Grandparents often help their son or daughter find answers in difficult circumstances

At GrandparentageTesting, we often encounter concerned parents inquiring about paternity testing for their son’s or daughter’s child—their possible grandchildren. You can help your son or daughter find answers in their difficult circumstance through our paternity testing services. From this page, you can find out what you need to know about paternity testing, and you can even start the process by ordering the test online. You can also call 1-888-362-9814 anytime for a free consultation with our testing specialists.

What is a Paternity Test?
A paternity test is a DNA test that looks for a specific pattern of inheritance—the 50/50 contribution of the biological father and mother to a child’s DNA. Everyone inherits their DNA from their parents in two copies—one from the mother, and one from the father. In a paternity test, we examine 16 different DNA locations, designated by scientists to be the most useful for tracing heredity. On each location, there are 2 copies of the DNA, and we check to see if these copies match DNA from the possible father and the mother.

Maternity Testing operates on the same principles described above. It is often used to verify biological relationships in cases where a child and mother were separated early in life, such as by adoption.

Requirements for Paternity Testing
A paternity test requires the participation of the child and the alleged father. Participation of the child’s mother is encouraged—with her participation, we can easily eliminate her contribution to half of the child’s DNA, leaving the other half to test for presence of the possible father’s DNA contribution. We can also yield conclusive paternity test results without the mother.

Samples Collected
In a DNA paternity test, the laboratory only needs cheek swab samples from the test participants. In a private paternity test, we send the participants (or those who order the test) a DNA collection kit that they can use to collect the samples, simply, painlessly, and privately. In a legal paternity test, used in child support and other legal situations, samples need to be collected by a trained professional. Please click on the links for these pages to learn more.

How long it takes
A paternity test is completed 5 working days after we receive all samples in the laboratory.

Paternity Testing Cost
Testing cost varies depending on the collection procedure (private or legal). If you do not need to use the results in court, the private collection is a more affordable option at $195 because many administrative procedures, required in a legal test, are not needed. A legal test costs $420. The laboratory testing process itself is of the same quality and accuracy. Please visit our Laboratory page to learn more.

You can order online or call 1-888-362-9814 to start the testing process. With only a $20 deposit, we will send you a free DNA sample collection kit. After collecting the cheek samples, simply send them back with your payment.