Accuracy of DNA Tests for Paternity
Jan 17th 2009Guest AuthorBabies
THIS CANNOT BE RIGHT!!!
My childs paternity test has to be wrong. How is this possible?
There are no government regulations for performing paternity testing. One company issues tests that say my baby, yes or my baby, no. There is no genetic information provided and no indication that they actually performed testing. Heads he is yours and tales he isnt. Who knows how they determine paternity. You cant tell from their report if a DNA test was performed.
You can also obtain a test result from the blood of an expectant mother. The test is not accurate and is extremely unreliable, but if you are willing to give the company about $1,000 then they are willing to give you an answer. It is very likely to be the wrong answer, but you will have an answer. Even when a mother, child and alleged father are tested, we have come across incorrect tests from this company. They have been providing unreliable and incorrect test results for more than 6 years. It is unlikely that they will stop anytime soon.
The agency that accredits paternity laboratories is the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). Accreditation is voluntary. It is not necessary to be accredited in order to perform a paternity test. In fact, if you look on the internet, it will appear that nearly everyone advertising is AABB accredited. It is not true. There are only about 40 accredited labs in the United States. Anyone can say they are accredited even if they are not. The only way to determine if a laboratory is accredited is to check the AABB website at www.aabb.org for their list of accredited laboratories.
AABB accreditation does not guarantee a correct result. AABB simply determines that a laboratory follows acceptable procedures in testing and tests to a bare minimum level of discrimination. The precautions and levels of testing beyond that are left up to each individual laboratory.
It is very possible to obtain an incorrect result when testing with an unaccredited laboratory and even the largest accredited laboratory touts a handful of incorrect results per year. Some AABB accredited laboratories go to great lengths to ensure the correct result on each and every test while other meet the bare minimum paternity testing standards set by AABB.
Many of the companies that advertise on the internet are not laboratories at all. They may have pretty laboratory pictures and proclaim the most expertise in the field while they sit at home on their computer and collect your money. If a laboratory is not on the AABB accredited laboratory list, you do not have assurance that you even had a paternity test.
An incorrect paternity test may be the result of fraud, poor laboratory procedures, or inadequate amounts of testing. DNA test results are only as reliable as the laboratory performing the test.
The best way to protect against an incorrect test is to utilize an AABB accredited laboratory that guarantees high levels of discrimination. If you have received what you believe to be an incorrect results, you should have a second test. The test should be performed by an AABB accredited laboratory that guarantees results.
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