Can Grandparents Get a DNA Test Done on a Child to Determine Paternity?

Some of today's most popular daytime television shows feature DNA testing to determine the paternity of a child. Child support cases are often decided based on DNA tests of a father in question. In cases where the mother is unsure, the father and the child are tested and their DNA sample compared. However, there are instances where the father is not available (unknown, incarcerated or deceased) and the grandparents want to know if the child is their son's offspring. In those cases, there are DNA tests that can determine the actual paternity of the child by comparing the child's DNA with one or both of the paternal grandparents' DNA.

  1. DNA Sharing

    • Each person's DNA is made up of equal contributions from each parent. When a man has a child, half of the child's DNA comes from him, which means that his parents' have also contributed their DNA to the child.

    Test Method

    • Cheek swabs must be performed on all of the people involved. The samples may be collected in person by a professional at the laboratory, or the participants may conduct the sample collection themselves and send them in to the lab. If the test results are to be used for legal purposes, the samples must be collected by professionals.

    Grandparent Testing

    • The grandparent DNA test can be conducted with the mother, evaluating the samples and eliminating her half of the DNA, or without her, analyzing possible shared DNA between the child and the grandparents. The test can be fairly quick when the mother participates, but will take additional time when the test only involves the child and the potential grandparents. Also, a DNA test can be conducted with the maternal grandparents when the mother is unavailable to determine the maternal grandparents' biological connection to the child.

    Participants

    • While the best test conditions will involved both grandparents, it is possible to conduct a paternity test with only the child and one grandparent. While the DNA results conclude that the grandparents are included in the shared DNA (greater than 90 percent) or excluded from being the grandparents (less than 15 percent), the results can be more accurate when both grandparents are tested.

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