Why Don’t We Offer Prenatal Paternity Testing Yet?
For over 25 years, PaternityUSA has provided accurate and reliable DNA testing via an AABB-accredited and CLIA-certified lab. These tests analyze up to 46 genetic markers, which is far more than the industry standard of 16–22, and deliver results with 99.99%+ accuracy for postnatal paternity, maternity, sibling, grandparent, and other tests. At PaternityUSA we prioritize privacy and court-admissibility when needed, but above all, we prioritize the emotional well-being of the clients we serve.
That's why, unlike competitors, we do not yet offer non-invasive prenatal paternity testing (NIPP or NIPPT), which is a blood-based test performed during a women’s pregnancy.
Challenges of Prenatal Paternity Testing
In a non-invasive prenatal paternity test, cell-free fetal DNA circulating in the mother's blood is analyzed as early as 7–9 weeks of pregnancy. This technology has advanced significantly, and it does offer a safer alternative to older invasive methods such as amniocentesis CSV, which carry a small risk of miscarriage.
However, the science is still not yet perfected, and so it’s not yet as consistently reliable as postnatal testing such as that of a paternity test.
Key challenges:
- Low Fetal DNA Fraction — Only about 10–20% of the total cell-free DNA in maternal blood typically makes up the fetal DNA. Often the "fetal fraction" is just too low to be effective. This is particularly common earlier in pregnancy or due to various factors such as the mother’s weight or the way the sample was handled. These factors can cause inconclusive results, false negatives, and/or a reduced confidence in the results.
- Technical and Biological Variables — Issues where the placental DNA differs slightly from fetal DNA (placental mosaicism), contamination of samples, or in some cases lab processing errors can produce false results occasionally. Simply stated, the prenatal test results differ from confirmed postnatal paternity test results which are always much more reliable.
- Real-World Reports of Errors — Although lab errors are very rare in top-tier AABB accredited labs, there have been documented cases of false prenatal paternity results, particularly from non-accredited providers. Unfortunately, these errors can cause profound emotional distress, strain relationships, and in some extreme cases, irreversible decisions like abortion. We simply believe that no family should face that risk when more proven postnatal testing options exist.
By contrast, postnatal paternity tests use a direct cheek swab sample from the child and alleged father. Therefore, they avoid the complexities of maternal-fetal DNA mixing and in doing so consistently provide a near-perfect accuracy of 99.99%.
Our Commitment
We closely monitor scientific developments and ongoing research methods of improving the fetal fraction analysis and SNP-based methods. When prenatal paternity testing reaches the same level of reliability and consistency as our postnatal paternity tests, we will consider adding pre-natal tests to our array of relational DNA tests. By doing so, we avoid the potential for heartbreaking errors caused by this still emerging technology.
Until then, we will continue to focus on what we do best: delivering accurate post birth DNA tests you can trust, whether through an at-home kit or legal chain-of-custody legal DNA test.
If you're currently pregnant and seeking answers, we highly recommend waiting until the child is born. It's simpler, more accurate, and eliminates unnecessary worry. Our team is ready to guide you through the process with compassion and expertise.
For more information regarding our tests or to discuss your situation confidentially, please call us today at (877)786-9543 or visit our shop page https://www.paternityusa.com/shop/.
