Frequently Asked Questions

The difference between a peace of mind case and legal case is the "witnessing" of the samples and the paper trail that is behind the testing. As the legal cases are required by the court or Government Departments, we need to make certain that the samples are from the correct person. The doctor or witnessing party will review photo identification and associated paperwork before placing into a tamper proof bag. This assures the appropriate court/authority that the samples are coming from the correct individuals and is a mandatory requirement. Samples collected for Australian legal purposes must be collected in accordance with the Family Law Act Regulations 1975 and NATA (National Association of Testing Authorties). 

Non legal tests are for the individuals peace of mind only. They have the convenience of taking their samples privately at home and returning them for testing. The lab cannot verify the identities of the donors. The testing process has the same quality and is just as accurate as a legal test.  

DNA testing can be done to establish biological relationships when a Will is challenged. Also, with the clients consent, allele sizing can be done prior to death and stored at the laboratory. These samples can potentially be used if a relationship is contested and is required as evidence in a court of law. This is typically used for people who are high profile, wealthy or fear their wishes will be challenged after death. Samples for post mortem testing, DNA reconstruction, Grand parentage testing and Siblingship studies can be done to also establish biological relationships. 

If one party is deceased or unavailable, other family members can provide a DNA sample to help reconstruct the DNA the person in question could have contributed. Multiple family members are necessary that are parents, full or half siblings or children of the person in question. The cost of the reconstruction is dependent on the number of family members available for testing. DNA Bioservices should be consulted for further questions regarding reconstruction testing. 

Paternity testing to accurately identify birth fathers is becoming more common request by adoptive professionals and parents to solidify the proceedings. Although adoptions processes vary efforts to locate birth fathers for parental relinquishments has become a higher priority since the publicised cases such as the Baby Richard case. The paternity testing serves as proof that the accurate birth Father or Mother has been located and is participatory in the proceedings. Medical advances in linking biological causes for diseases and serious medical conditions also encourage the need to identify the birth father. Without the birth father's identification, half the child's medical information is unknown and may not be traceable at a later date when needed. 

A NATA accredited facility is required to demonstrate to an independent, expert assessment team that the facility has all the elements in place to deliver a competent testing or inspection service. It must also demonstrate that it has the systems in place to ensure ongoing compliance with NATA's requirements.

Once NATA accredited, the laboratory is re-evaluated periodically to ensure its continued compliance with requirements, and to check that its standard of operation is being maintained. The laboratory may also be required to participate in relevant proficiency testing programs between reassessments, as a further demonstration of continuing technical competence.

By choosing a NATA accredited testing facility you can be assured that your tests have gone through strict testing process and will deliver accurate results 

A Standard Paternity Test Case costs from as little as $295 AUD

Legal NATA DNA tests start from $595 AUD

Complex Reconstrcution cases can cost slightly more.

Please call 1300 768 428 to find information and costing on each individual test. 

Payment can be completed on-line and we will send a DNA kit the same day to the address provided. You may prefer to pay when you have collected the samples first. You are welcome to visit one of our city distribution offices where you can pick up a kit without charge and then return your samples in the post to our Adelaide office with your credit card details, a Cheque, Money Order or you may decide to pay by direct deposit. Please quote your reference number (on the swab envelopes and cover letter) as a transaction description. You may prefer to call our office and arrange payment over the phone before your post your samples to us.

Account Name: DNA Bioservices
Bank: Commonwealth Bank
BSB: 066-125
Account: 10328599

If you prefer to pay the total amount as a payment plan and interest free, please refer to our link regarding ZipPay. 

We also accept APPLEPAY, GOOGLE PAY and PayPal

All reports are sent via email and are password protected for privacy.

We advise you call our office if you have any special instructions in regards to delivery requirements. There is an additional fee for any posted reports.  

Each alleged father is assumed to have a prior probability of being the father equal to 50% (50/50) chance before the testing is completed. The paternity index {PI} for each probe used is a likelihood ratio and is defined as the probability that the alleged father contributed the necessary DNA to the child divided by the probability that a random man contributed the necessary DNA to a child. The PI's for all the probes used are then multiplied together to give a combined paternity index (CPI) value. The probability of paternity (POP) is defined as 1 / (1 +1/CPI) and is multiplied by 100 to give a percentage. If an alleged fathers DNA pattern does not match the child's, then the PI for that probe is 0. 

COVID19 continues to impact all of us, from how people work to how we conduct our daily lives.

Please be aware DNA Bioservices estimate 5-10 business days on receipt of samples for result. This is still achieved in the majority of cases, however, some tests may take slightly longer than anticipated.

DNA Bioservices will process samples as quickly as possible in the order they were received. Clients will receive and email notification when the laboratory has provided an estimated due date for results.

Our team will do everything possible to keep all work on time.

We appreciate your patience and understanding.

NO. As a matter of fact, Motherless testing is a very common procedure. Without a sample from the Mother, testing is done by comparing the DNA of the child to that of the alleged Father and the accuracy is guaranteed to be above 99.9%. It is optional to include the Mother’s sample.

Testing can be performed at any age after the baby is born. We also offer a Pre-Natal NON invasive paternity test. This can be conducted before the child is born from 8 weeks gestation and has the same accuracy as a paternity test conducted after the baby is born.

NO. DNA can be taken by cheek cells which are found in saliva.

There is no need to be concerned over making mistakes. Our only concern is ensuring that enough cells are collected for testing. As long as you are collecting a sample from the appropriate person and are labelling the specimens correctly, there is no way that you could do anything to affect the DNA testing. Full instructions can be found on the back of the DNA collection kit.

Yes, we often have customers conducting part of the test in one country and the remainder of the test in another. In this instance please request that a kit with the same serial number gets sent to both locations.

A buccal (pronounced buckle) swab looks like a long Q-tip. The head of the swab is firmer than the head of a regular cotton swab. This enables the surface cells of the cheek to be rubbed off with ease. The swab is found within the actual collection kit.

No. The testing kit contains buccal swabs, which you rub on the inside of the cheek to gather cheek cells. These cheek cells contain DNA. There are no needles involved; this is painless and non-invasive.

Not at all, the DNA in your cheek cells is the same DNA as in your blood. If mouth swabs cannot be obtained from the donor, we can accept non standard samples such as earwax on cotton tips, toothbrushes, finger nails and toe nail clippings. Please call our office if you are considering another type of sample rather than a mouth swab.

Yes. however we would prefer you obtained our swabs as they are sterile cotton tipped, polyester and dacron coated and designed specifically for DNA swab collections. These swabs are constructed to aid exfoliation of the cheek cells and they dry quicker and more efficiently than standard cotton tips purchased from your local pharmacy. Should you have no other choice but to use pharmacy purchased cotton tips, please call us to discuss your situation in more detail.

As long as the swabs are allowed to dry, they should be ok. There is no guarantee that they will yield a viable sample, however there is also no technical expiry date on the sample. If the samples are sealed and not allowed to dry, mould will more than likely continue to grow on the swabs and destroy the sample.

DNA Paternity Testing is 100% conclusive.

DNA testing from a scientific perspective provides results of 99.99% confirming that a biological relationship exists this is called an inclusion.

DNA testing from a scientific perspective provides results of 100% confirming that a biological relationship does not exist, this is called an exclusion. 

The Gene Pool is all of the genetic information potentially available to an individual. Each person received half of their genetic information from their mother and half from their father. By testing a mother, child, and alleged father, we can account for the genetic information contributed to the child from the biological mother. The remaining half of the child's genetic information must come from the biological father. By comparing the DNA pattern from the child with the alleged father, we can determine if the alleged father is the biological father of the child. 

Genes are composed of four chemicals (nucleotides) called adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. The order of these nucleotides determines the genetic sequence. In a mutation, one or a few of these nucleotides are changed or missing in a sequence. Any testing individual can have a mutation. If a mutation occurs in an area of the DNA that is being used for DNA testing, the result will be not match between the mother and the child, or a child and alleged father. The results in a single exclusion with one probe and the two individuals will match on all remaining probes used in the testing. When a mutation is suspected, additional probes are used in the testing to confirm a mutation has occurred and not exclusion. The calculating of the PI and POP includes the mutation frequency of that particular probe. Exclusions are confirmed in DNA testing after two mismatches are seen.
* Standard testing is 5-10 days. If a mutation is observed this will delay testing for up to 4 business days. 

Several Options are possible. If the person is deceased, a viable DNA sample maybe in storage if an autopsy was performed and the coroner kept the samples. A viable sample may exist if prior to death, if tissue was taken for analysis by the hospital or the laboratory. In Australia the hospitals hold this sample for a considerable period of time and the executor to the estate has the ability to request the sample for further analysis. If no sample exists then family members such as parents, siblings and children of the deceased can submit DNA samples for several types of analysis 

Some cases require additional report copies for family members. 

The Paternity Index or PI gives the odds that the alleged father with a matching allele is the biological father of the tested child. The frequency of each DNA segment (allele) in the human population varies depending on the size of the allele and the race of the alleged father. The prevalence of allele sizes differs from race to race which makes knowing the race of the alleged father important for statistical analysis. Databases are available for Caucasian, Black, Hispanic and Asian races. If the race is not certain, we will use the lowest PI of all available races. This is a conservative approach for calculating the probability of paternity, The frequency of an allele is determined by how many individuals in that database have an allele size, divided by the total number of individuals in the database. The result frequency is used to calculate the PI. 

Grandparents are a great option for testing if the alleged parent is unavailable. The grandparents contributed all the genes to their child, the alleged parent. Thus the grandparents will match their grandchild with the same accuracy as the alleged parent. 

If the alleged Father is not available for testing but has known children, those children could be tested with the child in question to determine if they are full or half siblings or unrelated. The mother or mothers of the tested children are also requested to submit a DNA sample if they are available. This provides the lab team with additional DNA evidence which will support the case greatly. 

Similar to the procedure for Paternity Testing, the alleged mother is tested along with the child in question. Recent publicised cases of babies switched at birth have necessitated implementation of procedures in the event this should occur. By comparing the DNA pattern of the child with the alleged mother, we can determine if the alleged mother is the biological mother of the child. DNA Maternity testing may also be ordered in adoption and immigration cases in the effort to establish the biological mother.