You were not married to your child’s mother when she was born, so you were told that you’d need to establish paternity. While you were totally willing to sign the paperwork at the hospital voluntarily, you decided not to do so when you saw your child. They didn’t have any features that you felt looked like you or your family. There was also a risk that your partner might have been seeing someone else while you were together.
In that kind of situation, it’s smart to get a DNA test. Will that DNA test prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the child is yours? In most cases, yes. However, there are times when the DNA can be wrong.
When can a DNA test be inaccurate?
The most common reason for a paternity test to come back inaccurate is due to fraud. For example, if there is a question about a new child with your partner being yours while you share another child together who definitely is, a swab of your child’s cheek instead of the baby’s might be used to falsify a test.
Tests can also be wrong in cases where the father has a twin or close relative with similar DNA. It’s very important for the laboratory and testers to know if another potential father is a close relative so that they can check additional DNA markers to verify the correct biological relationship.
DNA tests can be inaccurate, but if you make sure you witness the test being taken and mailed out, then the likelihood is that it will be correct.