Genetic examination to establish paternity

Why is a genetic examination needed to establish paternity/maternity?

First of all, of course, your child needs it. With the help of this examination, it is possible to accurately determine who the father or mother of the child is, which in the future will make it possible to find out what diseases or genetic predispositions the other parent could “reward” your child with. This DNA test is also necessary to determine the true biological father, if there are several known fathers. However, most often the court sends a person for a genetic examination to establish paternity/maternity to resolve controversial issues in order to collect alimony or refuse it, as well as to establish kinship in order to receive an inheritance or refuse it.

The test may involve multiple prospective parents and multiple prospective children.

There are no contraindications or restrictions for carrying out a DNA test, since the collection of material is a completely painless procedure, and the DNA in all cells of the body is the same and does not change throughout life.

How to test for relationship between brother and sister?

Often there is a need to establish relationships between sisters and brothers. This is due to such everyday situations as the existence of half- and step-relatives. In the first case, we are talking about children raised in the same family, but born from different parents (in a previous marriage).

Children who have one common parent are considered step-children. Stand out:

• half-relatives who have the same father and different mothers;
• half-born children have the same mother, but different fathers.

A DNA test to establish the relationship between brothers and sisters is required in the following situations:

• Establishing paternity or maternity if it is impossible to obtain biological material from the parents. The accuracy of the results exceeds 99%.
• Identification of dead people during emergencies and military operations, as well as during the exhumation of unknown remains.
• The need to resolve inheritance disputes. Full and half-siblings have equal rights as second-order heirs.
• Confirmation of close family ties when immigrating abroad.
• Upon marriage. The RF IC prohibits the registration of marriage between full and half-blood relatives.

Important! A genetic test can reveal family ancestry. With its help, the branches of the family tree are determined.

Definition by father

Conducting genetic research varies somewhat depending on the gender of relatives:

1. Paternal brothers' relationship. Such relatives must have a common Y chromosome. Brothers receive the same chromosome from their father. It is from this that the necessary loci are extracted.
2. Paternal sisters' relationship. The close relationship of women is determined by the X chromosome.
3. Paternal brother and sister relationship. Autosomal loci extracted from paired chromosomes, characteristic of both male and female organisms, are taken as markers. According to them, a half-brother and sister will have no more than 50% of their genes in common.

Result for mother

The most accurate way to determine the relationship between half-siblings or brother and sister is a nucleotide analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). This DNA is inherited only through the female line and is passed on unchanged. The coincidence of biological material in this case does not depend on the sex of the child. The accuracy of a positive result from mtDNA analysis exceeds 99%, and a negative result is 85-90%.

What happens to biological material after it is handed over to a genetic expert?

Modern research uses DNA, which encodes genetic information. In human cells, DNA is presented in the form of 46 chromosomes. He receives half of them from his mother, the other half from his father. First, the chromosomes of the mother and child are compared. Then the child's chromosomes that do not match the mother's are compared with the father's chromosomes. Paternity can be considered proven if they match. There are no contraindications or age restrictions for a genetic test to establish paternity, since a person’s DNA remains unchanged with age.

At the first stage, the expert extracts DNA from the obtained material. The process of DNA isolation from cells is a very important step, therefore, in most cases, commercial reagent kits from leading foreign manufacturers, such as Applied Biosystems (USA), Promega (USA), QIAGEN (Germany), are used for these purposes. After DNA isolation, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR reaction) is performed, as a result of which certain sections of DNA (loci) increase many times over, and their number exceeds the original by tens and even hundreds of millions of times. The DNA mixture obtained during the PCR reaction is analyzed using capillary electrophoresis and the length of the resulting loci (allelic variants) is determined. By comparing the obtained allelic variants between the child and the putative father (mother), the expert determines the biological father or mother.

For example, the D5S818 locus has 16 allelic variants. During the PCR reaction of one specific DNA sample, a multiple increase in any two of the 16 allelic variants of a given locus is possible - one allelic variant from the maternal chromosome and one allelic variant from the paternal chromosome. In the process of capillary electrophoresis, it is determined which allelic variants of a given locus are present in the DNA mixture obtained after the PCR reaction. For example, allelic variants No. 12 and No. 14 were identified in the child, No. 12 and No. 16 in the biological mother, and No. 3 and No. 14 in the putative father (Figure 1). It follows from this that the child acquired allelic variant No. 12 from the mother, and No. 14 may have been inherited from the putative father under study. By analyzing the results obtained from more than sixteen (to establish paternity) and eighteen (to establish maternity) loci, the expert establishes the probability of paternity or maternity. Calculation of matches or mismatches of allelic DNA profiles is carried out in accordance with Art. 3.4 of the guidelines of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 98/253 of January 19, 1999 “The use of individualizing systems based on length polymorphism of amplified DNA fragments (LAF) in forensic medical examination of personal identification and establishment of kinship.”

Figure 1. The principle of establishing paternity or maternity based on the inheritance of identical alleles of autosomal loci. Different colors and letters indicate different alleles of the same locus.

When is a DNA paternity test required?

A DNA test is a procedure that allows you to establish the fact of biological relationship with an accuracy of 99.9%. It is carried out during pregnancy, after the birth of the child. An examination can also be ordered posthumously. Methods of implementation depend on specific circumstances.

A DNA test may be required in the following situations:

• The woman wants to prove in court that the man is the biological father of the child. This may be necessary to collect alimony. If the plaintiff and defendant were not officially married at the time of the birth of the baby, paternity can be established through the registry office only if an application is submitted jointly. If there is a disagreement, the issue is resolved in court. If the judge has doubts or one of the parties requests an examination, it may be appointed. In this case, its results are decisive.
• The opposite situation: a man wants to prove in court that he is the father of the child. This happens if he acknowledges his paternity, but there is no record of him in the minor’s documents. In this case, a man may want to communicate with his son or daughter, but the mother will, quite legitimately, prevent this. To eliminate the problem, it is enough to officially recognize oneself as a father, and in the future enjoy all the rights provided for by the RF IC.
• Both parties want to find out who the child's biological father is. In such a situation, it is best to do a DNA test yourself without going to court. This is relevant if a woman does not have exemplary social behavior and cannot understand from whom exactly the child was born.

Important! When filing a petition for an examination in court, the plaintiff or defendant is given a limited choice of companies in which it can be done. If they want to conduct the test voluntarily, they choose a clinic independently.

How to interpret the results of a genetic examination to establish paternity or maternity?

The conclusions of the genetic examination indicate the probability of paternity (maternity) and the paternity (maternity) index. The level of evidence of an expert study in the case of possible paternity (for a study involving mother, child and putative father) for the probability of paternity must be at least 99.90% and the paternity index must be at least 1000. For a duet child-putative father in the absence of another parent, the level of evidence of the expert opinion for the probability of paternity must be at least 99.75%, and the paternity index must be at least 400. The maximum probability of paternity is 99.998%. A negative result in any case is 100%. These indicator values ​​are regulated by clause 84.11 of the Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation No. 346n dated May 12, 2010 “On approval of the Procedure for organizing and conducting forensic medical examinations.”

The regulatory documents defining the procedure for conducting molecular genetic examinations in the Russian Federation are:

• Federal Law of May 31, 2001 No. 73-FZ “On State Forensic Expert Activities in the Russian Federation”;
• Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation No. 346n dated May 12, 2010 “On approval of the Procedure for organizing and conducting forensic medical examinations”;
• Guidelines of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 98/253 dated January 19, 1999 “Use of individualizing systems based on length polymorphism of amplified fragments (LPAP) of DNA in forensic medical examination of personal identification and establishment of kinship”;
• Guidelines of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 2001/4 dated January 25, 2001 “Application of a molecular genetic individualizing system based on polymorphism of nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial DNA in forensic medical examination of personal identification and establishment of biological relationship”;
• Family Code of the Russian Federation. Chapter 10 “Establishing the origin of children.”

How to prove paternity through court: step-by-step instructions

Regardless of who the plaintiff is - a man or a woman - the algorithm of actions in both cases looks approximately the same if you want to establish paternity through the court:

1. Evidence is being collected. These can be audio or video recordings, personal correspondence, where a man talks about the child as his own, which confirms the fact that he recognizes himself as a father. It is important to consider that a man automatically becomes a parent if a child is born in a legal marriage or within 300 days after its dissolution.
2. A claim is filed in court. A man can appeal to the judicial authority at the place of residence of the child’s mother, a woman – to any court.
3. The case is being considered by the court. If posthumous paternity determination is required, the parties may request a special review. If there is doubt, the judge orders a DNA examination. The plaintiff or the defendant can also apply for this.
4. A court decision is made. The challenge is given 1 month, after which it enters into legal force. An extract from it, at the request of the plaintiff or defendant, is sent by the court to the registry office to make changes to the child’s birth certificate and registration book.

After the court decision comes into force, the plaintiff is sent to the registry office with an application to make adjustments to the minor’s documents.

Important! If the child is over 18 years old, his consent will be required to acknowledge paternity.

Is it possible to take a test during pregnancy?

From a medical point of view, one of the most difficult is a non-invasive test, when blood is taken from a vein from a pregnant woman. They do the same with the alleged father. Subsequently, the mother's cells are separated from the fetal cells and compared with the man's blood. This examination is carried out from the 9th week. An invasive test is also possible, which gives a more accurate result, but here everything looks more complicated: doctors have to take material for research from the amniotic fluid, as well as blood from the umbilical cord. Only venous blood is taken from the man.

Cost and terms

In both cases, you will have to pay at least 60,000 rubles for testing. Regardless of the type of examination, the results will be ready only in 7-10 days. If you need them faster, you will have to pay several thousand rubles.

How to do a DNA test if the mother objects

If the child is fully supported by the mother, and she objects to the analysis, it can only be done through the court. To do this, the man must file a claim to establish paternity with a request to order an examination.

If a woman refuses the test in court, the claim may be satisfied, because this indirectly indicates the fact that she recognized the plaintiff as the father of a minor. However, this is possible provided that he presents a number of other evidence indicating previous cohabitation.

Expert commentary

Kamensky Yuri

Lawyer

If the woman does not refuse to conduct a forensic examination, biological material is taken from the child and the plaintiff for research. A few days later they are presented to the court, and the case is considered at a re-hearing.

If the result is positive, the claim is satisfied. If the test is negative, the man can apply for a re-appointment of the examination or conduct it himself.

It also happens that the result turns out to be false. Most often this happens due to an insufficient amount of biological material, its incorrect collection and other reasons why it is difficult to confirm paternity by 99.9%. Here the court usually orders a retest.

Is it possible to do a DNA test anonymously?

Many clinics conduct anonymous research, assigning clients their full name instead of their full name. only personal numbers. For citizens themselves, the final results may indicate the presence or absence of kinship, but such documents are not accepted by the courts.

In a judicial body, it is very important that the results contain detailed information about the man and child, and if they are not identified, the test will not be included in the case file.

The cost of DNA testing depends on the chosen clinic, the method of conducting it and the urgency. If you need results within 2-3 days, you will have to pay up to 5-7,000 rubles. for specific analysis. The court accepts results issued only by accredited clinics and containing complete information about the parties.