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Winfrey won’t take Paternity Test “Ever”

by HOMEDNA on 04/21/2010

Oprah Winfrey has said she won’t “ever” participate in a DNA paternity test to determine who her biological father is. Would you?

Yesterday the New York Post reported that Oprah Winfrey has refused the offer of a paternity test from a man claiming to be the talk-show queen’s biological father.

The man, 84-year old Norh Robinson is from Kosciusho Miss, the rural town that Winfrey left at age 6.

While Winfrey says she’s ‘never heard of him.’ Robinson says he sent her a letter a year ago asking for a meeting and offering to take a paternity test. Robinson claims he wants nothing to do with Oprah’s vast fortune and only wants to meet his alleged daughter before he dies.

It’s curious though, that he has not come forward with this until now. He was not a part of Oprah’s life growing up, and he now wants to make a connection. Oprah has been heavily criticized in the press for refusing to take part in the paternity test, but does she owe him anything?

Put yourself in her place: If a stranger came forward claiming to be a long-lost relative and asking for a DNA test would you do it?

Exercise Caution when purchasing Home DNA Paternity Tests

by HOMEDNA on 03/29/2010

An article in the Sunday, March 28th issue of the Dayton Daily News discusses the importance of lab accreditation for DNA labs performing DNA paternity tests.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/paternity-testing-business-thrives-consumers-pay-big–625451.html

With the increasing accessibility of at-home paternity testing available over the internet, the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University issued a policy brief urging anyone considering home paternity testing to check the DNA paternity testing lab’s credentials first.

There are no mandatory certifications for DNA paternity testing labs under federal law. Reputable paternity testing labs will however, seek voluntary accreditation through the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). The AABB accreditation is a yearly review that checks the quality and operation of the DNA paternity testing lab, including their methods of DNA collection, paternity testing and distribution of paternity test results.

Identigene, the only over-the-counter paternity testing kit sold in drugstores, urges consumers to check that the lab performing the paternity test is accredited with the AABB.

The institute further cautions that at-home paternity test results are not usually admissible in court due to the potential for false identification of the tested individual.

Identigene’s tests may be admissible in court if the samples are collected in accordance with a strict chain-of-custody procedure. Identigene partners with a nationwide network of DNA specimen collectors. For legal paternity tests, DNA samples are collected at one of these collection sites and the samples are tracked until they arrive at IDENTIGENE’s DNA paternity testing lab in Salt Lake City, UT.

Read more about IDENTIGENE’s AABB and L.A.B accreditations.

Can you “Cheat” on a DNA Paternity Test?

by HOMEDNA on 03/11/2010

I’ve written before about the possibility of someone “cheating” on a Paternity Test. Here is another viewpoint from the Documents for Divorce blog.

“Due to the nature of collecting the samples, the legal test of course provides an almost cheat proof system if a neutral and qualified third party witness is used. However for the home DNA test, since the parties are responsible for collecting their own samples, this gives rise to the opportunity to cheat on the test. This can be done by submitting someone else’s sample which will inevitably lead to a negative result. This possibility has led some to question the reliability of the at-home tests.”

Author Kevin Camilleri says that in his experience most paternity test participants honestly just want to know the truth. This is our experience as well.

“From a scientific point of view, the accuracy of these tests is now almost a given. When the father, mother and child participate in the paternity test, a properly accredited and experienced DNA testing laboratory will provide a probability of paternity in excess of 99.999% thereby confirming the biological relationship, or alternatively issue a probability of paternity of 0%, thereby confirming with 100% accuracy the exclusion of the alleged father.”

He goes on to make a point that in the rare instance that someone has tried to “cheat” a paternity test, their efforts are easily noticed by the lab and new, uncontaminated samples are acquired.

If you are suspicious that your partner might try and cheat on a test taking a couple precautions in advance can save you the hassle of submitting new samples.

Collect the samples will all test participants present at the same time, seal and mail the samples to the lab your self.
Have the sample collection performed by a neutral third party (like a doctor or an attorney, or even an employer). Have the third party seal and mail the samples to the lab.
Obtain a “Legal Paternity Test”. With this test the collection of the samples is done in a strict chain-of-custody procedure that will allow the results to be admissible in court.

For more information on legal paternity testing, visit our Help Center.

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Oprah Winfrey has said she won’t “ever” participate in a DNA paternity test to determine who her biological father is. Would you?

An article in the Sunday, March 28th issue of the Dayton Daily News discusses the importance of lab accreditation for DNA labs performing DNA paternity tests.

If you are suspicious that your partner might try and cheat on a test taking a couple precautions in advance can save you the hassle of submitting new samples.

Nationally and Internationally Accredited.