DNA Maternity Test

A DNA maternity test is a DNA test used to determine if an alleged mother is the mother of a child. DNA tests are commonly used in legal proceedings as well as in case of hospital mix ups, and other issues.

A maternity test only concerns a mother, a father who needs to undergo parental testing undergo's a paternity test. This are basically the same thing. They are painless, and relatively simple to do. The child, and the alleged mother use a swab to pick up a bit of their saliva from their mouth, and then they put these swaps in separate envelops provided by the lab. This envelops may need to be filled out with certain information, and then someone mails this to the DNA lab. The lab then looks for matches based on the DNA strand of each individual. Parental DNA is almost identical to their child's DNA, so the test is incredibly accurate. There is less that .1% chance of a test coming back incorrectly.

In the case of legal proceedings the test is normally supervised to ensure that the alleged parent uses their saliva.

Unfortunately if a test comes back incorrectly, it is unlikely that anyone will ever know. In the future, if the child is young when the first DNA test is done, they may decide to get another one done when they are older. It must be kept in mind that unless a court orders a DNA test, then DNA tests are voluntary for parents. If a child is a minor they may not be able to refuse a DNA test, but that varies depending on the location, and country one is in.

The majority of DNA tests are ordered by a court of law. This is normally for legal issues regarding custody of a child. It is more rare for a mother to not be the mother because of hospital records. Therefore while the majority of DNA tests are ordered for legal reasons, that is not really true when it comes to maternity tests. Often, maternity tests are taken when there is thought to have been a mix up at the hospital at birth, or if the father thinks he may not be the father.

While a hospital sending the wrong baby home with parents is extremely rare, it can still happen, and as the child grows older they may look absolutely nothing like the parents. This is often when parents decide to do a DNA test. Paternity tests are normally the first DNA test taken, because it is more common for a child to not be the fathers. However many times a mother, who knows she did not cheat, will also take a DNA maternity test to prove her innocence, and many times this is when it is revealed that their was a mix up at the hospital.

Maternity tests may also be used to determine a biological mother in the case of adoption. This is voluntary on the part of the mother, and child.

DNA maternity tests are useful to many individuals, and are a reliable, almost fool proof way to determine parentage.