Just as paternity testing incorporates DNA tests that establish a man as the child’s biological father, maternity testing establishes the relationship of the child with the mother. However, although paternity tests are most often carried out by court order to establish child payment support, determine custodial authority and for cases pertaining to illegitimacy; the concept of maternity testing could actually baffle a few. If the mother gives birth to her own child, what could be the need for maternity testing processes that would reinstate her existing biological relationship with her child? Well, there could be various situations that might prove such identification to be just as important as paternity testing, or perhaps even more.
Reasons for Maternity Testing
Many childless couples finally resort to the IVF or the in vitro fertilization technique for successful conception. Sometimes, mothers may want to verify if the clinic has injected the correct embryo during the implantation process. Maternity DNA tests could come in especially handy in such cases to determine the identity of the baby.
Second, there could be cases pertaining to reunification post adoption. There are times when adults who were adopted at a young age might seek to reunite with their original biological mothers. Once they are united, both parties could be keen on maternity DNA testing to ensure that they are related to each other as mother and child. Sometimes, maternity testing could be the only possible solution for simple cases of hospital mix-ups as well, especially for babies of the same gender. Newborns tend to look quite like each other and nurses might accidentally mix them up. Under the given circumstances, maternity tests could be the only possible solutions available for establishing their identity.
Broadly, therefore, DNA maternity tests can be conducted for two purposes, legal and personal. If you plan to produce the results of your DNA test in court, you need to seek due permission of the court authorities in writing, before conducting the tests. The permission of the court can be sought after attending appointments for custody sample collection.
However, if the purpose of conducting maternity tests is purely personal and the results are just for you, home DNA testing could be a viable option. The results of such tests are just as accurate as those conducted for legal proceedings. Private tests are most preferred if the results are meant for purely personal use.
Therefore, quite like paternity testing, maternity testing can actually prove to be immensely relevant in certain cases. One just needs to adopt a responsible approach while conducting such sensitive tests.
