A DNA paternity test involves essentially 3 steps:
1. SPECIMEN COLLECTION
Court Ready - Once we have received your order, our Scheduling Department will contact all tested parties to arrange for a specimen collection appointment at one of our 500 convenient specimen collection sites. We will also try to find an alternative site if our current collection sites are not convenient for you.
Tested parties will need to bring the following to their appointment:
- Government issued photo identification for all adult parties (e.g. driver’s licence or passport)
- Government issued identification for the child (e.g. birth certificate) if available
The cheek swab samples are obtained by rubbing long cotton-tipped applicators around the inside of the mouth of each party to be tested. The procedure is painless and takes less than 2 minutes per person.
Curiosity – Once we have received your order, we will send specimen collection kits to each party indicated on the application form. Specimen Collection Instructions will be provided with the kits. There is no extensive chain of custody procedure to follow because the test is being conducted for the client’s own knowledge and does not need to be accepted in court. The cheek swab samples are obtained by rubbing long cotton-tipped applicators around the inside of the mouth of each party to be tested. The procedure is painless and takes less than 2 minutes per person. Once the samples have been collected, the clients send the kits back to Orchid Cellmark in the packaging provided with the kits.
2. LABORATORY TESTING
Once the samples are received by our laboratory and payment is made in full, the following steps occur:
- Samples are assigned a unique bar code and are logged into our laboratory database
- Samples and paperwork are examined for completeness
- Samples are analyzed
- DNA profiles are triple checked
- Reports are generated
- Final report is verified and signed by a doctoral Laboratory Director
3. DISTRIBUTION OF RESULTS
Upon completion of the test, results will be distributed to the tested parties and/or their lawyers or ministry workers by mail