DNA Testing Costs

Many people are turning to DNA to settle paternity disputes or other matters which may require proof of paternity or blood relationship. While there are home tests that can give you accurate results which arrive from a laboratory, when it comes to legal matters, DNA testing costs may go up because testing is required to be done by legally admissible facilities, usually AABB certified labs. Depending on what you need to do with the results will determine how much you need to spend on a DNA test.

The cost for a home DNA paternity test has an average range of $89 to $149 per test. Some people report spending as high as $200 for a home test where the cheek is swabbed and the samples are sent to a lab. When the results come in, they are accurate and prove paternity or whatever issue the DNA results were trying to resolve. However, they may not be admissible in court as evidence. Many courts require that the DNA testing be done by specific facilities using specific sample collection protocols. This usually involves going to the lab and having the sample collection done in a supervised fashion so there is no question about the integrity of the sample collection and the results later on. DNA testing costs for legal procedures can be as high as $500 for paternity cases.

The additional cost for legal DNA collection and testing is because a chain of custody needs to be established because the DNA is evidence in a legal procedure. There has to be a clear demonstration that the DNA samples were in the custody of the lab and collected in manner consistent with the law. There has to be evidence that the samples were not tampered with or degraded during the collection and analysis process. This ensures that when the samples are presented in court and results are revealed, the court can be assured that the testing process was done in an unbiased accurate way and the results are accurate.

DNA testing costs are making it more affordable for people to have DNA testing done on their own. While it used to be very expensive to have DNA testing done, with the availability of home kits, the costs have come down considerably. People are using DNA testing to establish paternity, establish relationships such as grandparentage, cousins, aunts and uncles, and also using them to determine national origin. These tests have become very accessible and are available in most pharmacies around the country.