Sometimes establishing paternity is not as easy as it sounds. If the possible father is simply not available for testing, a grandparent DNA test can be performed by a DNA testing lab with experience in this type of analysis. The test shows whether or not a child is related to the grandparents—on the possible father’s parents’ side—and thereby helps to establish the identity of the child’s biological father. This same test can help determine maternity too, if needed.
Reasons to Take a Grandparent DNA Test
Many grandparents initiate this test because they are concerned that they might not be the actual biological grandparents of child/children! They are concerned, and simply want to know the truth. Being a grandparent requires emotional and financial support for many years, and if there is a question about the paternity of a grandchild, the grandparents want to know for sure. Aside from peace of mind, there may also be legal reasons for wanting to confirm a biological relationship.
Reasons to confirm paternity include:
- Health concerns
- Death of potential father
- Custody issues
- Heritage and inheritance concerns
- Questionable paternity of child
- Peace of mind
How It Works
Unlike a straight paternity test, this type of analysis is a bit more like putting together a DNA puzzle: when more participants contribute their DNA, the more pieces to the puzzle can be assembled to form a complete picture.
Who needs to provide DNA for a grandparent DNA test:
- One or both parents of the possible father
- The child
- The mother of the child, if possible
The test is most accurate when there are two grandparents to test—both of the possible father’s parents. In the absence of one grandparent, the test can still be administered. However, it’s important to know the results may not be as conclusive as they need to be to establish paternity and/or maternity. If at all possible, the child’s mother should also participate to help strengthen the chances of obtaining conclusive results.
DNA is collected easily and quickly with simple, painless cheek swabs.
IMPORTANT:
- If you need results for legal reasons (inheritance or immigration, for example), at-home testing is not an option. For court-admissible results, you must call the lab ahead of time to arrange for a legal, witnessed test
- If you do not have legal authority to act on behalf of a minor child, the burden is on you to obtain all necessary consents before submitting the minor child’s DNA for testing
The Test Can Help to Protect Grandparent Rights
As a paternal grandparent, you really don’t know whether your grandkids are truly yours. Although you love and cherish each child, nothing can replace the reassurance you get from knowing for sure if those children are biologically related to yout. Fortunately, you now have the option to request a grandparent DNA test to learn the facts.
There may be some reasons why the child’s mother refuses to allow a grandparent DNA test. In these cases, you may be able to petition the courts for the test to be administered.
Final Thoughts about a Grandparent DNA Test
Grandchildren are one of life’s greatest joys, but if you have any doubts about a biological relationship, it’s wise to ask some questions now in order to prevent a possible broken heart down the road. Contact us to make arrangements for a grandparent DNA test today. A kind, experienced representative from DDC will be happy to explain the details with a simple and completely confidential phone call.
There was a dna test done between just my daughter and the alleged paternal grandfather.
Results came back as:
Combined kinship index: 0.014
And probability: 1.4%
How do I read these results?
Hi, Haley. These are considered “exclusion” results. Your daughter and the man tested do not share a grandfather/granddaughter relationship.
Hi we did granddaughter nd grandmother testing it came 1.5% more likely that we relate.. I don’t understand the statement
Hello, Kgadi. Please contact the lab where you tested or the business from whom you ordered the test for an explanation of your results. Without all the information in front of me, I cannot comment.
HI I DID A DNA TEST WITH GRANDPARENTS AND THE KINSHIP INDEX WAS 1.24 and the probability was 55.5% Can u explain this more
Hi, Aisha. That is considered an inconclusive result.
Calculations for relationships such as grandparent, avuncular (aunt/uncle), and siblings all involve statistics, and a probability of relationship is given as a percentage in the report:
90% or higher: the relationship is supported by DNA testing
9% – 89%: inconclusive result, and additional parties need to be tested
Below 9%: the relationship is not supported by DNA testing
If a probability of relationship (PRI) of 92% is given for a grandparent test, the result could be understood as: “There is a 92% probability that the persons tested share a grandparent/grandchild relationship.”
I did a grandmother granddaughter DNA testing and the results came back combine kinship index 38.27, probability 97.4%. is she my granddaughter?
Hi, Leslie. Yes, that is considered a conclusive result for an inclusion. 🙂
Hi. The alleged father in our case is deceased. My son took a at home dna test with the possible grandmother. It was only them swabbed and my son ate chocolate before one of the swabs so it was brown. The possible grandmother was told by the company that she bought the wrong test and if she sent and additional payment they would make it a grandmother test. She did so and about a week later the results came back as a %2.8 percent chance of relation. What does this mean ? Please help
Hi, Anonymous. The probability of relationship percentage you provided is considered an exclusion, meaning the child and grandmother most likely do not share a biological relationship. Your son eating chocolate before swabbing wouldn’t change the DNA data at all…it can only affect the quality of the sample. If there had been an issue with the swabs, the lab would have suspended testing and requested fresh samples.
My son is incarcerated and we’ve been trying to establish paternity of his son. I got a paternity test and put my dna in place of my son’s, then tested it against my alleged grandson’s DNA. The results came back 0%. My question is does it matter if I used a paternity or grandparent test? Shouldn’t at least some of my DNA matched with my alleged grandson? I recently just learned about the grandparent test yesterday
Hi, Barb. No doubt a lot of the DNA matched with your alleged grandson. But answers for maternity/paternity are straight yes and no…either you’re related to the child with a probability of 99.9% or higher or you’re not with 0% probability of paternity. What confuses me is you said you did a paternity test. Since you are a woman and say you did a paternity test, the lab where you tested should have suspended testing once they discovered your DNA was female instead of male. I suggest you start from scratch and order a grandparent test. We can help you with that at 800-929-0847.
Good morning, my question is: my mother was tested with a daughter who is complaining to be her granddaughter. So, the result was 62.7%. this result can approve the blood relationship of being her parternal grandmother? Please help us.
Hi, Christine. The laboratory only answers the question it is asked to answer. In this case, the question is, “Am I this woman’s granddaughter?”. At 62% probability of a grandparent/grandchild relationship, this result is inconclusive. You cannot assume a blood relationship, let alone a grandchild/grandmother relationship, based on this test result. It would be helpful to add more DNA to the test, such as the younger woman’s mother’s DNA, which could help to provide more conclusive results.
I took a grandmother Dna test with my alleged granddaughter and came back as combined kinship index of 0.098, probability: 8.9%. I believe the lower the kinship value is below 1.0, the lesser the likelihood that we are related. I am really unsure how to read this, please help. Are we related?
Hi, JP. That data is considered an exclusion and you are most likely not related.
Can me and my wife test for grandparents and include the possible grandchild for our own use and not for legal purposes without the Childs drug addict mothers permission? Our son is dead due to his wifes drug use. We just want to know if he is our grandson.
Hi, Gary. My sincere condolences on the loss of your son. When testing a minor, permission must be obtained from a legal parent or guardian. If you do not have legal-guardian status, you may want to seek out the advice of a family-law attorney to determine what your options are.
I did a test with just my daughter and her potential grandmother. I did not include a sample from myself. Results said “alleged grandmother is 12 times more likely to be unrelated to the child with a probability of 92.56%” then says “grandparent probability <1, likelihood 7.43%”
What does this mean? And Could this be wrong because I didn’t include a sample?
Also I did not test thru this site but I saw you were giving very helpful answers
Hi, Jessica. It would appear from the data you provided that the result of the grandparent test was an exclusion, meaning they are unrelated. The conclusiveness of this result would suggest that your DNA most likely would not have helped to strengthen the data one way or the other.
I performed a test with my son, me, and his grandmother ( on his dads side). What is the percentage that I should be looking out for to be considered “related”?
Hi, Alexis. For single-grandparent testing, any percentage of probability higher than 90% is considered conclusive.
Im just confused because i had performed a dna test with the father and it came back 99.999999% , but since he denied it the grandmother wanted tested ( me her and the baby) , but our results came up 80% which I know is inconclusive. Is that normal? Like i know hes the father.
I did a grandparent test with myself, my daughter and her grandmother the results came back as 0.00 and 0.19% I was not aware that I you should test both grandparents what does this mean?
Hi, Kasey. Testing both grandparents can often strengthen results. But since you participated, that helps tremendously too. The result you were provided is an exclusion, meaning your daughter and her grandmother do not share a biological relationship. Chances are that testing both grandparents would not have made a different to the outcome of this test.