the test and the result has to be legally valid, then the test must be performed under the Custody Procedure. There is some documentation involved in a Chain of Custody procedure, so the cost may go a little higher. In-home procedure is also available, but it is not legally valid. Anyone seeking this for a legal battle can also avail DNA testing service offered by a Certified Screening Center like National Screening Centers. The results are fast, accurate and helpful when one is involved in some legal feud. For more information visit our site at www.nationalscreeningcenters.com