Half of our DNA markers belong to the mother while the other half belongs to the father – meaning one-fourth of our genetic markers belong to our grandparents.  The Grandparent Lineage Test is performed to determine whether a couple (either of the grandfather or the grandmother) is a biological grandparent of the child. Grandparentage Tests are done when an alleged father is not available to take the test.  Through this test, the lineage is established without any need for an alleged or biological father at all.

Although the Grandparentage Test can be performed with or without the child’s mother, the mother’s participation is highly advised because it aids in excluding the half of the child’s DNA when compared to her DNA.  The remaining half of the child’s DNA markers are to be matched with that of grandparents’ DNA markers. If both the grandparents are present, the result of the test is more accurate than only either of the grandparents being present.

The presence of the mother of the child also becomes important due to New York State Law requiring that the biological parents (referring to the names of the mother and the father written on the birth certificate) to give consent on behalf of the child to have a DNA test.

Who is required for Grandparentage Testing?

Grandparentage Testing can be done with four different combinations:

1. Child, Mother and two grandparents.
2. Child, Mother, and one grandparent.
3. Child and two grandparents, and
4. Child and one grandparent.

The best testing scenario out of all of these is the first one i.e. the child, the mother and two grandparents are required.  Each time a person is removed from the combination, let it be a grandparent or the mother:  the accuracy and the strength of a Grandparentage Test decreases.  Therefore, the inclusion of all four individuals is the best testing option available to you.

TESTING

The sample is collected using the same method as the Paternity Test. The accuracy rates are also similar when compared to Paternity Testing i.e. 99.99% of precision when the alleged grandparents are the biological grandparents.  When this is not the case, the accuracy of Grandparentage Testing is 100%.