As you saw on tonight's episode of "16 and Pregnant," Christinna and Isiah were pretty devoted to their baby, Destiny--but Isiah’s family wasn’t convinced he’s the father, and they wanted a DNA test to prove it.
We’ve all heard about DNA tests and using them to figure out who the father is (Maury Povich, anyone?), but do you know how they actually work? Here are some answers from Identigene, the home paternity test Isiah’s family bought for Christinna. You can also find out more at their website, www.dnatesting.com.
The home test that you get at the drugstore comes with three packets of swabs--one for the baby’s cheek, another for the mother’s cheek and another for the alleged father’s cheek. Each swab needs to be scraped inside that person’s mouth and then put into the provided envelopes to be sent back to the testing company. The scraping doesn’t take long, doesn’t hurt and it’s safe, even for infants. The testing company strongly suggests that mothers be tested to increase the likelihood of conclusive test results. In order for a test result to be considered “conclusive,” it needs to be more than 99%: 98% might be an “A” on a test at school, but it isn’t good enough for a paternity test.
Once the swabbing is done and everything is sent off to the DNA testing company (and received by them), it takes about three to five business days to get results. You get them over the phone or online using a password that you set up on your order form.
If the alleged father isn’t available to be tested, relatives of the father can be tested instead. Remember when Farrah did that on "Teen Mom" because Sophia’s father had died before she was born? That requires a different kind of DNA test kit.
When you buy the test, which you can get at various drugstores, you pay about $30. In order to get the results, you’ll have to pay an additional $120. If you want to upgrade to a “legal paternity test,” meaning that it is admissible in court for matters of child support, paternity, divorce, etc., it costs about $250 more.
--Written by Amy Kramer of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
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Tags 16 and Pregnant's Christinna, 16 and Pregnant's Isiah
