“Who’s Your Daddy?” is a mobile DNA testing facility. The purpose is to provide paternity testing for whomever comes in to request it. This could answer many questions genealogists have about their own family tree. Some wonder whether people are ready for this type of information.
Paternity testing isn’t something new. It has been done for years. You may have watched a television program that revealed the results of a paternity test in front of a live, in studio, audience. Paternity testing is a good way to find a scientific, accurate, answer to the question of who the biological father of a child truly is. For genealogists, the results of a paternity test are a good way to be more certain about the connections in your family tree.
There is a 28 foot long recreational vehicle that is somewhere on the streets of New York City. The side of the vehicle says “Who’s Your Daddy?”. Anyone who wants to have DNA testing done, (and who can pay the cost of it), can pop in and have their questions about the genetics of their family tree answered. The DNA tests start at $299.00.
The mobile clinic, with the funny name, is operated by a company called Health Street that is located in New York. The company started in 2010. Those who come to the mobile clinic can have DNA samples taken by a technician. The samples are packaged and sent to a lab in Ohio. It takes about three to five business days to get results.
For genealogists, this type of DNA service could be helpful. If you grew up with suspicions that you might have some half-siblings, this might be a way to find out if you were right about that belief. A paternity test will determine whether or not a particular child is, or is not, biologically related to the man that is assumed to be the child’s father.
The results of a paternity test could also help mothers to prove the biological relationship between their child and the father of the child. In some cases, this could help the mother to seek child-support benefits from the father.
On the other hand, some people feel that there will be people who are not ready to hear the results of a paternity test. One hypothetical example is the one about the man who loves his children, and then learns that they are not really his biological children. This could cause all kinds of heartbreak, and potentially some arguments. Genealogists seeking DNA testing to help them fill in their family tree need to take these potentialities into account.
Image by AJ Cann on Flickr