Father and Newborn
Good question. Some men might hope so while others hope not. First off, do not make assumptions while the mother is still pregnant. Performing a paternity test while pregnant can be very expensive. Most DNA laboratories do not even perform this test. If you wait until the baby is born a DNA paternity test costs around $200.
If you don’t have $200 lying around you may find yourself staring at the baby wondering if it looks like you. I strongly discourage using physical attributes to determine who the father. Although science shows a dominant trait will always be expressed I am here to tell you there are scientific exceptions in every single case. The only way to know for sure is a paternity test.
Who says a baby has to look like the father? Mothers and fathers mesh together in ways that neither parent is recognizable in the child’s physical features. This is usually the occasion in situations where one or both the parents are overweight and the child has a normal BMI.
I have performed hundreds of paternity tests and have heard every excuse you could possibly think of to explain why a father does or does not believe the child is his. Hair color and skin color are probably the weakest argument I have come across.
Sometimes even I am surprised. Recently, two Caucasian parents came in with a child that had Hispanic features. Hair texture, color and curl were different from the parents. Skin color, jaw and eye shape also differed. The DNA showed a 99.999% probability that the child was theirs.
Although Jerry Springer and other TV shows create an exciting and entertaining situation when a paternity test is performed I want to make it very clear that this is not reality. I have never performed a paternity test and everyone was happy and in a good mood. Paternity tests come with a high level of anxiety and stress. And do not expect 99.999% to be good enough. Twice in the past month I have witnessed total abandonment of a child in situations where a paternity test resulted in a 99.999% positive result.
What should you expect when you get a paternity test? Considering I work for Any Lab Test Now® North Dallas I will share my experience. You can expect to not wait in line. It is our goal to get you in-and-out within 15minutes. You can expect courtesy and respect. We do not judge, gossip or look down on anyone. You can expect fast results. Once your DNA sample reaches our laboratory for testing we have the results in-hand within 48hrs. And finally, you can expect a basic paternity test to cost $199 exactly, no extra fees or charges.
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