Tricks for Optimal Paternity Testing

What many people know of paternity testing today consists of buccal swabs (cotton-bud like swabs, rubbed against the inside of the cheek) to gain DNA, which are then sent off to a laboratory in the post. Legal paternity testing, on the other hand, is a little different. There is no way for the government to ensure that a paternity test of this kind, carried out at home, has been carried out on the potential father and child in question. In order to eradicate confounding evidence the test must be carried out in the presence of a medical professional, who can vouch (legally) that the results are reliable.The main premise of legal paternity testing is that a legal or medical professional is present when the sample is taken, so that the court can be sure that the right individuals are being tested. This procedure is known as the 'Chain of Custody'. Once the samples are sent to a lab they can be tested inclusively, I.E. they can indicate the likelihood that a man is the father of a child, or they can be tested exclusively, I.E. to prove that a man is not the father of a child.