The £30 paternity test: Boots offers over-the-counter DNA kit... but could it tear families apart?



Over-the-counter DIY paternity tests go on sale at Britain’s biggest high street chemist chain today amid fears that they will tear ­families apart.

The £30 kit, available from Boots, checks a man’s DNA against a child’s to find out if he is the ­biological father.

Although DIY tests are available in smaller pharmacies, this is the first time that a high street chain has stocked them on its shelves.

Do it yourself: The AssureDNA kit will be able to check a man's DNA against a child's to see if he is the biological father - but some say it could tear families apart

The Boots kit, called AssureDNA, comes with swabs to collect cells from inside the cheek.

The swabs are placed inside sterilised ­envelopes and, for an extra £130, sent for processing at a laboratory in ­Norwich.

The results are returned by post, email or phone within five days. A 24-hour service costs £329.

As well as mothers wanting to confirm the identity of their child’s father and men wanting to know if a child is theirs, the test is being used by adult children trying to trace their biological fathers.

'Let me guess... another paternity test?'

Dr Helen Watt, of the Roman Catholic Anscombe Bioethics Centre in Oxford, said DIY paternity kits raised serious concerns.

‘The test could be harmful long-term if the child is not told but grows up sensing that things are “different” and that there is some mystery,’ she said. ‘Some families will not get the support they need when they are given what could be traumatic information.’

The kit’s manufacturers, Anglia DNA, says half the tests it carries out are for babies under one, and a quarter for infants younger than ten weeks. It argues this is before a child is aware of family relationships.

Dr Watt added that paternity tests can also tear marriages apart – making infidelity ‘much more painful’ and harder to forgive.

Boots claims the kit meets a demand from customers for an easy to use, safe and accurate paternity test. Anglia DNA says it gives people access to a regulated, UK-based testing service via the high street for the first time.

Most of the existing DIY kits are sent to America for analysing, outside the control of UK regulators.

Dr Mandy Hartley, Anglia DNA’s technical manager, said the tests were ‘peace of mind’ for families trying to ‘move on with their lives’.

Anglia DNA currently processes more than 3,000 tests a year but this is expected to soar when Boots starts selling the kits at 375 stores.

The manufacturers say the test is 99.9 per cent accurate for a positive match, and 100 per cent accurate for a negative result.

Father, mother and child must consent to the test and provide proof of identification such as a copy of a passport or driving licence. If the child is under 16, the mother must consent on their behalf.



