FAQs

We are often asked about the difference between the two types of human relationship DNA test, personal information (peace of mind) and “legal”:

Using the personal information tests, the ordering party will receive our DNA sampling kit, ensure the consent form has been signed appropriately and take the check samples (it is a simple cotton bud on the inside of the mouth, just rubbed around the cheek and each person can do their own or ideally an adult in the case of a child, a helpful video can be found here). Upon receiving the samples, we take them in to the lab and conduct the analysis. The result provided is based on the samples which we receive.  We can deliver the results the next day – just place the correct order online or ask one of our staff to help you.  If you go this route, there can be no checks made on the identity of the person providing the incoming samples.

For a legal DNA tests ordered through dadchecksilver.com or dadcheckgold.com – a DNA test that can be used for legal purposes, then we have to be in control of the sample collection and we undertake a protocol to identify the person providing the samples.  This will be undertaken by one of our registered samplers. The samples then come directly back to our lab – maintaining what is often called a “chain of custody”. This legal test can be used, for example, to change Birth Certificates, court proceedings, for Passport applications or Home Office applications.   Due to the extra work required, legal DNA tests are quite expensive and sometimes our clients prefer to undertake a personal information (peace of mind) test beforehand.

Relationship DNA testing can be a life-changing event and we would recommend that before ordering a test you think carefully about the potential outcomes and have considered if testing will be in the best interests of those involved.

If you find that any person requires extra support to deal with the outcome of a DNA test, then there are a number of online resources for support with this:

npefellowship.org  The international organisation, the NPE (Non-Parental Event) Friends Fellowship provides emotional, educational and practical support to those who have discovered that one or both parents were not their biological parent(s).

bps.org.uk It is always recommended that you speak to your GP for advice before reaching out to a phycologist. If you do need the services of a psychologist, then you can do so through the link provided.

thatDNAcompany® at home DNA paternity tests are intended for no-nonsense, no hidden cost paternity testing, for you to find out who is the biological father of a child.  Our paternity DNA tests can be used for one or more children and whilst we always prefer that the mother takes part in the DNA test, we understand that this is not always possible.  thatDNAcompany® only offers personal information or peace of mind DNA tests.  You can order a DNA paternity test kit online or by phone and please do call if you any advice about a paternity testing situation.

If you need a DNA test for other biological relationships, then our sister service, dadchecksilver.com offers DNA tests for paternity, maternity, twin testing, sibling testing (full, half, not related), aunt and uncle and grandparent.  At dadchecksilver.com and dadcheckgold.com you can also order a test suitable for legal purposes and we conduct many such DNA tests for immigration and surrogacy.  dadcheck®gold is primarily for use by professionals, such as the solicitors and social services.

You will be coming directly to a highly experienced UK based laboratory which has been providing DNA testing services for over 20 years with the assurance that we are fully based in the UK.

By using our own laboratories based in County Durham, Northeast England, we can offer you exceptional value for money and still with the same quality of processing and analysis that you should expect from such a sensitive purchase. Unlike some DNA testing companies, you can rest assured that your samples will not be sent abroad or to any other testing laboratory.

Using DNA testing, we work out whether or not there is a possibility of an individual being the biological father of a particular child. This is commonly called a paternity DNA test.

Each and every one of us is unique. This uniqueness comes from our genetic code, which we have inherited equally from our biological mother and biological father. The thatDNAcompany® paternity DNA test detects the presence of shared regions of this unique genetic code, which can in turn be used to determine if individuals are related.

We analyse your genetic code and the results are displayed as a series of coloured bands. We then look at these bands from both mother and alleged father to see if every band in the child is present in the parents. If so, there is a good chance that the child and parents are biologically related.

Please be aware that the thatDNAcompany® DNA test is for personal information use only, it is not a legal DNA test. If you wish to have a legal DNA test for use in court, to change a birth certificate or another legal reason, then you will need an accredited (legal) DNA test. This is available from www.dadchecksilver.com, a service which is also part of Complement Genomics Ltd. For more information please call 0191 543 6434 or e-mail sales@dadchecksilver.com.

Please note that this service is for the general public only. Solicitors and social services should continue to use www.dadcheckgold.com and contact us on 0191 543 6334 or e-mail sales@dadcheckgold.com. Please note that we do not carry out forensic DNA testing (e.g. hair, semen) for the general public.

Our DNA testing services are not limited to paternity DNA testing, we can also offer a wider range of other genetic testing services including, sibling (full, half or unrelated), avuncular (aunts/uncles) and grand-parent tests. More information can be obtained by e-mailing sales@dadchecksilver.com or by calling us on 0191 543 6405 with your specific request. We are experts in DNA testing and genetic test design and can advise on any number of issues within this dynamic field.

All quoted days are in working days. A working day is classed as Monday to Friday – we do not operate on weekends or Bank Holidays.

The day we receive your properly consented samples is Day 0.

Results Delivery:

Next Day = results will be delivered after 4pm the following working day. For example, if we receive your samples on Tuesday, your results will be available on Wednesday. If your samples are received on Friday, your results will ordinarily be the following Monday, except where Bank Holidays occur.

2 Day = results will be delivered after 4pm on the second working day. For example, , if we receive your samples on Tuesday, your results will be available on Thursday.

If there are any delays due to repeat laboratory work being required, then we will actively update the ordering party by email with a new expected results due date.

There are no hidden costs and no hidden extras. The price includes the kit (swabs, consent forms and return postage paid envelope), all postage, the laboratory testing and the reporting.

We strongly recommend that the mother of the child is involved in the testing process and there is no reduction in the price if the mother is not tested.

If you lose, destroy or render the kit unusable, we will charge £12.50 for a replacement.

Some customers will require an extra kit or a report to be sent by post. There is a separate charge for either of these at £12.50 respectively and if you wish us to provide this, please call 0203 603 1189 after you have placed your order where we can take telephone payment or send you an online payment link.

Please carefully read our Terms and Conditions of sale, which indicate our refund policy as well as our Refund Policy FAQ.

Once you have placed your order, a single personalised DNA test kit will be sent to the address of the ordering party. The kit will arrive in a discreet, fully opaque envelope without any branding and will include consent forms for each donor, one sterile mouth swab per donor, a pre-paid return postage envelope and a helpful Information Leaflet.

Some customers will require an extra kit or a report to be sent by post. There is a separate charge for either of these at £12.50 respectively and if you wish us to provide this, please call 0203 603 1189 after you have placed your order. Alternatively you may request we issue you an online payment link.

When you place your order you will create your own account password.  You will then use this along with the user-name which will be issued to you by email.  You may use these to track the progress of your case in the “My Account” section of our website.

When your fully consented samples arrive at our laboratory, you will be sent another e-mail to confirm their receipt and the expected results due date. When you log in, you will be able to see an estimated completion date, plus any messages we may have for you. If there is a delay for a re-test or some other issue, we will inform you by this route and also by e-mail/telephone. For example, it may be that in the case of a test where the alleged father has given consent and the mother is not participating, that we ask to see evidence of Parental Responsibility. This may require you to show us an appropriate marriage or birth certificate.

The estimated completion date will also be found at this login and may be updated from time to time and is non-binding. Depending which service you have chosen, this will generally either the next working day or 2 working days from receipt of all of the fully consented samples into our laboratory. Your test results will generally be uploaded to our secure site after 4pm on the designated completion day.

When your results have been uploaded, you will be sent an e-mail to inform you of the availability of the results and to remind you to log in.

Analysing your genetic code using DNA testing in disputes over parentage, is the only accurate way of determining whether or not a biological relationship exists between a father and child.

The thatDNAcompany® paternity DNA test proves with 100% certainty if a tested male is not the alleged father of a child.

Conversely, a thatDNAcompany® paternity DNA test proves that a tested man is the alleged biological father of a child with at least 99.99% certainty (if the mother is involved in the testing process).

Please note that this figure may be reduced if the mother of the tested child does not participate in the test.

All people providing a sample for a thatDNAcompany® DNA test must give their consent for the test by signing the personalised consent form provided in the sampling kit.

We will not process samples for any paternity test or other DNA test unless we have the signed (written) consent of each of the adult participants and if a child under 16 is involved, consent from a person with parental responsibility for the child (or children) taking part – for further information regarding Parental Responsibility, please see FAQ ‘What is Parental Responsibility (PR)?

In cases where the alleged father signs on behalf of the child, we always ask to see proof of parental responsibility e.g., the full birth certificate or a marriage certificate to the mother. This can be sent us to by email.

We will not process any samples without the appropriate consent and evidence of this where it is any person other than the child’s mother signing on behalf of the child. This will effect your expected results due date if we have not received this evidence before the samples arrive with us. 

You should be aware that it is a serious offence, punishable by imprisonment, to personate another body for the purpose of providing a bodily sample (e.g. for a DNA test) or to proffer the wrong child for that purpose.

It is also a criminal offence to have in possession bodily material for which a DNA testing is intended, without appropriate (qualifying) consent. If the consent form has not be signed properly or appropriately, we will not proceed with the test.

If you wish to provide a sample for a thatDNAcompany® paternity test you must be absolutely sure that it is your sample and that you have signed the consent form which gives us permission to carry out the test.

Please note however that an individual may withdraw their consent at any time during the testing process but not after the Test Report has been issued.

Consideration must also be given to older children e.g. 10+years and under the age of 16 years as they are likely to be able to understand the nature and possible consequences of a DNA test. We strongly recommend that the person with parental responsibility discusses the DNA test with the child and takes their views into account.

All quoted days are in working days. A working day is classed as Monday to Friday – we do not operate on weekends or Bank Holidays.

The day we receive your properly consented samples is Day 0 and this is when your quoted turnaround will begin.

Results Delivery:

Next Day = results will be delivered after 4pm the following working day. For example, if we receive your samples on Tuesday, your results will be available on Wednesday. If your samples are received on Friday, your results will ordinarily be the following Monday, except where Bank Holidays occur.

2 Day = results will be delivered after 4pm on the second working day. For example, if we receive your samples on Tuesday, your results will be available on Thursday.

If there are any delays due to repeat laboratory work being required, then we will actively update the ordering party by email with a new expected results due date.

We will not give progress reports until the Paternity Test Report is ready. This Paternity Test Report will only be sent to the person ordering the DNA test and before the report is issued, we will not discuss the case with any other person unless we have written permission to do so.

You will receive an e-mail when the Paternity Test Report has been uploaded and this will generally be after 4pm on the expected day of delivery. Please do not call for results before this time, as staff will not be able to update you until the report has been signed off by the Quality Manager.

If we have any issues with the data (such as the need to repeat the sampling), you will receive an e-mail to keep you updated.

Parental Responsibility (PR) means that the person concerned has all of the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority that a parent of a child has by law (as defined in the Children Act 1989).

Where a child’s parents were married to each other at the time of the child’s birth, each parent will have Parental Responsibility for the child.

However, if a child’s parents are not married to each other, the mother shall automatically have Parental Responsibility over the child. Where the parents are not married to each other, the alleged father will acquire Parental Responsibility if he acts with the mother to have his name recorded on the child’s birth registration after 1st December 2003.

An unmarried alleged father will not be able to claim Parental Responsibility unless he acquires it by:

• Obtaining a court order.
• Registering a legally written agreement subject to the mother’s consent.
• Marriage to the child’s mother.
• Being granted a residence order.
• Having his name on the child’s birth certificate (for births registered after December 2003).

The thatDNAcompany® paternity DNA test is conclusive if we can test all three of the child, mother and alleged father.

A test without a sample from the mother will not provide the same degree of certainty as a test with samples from both parents.

In cases where the alleged father or any person other than the child’s mother signs on behalf of the child under 16 years, we always ask to see proof of parental responsibility e.g., the full birth certificate or a marriage certificate to the mother. This can be sent us to by email. For further information regarding Parental Responsibility, please see FAQ ‘What is Parental Responsibility (PR)?

We will not process any samples without the appropriate consent and evidence of this where it is any person other than the child’s mother signing on behalf of the child. This will effect your expected results due date if we have not received this evidence before the samples arrive with us.

Please see FAQ’s “What is the consent form?” and “What is Parental Responsibility (PR)?” for further information regarding father and child only DNA tests.

Not at all. Our samples are taken by gently rubbing a soft cotton swab around the inside of the mouth. Full instructions of how to take the samples are included in the thatDNAcompany® sample collection kit and on our helpful video available on our website.

The procedure is simple and painless and can be used on young children and newborn babies.

If you are unsure and would like some guidance on the DNA sampling process then please watch our video or call us on 0203 603 1189.

As this is a personal information at-home DNA test kit, you must be sure of the identity of the persons participating and we expect you to warrant those identities.

There is no requirement for any donor to provide proof of identity.

We shall report based on the samples which we have received.

You should be aware that it is a serious offence, punishable by imprisonment, to personate another body for the purpose of providing a bodily sample (e.g. for a DNA test) or to proffer the wrong child for that purpose.

Please note that it is NOT necessary for all individuals who are giving a sample to all be present together at the same sampling venue at the same time or indeed to be in the same place for sampling. However, at the time of sampling, a child who is under sixteen MUST be accompanied by the person with Parental Responsibility, as indicated on the consent form.

With self-sampling, on rare occasions we are unable to obtain a complete DNA profile, or there may be issues with contamination/mixed profiles. The actions we will take are as follows:

1) Discoloured (e.g. due to food/nicotine) swabs or mouldy swabs (due to the long time taken to return them to us) will not be used. We will inform you of this point via e-mail and offer you a replacement kit for a charge of £12.50.

2) If we have started the laboratory work and find an issue such as no DNA on the swab, mixed profiles or adulteration, then we will inform you of this point and offer re-sampling for a charge of £44. This can cause a delay to your expected completion date.

The original DNA test report is uploaded as a .pdf to a secure web-link which is provided to the person who ordered the test. The reports are in a standardised format, which complies with relevant legislation* and either excludes the alleged father or provides evidence that he is indeed the tested child’s biological parent.

The paternity test results will say whether the alleged father IS EXCLUDED or IS NOT EXCLUDED as the biological father of the tested child.

• IS EXCLUDED: This means that the tested father cannot be the biological father of the tested child because they do not share enough DNA to confirm the biological relationship tested.
• IS NOT EXCLUDED: This means that the tested father is likely to be the biological father because testing determined that he and the tested child do share a biological parent/child relationship with a high degree of probability.

An inclusion paternity test result i.e. tested father is the father will include:

• A Probability of Paternity value (%)
• A Likihood Index value

If you have any questions about your Test Report once this is issued to you, please contact our helpful team.

We do not issue the original data (DNA profiles), since interpretation of these data is highly complex and requires a trained operative.

* The Family Law Reform Act 1969 as amended by The Family Law Reform Act 1987 and The Family Law Reform Act 1987 (commencement No.3) order 2001 and The Children Act 1989.

 

We shall only correspond with the person who has ordered the DNA test (the ordering party), unless we receive their written permission to enter into correspondence with those other parties involved in the paternity testing case. We will only discuss the case if we are confident we are talking to the ordering party. Please expect that we will ask you for your case number and certain other details of the case.

Your results will be uploaded as a .pdf onto our secure server and you may access this with the login and password you will have been given at the time of ordering. Any further copies of the report such as by first class mail will incur a charge of £12.50.

After we have sent out your DNA test reports, we will store your DNA samples for three months and after this period, they are incinerated.

All associated paternity test paperwork and records are kept for one year and then destroyed.

We strongly recommend that you save a paper or electronic copy of the Test Report for future reference as your account login details will be destroyed 12 months following reporting stage and we will have no access to your information.

If you lose the Test Report, we cannot re-issue this after 12 months following reporting stage and a new test would need to be ordered.

We are registered under the 1998 Data Protection Act. You can find more information about how we protect your privacy by reading our privacy policy.

thatDNAcompany® uses all reasonable precautions to make sure that samples received for testing cannot be mixed up. Our team of highly skilled and qualified scientists adhere to strict laboratory requirements of internationally recognised quality standard.

Included in this is the requirement for all work to be witnessed and double-checked by a second competent member of scientific staff. We have every confidence in our team and supporting Quality Management System .

You will be coming directly to a highly experienced UK based laboratory which has been providing DNA testing services for over 20 years.

Shortly after you have completed your online order, we start to produce a DNA sampling kit which is tailored specifically for your case, with named and numbered swabs being issued to the contracting party. This is the point of Commencement of our Service to you.

If you order a kit and immediately wish to cancel (i.e. before we have started to produce a sampling kit), then we will issue a refund. We do not generally issue refunds after the kit has been produced and sent to you, as our service to you has started. However, we may grant a partial refund (which is solely at the discretion of the Management) if we have not yet started the laboratory work. Please note that before ordering, we expect you to ensure that all participants of the test have agreed to it and have expressed their willingness to consent to it.

In addition to personal information home DNA tests, our sister service www.dadchecksilver.com also provides legal or Court approved paternity DNA tests.

If you are from the general public and have more complex DNA testing needs, then we would like to direct you to our sister service, dadcheck which can accommodate complex requests. This might be one of the following:

• A private legal (accredited) DNA test for Birth Certificate changes.
• Immigration  DNA test for the Home Office or Passport Office
• A maternity DNA test (generally required for Immigration applications)
• DNA tests on deceased persons (forensic DNA testing)
• Surrogacy DNA tests for a Parental Order
• Sibling DNA Tests (full, half or not related)
• Sperm donor testing (alleged father and child)
• Grand-parentage DNA testing
• Avuncular DNA Testing for aunts/uncles.

Also if any of the participants lives far away from you/you don’t want contact or overseas, that is a separate DNA testing kit is required, then please contact us on 0191 543 6434, e-mail sales@dadchecksilver.com or go to www.dadchecksilver.com

If you have a solicitor (or social services are involved) and they are dealing with your DNA testing case, then please direct them to our service for professionals, which is: www.dadcheckgold.com. You can ask them to call 0191 543 6334 or e-mail sales@dadcheckgold.com.

For dadcheck legal (accredited) DNA tests only, our laboratories are recognised by the Ministry of Justice as “a body that may carry out parentage tests directed by the civil courts of England and Wales under section 20 of the Family Law Reform Act 1969”. We hold the international accreditation standard, BS EN ISO 17025 for testing laboratories.

If you have any questions, we will be happy to help.

The definitive way to determine if twins are identical or non-identical (also known as ‘fraternal’ twins) is to carry out DNA testing known as Zygosity Testing.

However, please go to our sister service, dadcheck®silver for this test.

You may click here to view information about twin DNA testing and order a test.

Alternatively, please contact us on 0191 543 6434, e-mail sales@dadchecksilver.com or go to dadchecksilver.com

It will not. A DNA test for human identity testing is completely different from the COVID-19 test and one does not affect the other.

The sampling process for a DNA test is the same as before the crisis – we would just ask you to take a few extra precautions. With That DNA Company we send out one kit per case. If the participants of the DNA test do not live in the same household and you will not be in physical contact with them, we suggest you call us to order a second kit which will be sent to their address. There is a modest charge of £12.50 for this, but it does mean we can still conduct the DNA test with minimal risk.

For the health and safety of all parties involved including our own team, we ask that any person self-isolating, infected with or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms not to take any samples until they have fully recovered or received a negative PCR COVID-19 test.

The government’s advice is updated regularly and please follow these recommendations, especially with regard to social distancing and shielding. You can spread the virus even if you don’t have symptoms.