http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...ults-back.html

Fathers to get £30 DNA paternity test over the counter (although it will
cost you £119 to get the results back)*

*The results won't be accepted as evidence in court. (I can think of a lot
of more enjoyable methods to throw hard earned money away (Dusty))

By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 9:50 PM on 18th July 2009

The first over-the-counter paternity test kit will be on sale within weeks.
The £30 pack will allow a man to check his DNA against a child's to identify
whether he is the biological father.

International Biosciences, the British company launching the kits in
chemists, claimed they were legal, safe and at least 99.9 per cent reliable.
But medical ethical experts warned that DIY paternity tests would foster a
'culture of suspicion' and could cause heartbreak for rejected children.
DNA testing is a growing industry, fuelled in part by daytime talk shows
such as The Jeremy Kyle Show, where bitter paternity disputes are played out
in front of the cameras.

International Biosciences claims the kits 'offer consumers a quick,
convenient and affordable solution that doesn't require any courts, doctors
or solicitors'. Ian Meekins, head of the company in the UK, said the packs
had been available on the internet for years.

'They are aimed at everybody,' he said. 'We have ladies who aren't sure who
the father of a child is, and there are chaps who want to find out. We don't
stand as moral guardians and we don't judge. We give people factual
information.'

The kits come with six swabs for collecting samples of DNA, which is then
sent to New Mexico, America, for testing at an additional fee of £119. The
results are posted, emailed or given over the phone in just one week.

Mr Meekins said the tests showed whether the man was not the father a 100
per cent of the time. They were 99.9 per cent effective in showing he was
the father. But if a mother's DNA was also submitted, then a positive test
was also 100 per cent accurate, he said.

***The results will not be accepted as evidence in court.*** (emphasis
added)

It is illegal in Britain to take DNA from an adult without consent. But it
is legal to take a swab from those under 16 as long as consent is obtained
from a guardian. That would allow a father to test whether he is a child's
biological parent without the mother's knowledge.

Josephine Quintavalle, of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said the easy
availability of paternity tests raised deep concerns. 'One of the big
problems with genetic testing is that the information isn't neutral - it
isn't just wheeled out in a moral vacuum,' she said.

'The discovery that a child isn't related to their father can have a huge
impact on that child.' The kit is being supported by the National Pharmacy
Association, which represents 98 per cent of high street chemists.

A spokesman said the association was happy that the tests were accurate and
the American laboratory was reliable. Some DNA testing services have been
criticised for giving unreliable results. However, International Biosciences
said its New Mexico lab met 'international accreditation standards'.