• Testing Procedure
• Testing Steps
• Results

Testing Procedure

A DNA adoption test is a paternity or maternity test performed to determine if a man or woman is or is not the biological parent of a child. DNA testing can also be performed in adoption cases to help re-unite adoptive children using kinship DNA technology and procedures.

A standard test is completed using cheek swabs from all tested parties. Specimens will be collected by a trained professional third party in a clinical setting under strictly controlled Chain of Custody procedures. Orchid Cellmark has a North American Specimen Collection Network of 5000 sites where a sample can be collected for a Domestic Adoption case. For a Guatemalan adoption case, Orchid Cellmark works in Guatemala with all four Panel Physicians who have been approved by the US Department of State.

Testing Steps

A DNA test involves essentially 3 steps:

1. SPECIMEN COLLECTION

Guatemalan Adoption Cases – Once we have received your order, our adoption customer service staff will advise the chosen US Panel Physician that cheek swab samples are needed. The chosen US Panel Physician will expect a call from the Guatemalan adoption agency, attorney or facilitator to arrange an appointment. Each tested party will be required to bring official Guatemalan identification to the appointment. Specimens will be collected and shipped to Orchid Cellmark’s laboratory for analysis.

Domestic Adoption Cases - Once we have received your order, our Scheduling Department will contact all tested parties to arrange for a specimen collection appointment at one of our 5000 convenient specimen collection sites. We will also try to find an alternative site if our current collection sites are not convenient for you.

Tested parties will need to bring the following to their appointment:

• Government issued photo identification for all adult parties (e.g. driver’s license, passport, state identification)
• Government issued identification for the child (e.g. birth certificate, medical card)

2. LABORATORY TESTING

Once the samples are received by our laboratory, the following steps occur:

• Samples are assigned a unique bar code and are logged into our laboratory database
• Samples and paperwork are examined for completeness
• Samples are analyzed
• DNA profiles are triple checked
• Reports are generated
  
• Final report is verified by a Ph.D. Laboratory Director

3. DISTRIBUTION OF RESULTS

Upon completion of the test, results will be distributed to the adoption agency, the adoption attorney and the US Embassy by courier.

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Results

Within 3 business days of the receipt of the last sample for a routine case, Orchid Cellmark will release a notarized paternity test report which will routinely report testing results with a probability of paternity or maternity of 99.99% or higher on inclusions and 0.00% on exclusions. The reports which are released will include:

• Names of Tested Parties
• Date of Specimen Collection for each Tested Party
• A listing of the individual DNA profiles for each Tested Party
• A Combined Paternity Index
• A Probability of Paternity or Maternity
• A statement of Conclusion
• A statement of laboratory accreditation

The above report will be sufficient for any legal matter pertaining to adoption. Orchid Cellmark is confident of their acceptance in a court of law.

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