DNA Testing While Pregnant

DNA testing is done for many reasons, primarily for catching the criminals or for paternity testing for establishing the close relationship between a father and the baby. The DNA testing can be done before and after the birth of the baby. The people who cannot wait for the duration of the pregnancy to establish the paternity have it done during the pregnancy. But there are many advantages and disadvantages of the DNA testing while pregnant.

Today, with the advanced technology, it has become easier to establish the paternity of a baby before and after the birth. Most of the people wait for the birth of the baby to establish the paternity by doing the DNA testing, but there are some people who don’t want to wait for the duration. For such people, it is possible nowadays to do the paternity testing to establish the paternity of a child. There are some pro and cons of doing the DNA testing during the pregnancy before the birth of the child –

Pros of DNA testing while pregnant  –

1. If the baby has inherited any defective gene, sometimes the parents know about it immediately and can make decisions accordingly.
2. If you would like to know about the sex of the baby, you get the knowledge before the birth of the baby.
3. The doctors can do the baby’s health level before the birth and take corrective measures immediately.
4. After the paternity test results are known, the atmosphere of the tension and suspicion which pollutes the atmosphere is cleared and it becomes healthy which many believe affects the baby’s growth.
5. The relationship between the future mother and father can become stronger.

Cons of the parental testing during the pregnancy –

1. If invasive DNA testing is done during the pregnancy, it can have the harmful effects upon the pregnancy which can cover the effects to miscarriage as to the loss of the unborn child. Sometimes, there may be also the threat to the mother’s life.  However, most testing now is non-invasive – no needles, no drugs, nothing to disturb the fetus.
2. Due to paternity testing during the pregnancy, the relationship between the future father and mother could deteriorate due to lack of trust between them which can affect the child.
3. If any defective gene is detected, the child may not be permitted to born.

DNA testing is primarily done for various purposes, to trace the guilty criminal suspect or to establish the parental claim in private or in the court of law. Most of the parental tests are done after the birth of the child but sometimes, the people cannot wait for the duration of the pregnancy and insist on the dna testing while pregnant or prenatal dna testing. As with everything, there are some pros and cons of conducting a dna test while pregnant but nothing like they were several years ago when the dna testing was invasive and could harm the fetus.  That is no longer the case.  Even so, when making the decision about DNA testing during pregnancy, you should take both pros and cons in consideration before making the final decision.  Also, it is possible to get both a legal dna test and a non-legal dna test with a prenatal paternity test so you will need to decide whether or not you think the test results will later be needed in a courtroom and order accordingly as well.  If in doubt, you can discuss with the testing center prior to placing your order and they’d be happy to advise you.

DNA Testing While Pregnant is a post from: DNA Testing and Paternity Testing Guide