How Accurate is a DNA Paternity Test?
A DNA paternity test is nearly 100%, specifically 99.9%, accurate in determining if a man is another person’s biological father. The DNA tests use cheek swabs or blood tests both of which have equal levels of accuracy.
In cases involving passports and consular birth certificates (CRBAs) (proof of U.S. citizenship issued to a child born abroad to a U.S. citizen), consular officials will only accept test results that provide a certainty of paternity/maternity of 99.99% or more to maintain a genetic bond relationship between parent and child.
By using an approved lab, you can rest assured that your home paternity test results will be accurate for samples sent to the lab. For home testing, the lab relies on test participants to ensure that the samples tested in the lab come from the right person.
You can be confident that at-home tests are typically just as accurate as legal testing.
Home paternity testing uses the same method, equipment, analysis, and protections to assure accuracy as legal paternity tests with court-admissible findings.
If you are wondering why the highest probability of paternity is only 99.99%, there is a reason for that. Because we all share so much of the same DNA merely by being human beings with comparable genomes, paternity findings must be presented as a statistical likelihood of fatherhood. It is simply not possible to test every man in the world with the same ethnicity as the tested man and therefore the probability of paternity can never be 100%. Making a probability of 99% or above is deemed as conclusive.
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