Cost of Paternity Test Kits: What You Need to Know

M. M. Day — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:52:56 +0000

If you you considering purchasing an at home or legal paternity test kit, there are some factors you need to be on the watch for to make sure you do not end up paying much more than you expected. When shopping in a retail store or even online, you may be seduced by the cost of paternity test kits advertised for as little of $20. However, these prices rarely (if ever) represent the true cost of the paternity test. The cheap price you are quoted is only for the testing materials themselves (which might involve as little as a cotton swab, mailing materials, and testing instructions). With such kits, you will end up paying more (sometimes much, much more) for the test to be processed and to obtain the results from the paternity test kit.

In order to protect yourself when purchasing a paternity test kit make sure you know what all the costs involved will be (for testing materials, processing and results). You will also want to make sure the lab is properly certified and that they have a good reputation and quick turn around for providing results from the kit. There are many excellent companies that provide cheap paternity test kits online, so with some careful comparison shopping you should be able to find a company that suits your needs. If you are needing to use your results in court, you will also need to make sure that the paternity test you choose is a legally certifiable DNA test for the state in which you live.

The cost of paternity test kits should not be excessive – most companies can provide all the testing and processing for under $300, and some will be considerably cheaper. Just make sure you know all the costs upfront so there are no unpleasant surprises later.

For more information and articles about properly selecting home DNA test kits, return to the Legal DNA Paternity Testing homepage.

Selecting Home DNA Test Kits

M. M. Day — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:01:26 +0000

There are a wide variety of home DNA test kits currently available online, and selecting the one that is best for you takes careful research and price comparison shopping with different online retailers. Although it may be tempting to purchase your home DNA test kit from the first online retailer you visit that has a good price, there are reasons you should look at at least a few different retailers before making your final selection.

Home DNA test kits are often called “direct-to-consumer” DNA tests, since they do not require a doctor’s authorization to purchase or use. Different states have different regulations regarding their purchase, so one of the first steps you need to take is to make sure that the test you want is available for the area you live.

Next you need to look at what is included in the pricing. You may be caught up $99 offers for home DNA test kits, but you need to make sure that what you are purchasing not only includes the testing equipment but also the testing results. If not, that kit will become useless to you unless you are willing to shell out often hundreds of dollars more in money to find out what the results are.

Finally, for any all home DNA test kits you need to use sensible precautions when it comes to interpreting the results you receive. For example, there are many different environmental, behavior and social influences on disease, and if you are taking a test for genetic predisposition for disease you should be sure that the company (or another source) provides reliable information on how to interpret your results given this complexity. It is because of the difficulty in understanding genetic results that many states and countries ban the use of over the counter home DNA test kits. If you have questions that the DNA test kit company cannot answer, you should go to your family practitioner or a genetic specialist to get more information.

If you are interested in learning more about home DNA test kits, including information about paternity testing kits, please return to the Legal DNA Paternity Testing information website.

Legal DNA Paternity Testing » home dna test kits

Cost of Paternity Test Kits: What You Need to Know

Selecting Home DNA Test Kits