The painter Salvador Dali was exhumed for a paternity DNA test as tarot card reader Maria Pilar Abel Martinez won a court ruling in Madrid after claiming her mother had an affair with Dali. We can only muse on how the surrealist Dali would have felt about being exhumed for a paternity test, 20 years after his death, being asexual and believing himself to be impotent. Surreal indeed.
The DNA test has, of course, all been made possible by the availability of DNA technology to determine biological relationships, with accredited DNA testing laboratories delivering resolution to thousands of families on this most important of matters.
I am considering a DNA test—what do I need?
For paternity, a DNA test can either be for your own personal information or for a legal purpose, such as changing a birth certificate. Which test you choose depends upon your personal circumstances.
For example, cheek cell samples may be taken from the mouth using a cotton swab. The DNA is then extracted and put through a matching process against, for example, the alleged father. If regions of DNA are shared, data is used to calculate if the pair are related to each other or not.
In the UK, all adults participating in a DNA test must give their consent—this isn’t like the movies where you can steal some hair and perform the test in secret! For a child under the age of 16, then an individual with parental responsibility (usually the mother) can consent on the child’s behalf.
A child is made up of half mum and half dad, but the problem is that it is difficult to tell precisely which half is which. Having the mums DNA greatly helps with the calculations, enabling a more conclusive result. By eliminating mum’s DNA contribution, the rest of the DNA must come from dad. Indeed, for legal purposes the mother is strongly recommended to take part in the DNA test.
A DNA test can also be done to check other biological relationships, such as siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Cousins are however, a step too far and DNA tests are often far from conclusive in this instance.
dadchecksilver is a brand of the long-established Complement Genomics Ltd providing DNA testing services for over 15 years. At dadcheck, paternity tests prove with 100 percent certainty if the tested man is not the biological father of the tested child and conversely, proves with up to 99.99 percent certainty if the tested man is indeed the biological father of the tested child. You can find out the father of a child in as little as two working days from the day on which the samples are received. To find out more information or to order a DNA test please contact us on 0191 543 6434, email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or visit our website dadchecksilver.com.
