What will the dadcheck®gold paternity report say?

All adult parties taking part in the test are entitled to receive their own copy of the test report. All original reports are sent to the contracting party for distribution. The reports are in a standardised format, which complies with relevant legislation* and either excludes the alleged father or provides evidence that he is indeed the tested child’s biological parent.  

If the dadcheck®gold paternity test is negative (that is, the tested man is not the child’s biological father), the report will say: ‘Based on the analysis of 23 independent autosomal DNA markers, Mr John Smith has been excluded as the biological father of Teresa Green because greater than two of Mr John Smith’s DNA components are absent from the DNA profile of Teresa Green. In summary, Mr John Smith is not the biological father of the child, Teresa Green’.  

If the dadcheck®gold paternity test is positive (that is, the tested man is likely to be the father), the report will say: The probability of paternity is 99.999% (assuming equal prior odds) based on the analysis of 23 independent DNA markers. Hence the alleged father, Mr John Smith, cannot be excluded as the biological father of Teresa Green. The DNA results are ‘X’** thousand times more likely if Mr John Smith rather than an unrelated male is the biological father of Teresa Green. In summary it is more than 99% likely that the alleged father Mr John Smith, is the biological father of Teresa Green’.  

* The Family Law Reform Act 1969 as amended by The Family Law Reform Act 1987 and The Family Law Reform Act 1987 (commencement No.3) order 2001 and The Children Act 1989.  

**The value of ‘X’ will vary between cases but will usually exceed 50,000. In the case of two children being tested in the same case, the DNA test results can be different between the two children. This is not cause for concern, since unless they are identical twins, they will not inherit the same DNA markers from either parent.