Knowing the paternity of a child is important for many reasons. Some of these reasons include child support issues, genetically transmitted disease risks and general peace of mind. However due to various issues the paternity of a child is sometimes questionable. When the paternity of a child is in doubt paternity testing has always been the best way to figure out the truth. This used to mean an expensive and potentially uncomfortable trip to the doctor, but with modern technology paternity testing can be performed with an at home DNA paternity test.

At home testing is best performed when legal proceedings are not involved because these tests are not admissible in court. For court cases samples for paternity testing will need to be taken by a neutral third party and sent to an outside lab. Families who just want to know paternity for their own peace of mind should take advantage of at home testing. The test can be carried out in the privacy and comfort of home and no one except the family involved ever need know the results or even that test took place.

An at home DNA test is very simple to perform. Some paternity tests use hair or blood but most at home paternity tests use saliva as the basis for testing. Most require the child, potential father, and sometimes the mother to swab the inside of their cheek with a buccal swab in order to collect material for testing. The process is painless and then the material is sent to a lab. Most companies then privately inform the customer of their results within a few days by mail, email, fax, or phone. Although the tests are not legally admissible the results are still very accurate.

After the DNA test results come back the family can decide how to proceed based on the results. A father may discover a child he didn't know he had or a child may be introduced to a whole new family. Whatever the results are an at home DNA test can be a stepping stone to the future.