Homemade DNA test: the low cost paternity test boom

Many men, more than they think, live months and even years with a doubt that eats them up inside: is my son really my son? But exposure, suffering, possible fights or the discovery of infidelity come between all those dubious parents and the truth.

However, in Spain, few discovered a few years ago that the number of parents with doubts was so large, that the birth of a big business could be seen in that group. This country is currently experiencing an explosion of consumption of homemade DNA tests that are, within everything, reliable, accessible and, most importantly, anonymous.

The studies required by the Spanish justice system and carried out through the laboratories of the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences require a record of data and a bureaucratic process that can be stressful. CeFeGen's alternative-the clinical diagnostic center offered by this successful system-is accessible via the internet or by phone. It is enough to place the order in order to receive quickly a kit that clears with a reliability close to 99.99 percent doubts about an effective or false fatherhood. The package includes only a few swabs, instructions and a form to fill out that does not require information or personal data.

According to the companies engaged in this business, sales of these kits have skyrocketed in recent years due to the progressive lowering of the prices of these services, compared to previous years. The cost is currently 200 euros, half of what it used to be worth a decade ago.

How is the test?

"what's homemade is taking the sample," said Mercedes Alemañ-Romero, the manager and technical director of CeFeGen, a center that recorded a 20 percent increase in sales over the past year. "but the test itself is done in the laboratory," he said, where the DNA of the samples provided is analyzed to establish whether or not there is kinship.

Alemaño explained that this type of test has the same reliability as a test of legal validity because the procedure "is identical". The person concerned simply receives four swabs-two for the child and two for the father-which are rubbed on the inner face of the left and right cheek respectively for 20 seconds. After sending the samples, within about one week the result reaches the email of the person concerned. And the truth is discovered.

Although the most common analysis is done through saliva, there are special cases. "it may happen that a parent doesn't want his son, who is a little older, to know that he wanted to take the test," Alemaña said. In this case, the alternative may be nail clippings, root torn hair, gum, a pacifier, nasal discharge, or unwashed underwear. Alemañe said that you can get a profile "almost anything that contains a biological remainder".

In the last nine years, those who run this business have known all kinds of stories: most are parents of young children, mobilized by their own distrust or forced by distrust of their relatives. 80 percent of those who come to CeFeGen only seek to clear up doubts, and between 85 and 90 percent walk out the door with confirmed paternity. "there are times when they leave very happy and there are times when they leave very sad, regardless of the outcome," Alemaño explained.

Is it legal?

Despite the successful sales of this type of examination, specialized lawyers in Spain warn of the legal uses of the results. In cases where the result reveals that there is no genetic link and the father in question decides to take legal action against the biological mother to be exempted from the payment of the maintenance fee, for example, the evidence cannot be of the "household" type. In order for the evidence to be accepted in a trial, "the chain of custody of the sample" must be guaranteed, that is, the journey from the sampling to the delivery to the laboratory, which must be authorized by the Ministry of Justice for this purpose.

Read more:

La descendencia bajo la lupa: un test genético previene 600 enfermedades hereditariasBiopsia líquida: por qué este test se convierte en la mejor espada contra el cáncerUn test de orina revela si una dieta es saludable