How accurate is the fetal paternity test?
Fetal paternity testing is a method of determining the parent-child relationship by sampling fetal DNA through amniotic fluid or villi. Compared with conventional paternity testing, fetal testing does not need to wait until the baby is born and can be performed during pregnancy. But how accurate is fetal identification? Its reliability is discussed below from four aspects.
1. False positive results are prone to occur
Fetal identification is prone to false positive results, that is, it is determined that there is a paternity relationship, but in fact it does not exist. This is because the DNA in the amniotic fluid or villi mainly comes from the fetus, and DNA noise in other mothers will also be present, which may be similar to the DNA characteristics of the potential father. In addition, if the potential father and mother are closely related, they will share a large amount of the same genes, which can also lead to false positive results.
2. High-quality samples are required
Fetal identification requires high-quality samples, otherwise the accuracy of the results will be affected. If the amniotic fluid or villus sample collected is insufficient, contaminated with bacteria, or stored improperly, the quality of the sample DNA will decrease, thus affecting the reliability of the identification.
3. Risk assessment is required before proceeding
Before fetal identification, a risk assessment is required, including age during pregnancy, fetal abnormalities, etc. If the fetus has abnormalities, such as chromosomal abnormalities, single-gene genetic diseases, etc., even if the parent-child relationship is determined, the fetus may still inherit the disease. Therefore, detailed consultation and risk assessment with a doctor is required before identification.
4. Accuracy can be very high under the right conditions
Despite the risk of false-positive and false-negative results, the accuracy of fetal identification can be high when high-quality samples and risk assessment measures are adequately taken. Modern technology has made it possible to detect some very rare autoantigens, thereby reducing the risk of false positive and false negative results. Therefore, under appropriate conditions, fetal identification can be a reliable method to determine the parent-child relationship.
In short, as an advanced paternity testing technology, fetal paternity testing can be very accurate under appropriate conditions. However, the risk assessment, sample quality and other factors mentioned in the article need to be fully considered, and the fetal identification results should not be used as a factor in deciding whether to proceed with abortion.
