In the United Kingdom, a DNA paternity test is not covered by the National Health Service (NHS). This means that even if it is court-directed, specifically that a DNA test has been ordered as evidence in a case by a court, you will still have to pay for it, unless you are receiving government help with your legal fees. According to the NHS, if a test is requested by the Child Support Agency (CSA) in order to determine child maintenance fees, you will be provided with a list of local doctors who will be able to take a sample. The mother, the male in question and the child will all have to be tested for a definitive result, and the CSA may employ a company to carry out the test for them. In this case, the fee will be £281.05 for a full test on two adults and the child. Private companies will also offer prenatal paternity testing, but it’s considered to pose some risk to the child, and the male is able to legally refuse the option. Many companies also offer so called ‘at-home’ DNA testing kits, which claim to return results within around these days. These can range in price from £30 to over £100, but the results of such tests, not administered by health professionals, are not admissible in court as evidence for paternity cases. In the United States you are also required to pay for your DNA tests. For postnatal testing, various American Association Of Blood Banks (AABB) accredited centres are in operation that will often return results within two days, and cost between $400-1500. Prenatal testing is, by its nature, more expensive, owing to the associated hospital and medical costs. All accredited centres in the US are listed on the AABB website, located at www.aabb.org
