We’ve had a few people ask us when our 2010 full year statistics will come out… and the answer is in the next week.
Keep an eye on this blog and we’ll publish the results as soon as they are finalised.
Regards,
-PaternityLab.co.uk
Frequently Asked Questions
The Team at PaternityLab.co.uk has put together a list of the most Frequently Asked Questions:
1 How accurate are PaternityLab.co.uk’s DNA Test?
2 Do PaternityLab.co.uk prices include shipping and taxes?
3 What is the difference between Home DNA Test vs. Legal DNA Test?
4 What is the difference between Home DNA Test vs. Legal DNA Test?
5 How many children does a standard DNA Paternity Test cover?
6 How old does my child have to be for testing to work?
7 How do I get a test to cover both parents (i.e. for an adopted child to find their parents)?
8 I want a Paternity Test for multiple children, how do I order it and how much will it cost?
9 I want a grandparentage test, who do I need samples from?
10 What accreditations does PaternityLab.co.uk have?
11 Can I do a Home DNA Paternity Test with a hair sample or equivalent?
12 What is a DNA Ancestry Test?
13 My suspected father is dead but his brother is alive, is a sample from us two enough to see if he was my father?
14 Once I have collected a sample how long do I have before it is too late to send it in?
15 You mention that siblingship tests are more accurate if a sample is available from the mother too. Is there an extra cost for this?
16 Is it possible to carry out a grandparentage test with a sample from only one grandparent?
17 Is it possible to carry out a grandparentage test with samples from both grandparents but none from a parent?
PaternityLab.co.uk performs every DNA test twice, eliminating the possibility of laboratory error, thus ensuring 100% accurate results.
When the samples for a test arrive at our laboratory, they are carefully split into two groups for independent testing by two separate teams. Each team runs the samples through every step in the DNA testing process, carefully recording the steps as they go.
When the two tests are completed, one of our laboratory directors compares the results to ensure they match. This built-in double-checking process helps rule out false results.
YES! It really is that simple! All of PaternityLab.co.uk’s prices include all shipping costs and taxes. There simply are no hidden costs!
A Home DNA Test is one where the tested parties collect samples themsleves at home (or any other location of their convenience) and send in the samples to a Laboratory who give them the results.
PaternityLab.co.uk sends you all the equipment you need, you send us back the samples and we send/email/fax you back the results. As simple as that!
The DNA analysis carried out on a sample is identical in the Home DNA Tests and Legal DNA Tests.
So what is the difference between the two and why is there such a price difference?
For a DNA Test to be considered legal and permissable in court, it requires proven chain of custody. As a result a verified independant 3rd party must collect the sample and verify the government issued identificaion of each tested party.
As a result the test must be taken in a laboratory.
A standard Home DNA Paternity Test covers 1 parent and 1 child.
Your child must be at least 1 week old before you take a sample.
You need to order the Home DNA Paternity and Maternity Test.
You can add as many children as you’d like to the standard Home DNA Paternity Test. For example if you want a test for 1 adult and 3 children you need to order 1 x ‘Home DNA Paternity Test‘ and 2 x ‘Home DNA Paternity Test – Additional Child‘.
This will cost =£327 (1 x £129) + (2 x £99)
For a paternal grandparentage test you ideally need a sample from the child, the child’s mother, and the father’s parents. If there is no sample from the mother, this test is still possible but will take longer.
For a maternal grandparentage test you ideally need a sample from the child, the child’s father, and the mother’s parents. If there is no sample from the father, this test is still possible but will take longer.
Our Labortory is the only DNA lab to achieve 16 perfect ratings in quality inspections by accreditation bodies.
Click here to see more details
No. Samples must be in the form of cheek (buccal) swabs using the kit that we will send you.
We have a page dedicated to explaining these tests, click here to see. These tests are currently unavailable
By taking a Paternal Lineage Test you can see if you and another male relative are related through your paternal (father’s side of the family) lineage. This test will not confirmed if the deceased party was the father (it could have been a thrid brother) but it will show that you are directly related.
If you take the sample and seal in the supplied enveloped as instructed your sample can be used upto six months after you have taken it.
There is no additional cost for including a sample from the mother in a siblingship test.
PaternityLab.co.uk does not offer a single grandparentage test. Our laboratory has found that this testing is inconclusive on a large amount of cases.
A grandparentage test with both grandparents can be as conclusive as a paternity test – 99% or higher (or 0%). We have
looked into offering this option but we don’t have a time frame as to when we will begin offering this test.
Is there anyway to get an incorrect result?
At PaternityLab.co.uk we often get asked if there is anyway to get an incorrect Home DNA result.
The answer is generally no but there is one exception we can think of.
What do we mean by no?
The result will only be produced if both tests we run from your samples match exactly. If they don’t we ask you for new samples till we can give a result. So we can verify if your samples are good to test and what the result is.
What we can’t verify is…. who your samples are from. As it’s a home test we can’t verify the samples came from who they said the did.
What our results show is: ‘is the father sample the father of the child sample?‘ Not if you are the father of your child.
So what is the exemption?
One exemption we can think of is with a half siblingship test. If two identical twin siblings have a child each and those children who are cousins are tested to see if they are half-siblings, the results would not necessarily come back negative as both cousins have come from genetically identical twins.
2010 Mid-Year Statistics of Home DNA Test Results
The 2010 Mid-Year Statistics for PaternityLab.co.uk ‘s Home DNA Tests are in:
“1 in 3 tested are NOT the father”. 34.55% of Home DNA Paternity Test carried out by PaternityLab.co.uk have been negative*.
“There have been NO succesful grandchild results”. 00.00% of Home DNA Grand Parentage Test carried out by PaternityLab.co.uk have been negative*.
“3 out 4 tested are NOT the siblings”. 74.89% of Home DNA Siblinghship Test carried out by PaternityLab.co.uk have been negative*.
* Results pertain to tests taken between December 2009 and July 2010
Why to be wary of £99 DNA Sites
Be wary of companies that offer £99 DNA tests. These companies offer services that are too good to be true. We have had a number of customers come to us after first trying a £99 site. In order to avoid wasting any of your money and to become a savvy Home DNA test customer, be watchful for the following 5 price-cutting tactics by £99 DNA testing companies:
1 Hidden Costs
2 Unqualified / Inexperienced Staff
3 No focus on Paternity Testing
4 Fake or Missing Contact Details
5 Fancy site with no substance
£99 DNA sites are notorious for their hidden fees. You pay for:
- Fees to recieve the kit. Some sites will charge you up to £5 to recieve the kit within 10 business day and £25 to recieve your kit within 4 business days. PaternityLab.co.uk send you the kit Royal Mail first class on either 4pm on the day of your order or 9am the following day. No wait and no fee.
- Fees to recieve your result quicker. Some sites standard fee gives you your result in 10 business days and if you want it any sooner, you have to pay extra. PaternityLab.co.uk sends you your result 3 business days after the test begins;
- You have to pay to send the kit back. Some sites do not provide stamp address envelopes. They expect you to send the kit back to their lab at your own cost. Most of these sites laboratories are based in Canada or Germany, leaving you with a very expensive surprise! All PaternityLab.co.uk orders come with a stamp addressed envelope to our UK address at no extra cost;
- Pay extra for postal results. Some sites charge you more if you’d like a postal and email result. PaternityLab.co.uk offers you free postal and email results;
- Pay extra for the result. The sites which charge very low fees for their kits, then charge you 10x more for the result. PaternityLab.co.uk‘s kits are a total cost.
There are many ways in which they hit you with hidden fees. PaternityLab.co.uk outlines all costs upfront to its clients. We qoute a single final cost that includes all taxes, costs of kits and postage costs, it’s the TOTAL cost of a test and not a penny more… PaternityLab.co.uk is one of the most experienced DNA testing companies in the world. Our laboratory staff have a wealth of experience in genetics and biotechnology and are regularly called upon as ‘subject matter experts’ in legal cases.
£99 DNA sites keep their costs low by using staff with minimial experience or in some cases unqualified university students.
Some Laboratories run Home DNA testing as a side business or ‘experiment’. They do not have experienced call centre and customer services staff and have no experience in e-commerce.
As a result they may not adhere to the required standards of a Paternity Lab, offer you little or no customer services and put your details at risk by not using a fully secure site.
- Solely performs Home DNA Tests;
- Has a dedicated customer services phoneline;
- Gives you a personal login to track your order;
- Has a dedicated 256bit SSL certificate; and
- Uses the same credit card transaction system as sites such as Boots and Amazon.
Some £99 DNA sites are ‘bedroom operations’. They show fake contact details, only a mobile phone number or sometimes just a PO Box address. PaternityLab.co.uk is proud to show it’s contact details as well our operating hours. If you have a question, use our contact form or give us a call.
Most £99 sites are actually run by a single person out of their home. They have paid for a professional web designer to design a their site, in order to potray themselves as something they are not. In the majority of cases they will ask for you to send your samples back to a private residence or P.O.Box. From here they will send your samples on to a laboratory in Canada or Germany. As a result it may take a very long time to get your results and they are at the mercy of a number of international postal services.
Also be vary careful when making payments on £99 sites. Most of them can not handle online transactions and ask you to fill out email forms on the site with your credit card details. Do not do this. Make sure the site has a real card transaction capability and that it is SSL secure too (on the payment page look for the padlock logo in the address bar).
Deal with £99 sites at your own risk!