Over-the-counter paternity tests are big sellers

Despite the popularity of over-the-counter paternity testing kits, experts say the results don’t always hold up in court.

Paternity testing business thrives, consumers pay big

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By Jim DeBrosse, Staff Writer Updated 10:24 PM Sunday, March 28, 2010

DAYTON — When his 19-year-old son raised doubts about being the father of a soon-to-arrive baby, Steve Ritter decided to find out the truth, if only for himself, he said.

He purchased one of the increasingly popular over-the-counter paternity testing kits, sold as Identigene, for $30 from a local Rite Aid store. He then got permission to take cheek swabs from his son, the young man’s 20-year-old girlfriend and her new baby. After mailing the DNA samples to Identigene, along with the $119 lab fee, Ritter had his answer in a week — the baby girl was not his son’s biological child.

The results arrived not a moment too soon, Ritter said. His son was already “cooing that the baby’s eyes were just like his.”

His son soon broke up with the baby’s mother, who already had a child by another man. Ritter said that he believes his son made the right decision.

About 100,000 of the Identigene kits have been sold since their introduction in drug stores in the spring of 2008, said Doug Fogg, chief executive of Sorensen Genomics in Salt Lake City, makers of Identigene.

While dozens of labs advertise paternity testing services on the Internet, only Identigene offers the convenience and credibility of being sold at major retailers, he said. The tests are 99.9 percent accurate, he said, and Identigene’s labs are both nationally and internationally accredited.

Experts in law and genetics caution consumers, however. Regardless of their reliability, the tests won’t hold up in court unless every step is documented, including the cheek swabbing, the experts agree.

And results can break apart relationships to the detriment of the child in question.

“Is more knowledge always a good thing?” asked Mary White, a professor of ethics at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.

“We tend to focus on rights — in this case, the parents.” But, she added, what about the child?

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