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Paternity Test
review on 8 February 2018
by Craig Macpherson
At a Glance
Summary
My experience of testing with Anglia DNA was positive. I was impressed with how quickly the results were delivered and appreciated how well explained they were. I found the ordering and payment process a little old fashioned and the amount of paperwork included in the kit seemed a bit excessive, but overall the process was straightforward and I’d use them again if I needed to take another paternity test.
Full Review
Anglia DNA is a company that has been providing a range of DNA and drug tests for over 13 years. From their base in Norwich, Anglia DNA work with a variety of customers, including legal representatives and local authorities. The company is accredited by UKAS and the Ministry of Justice, meaning that they are able to offer tests directed by the civil courts in the UK, but we decided to try out their ‘peace of mind’ option.
Product Expectations
There were several options on the Anglia DNA homepage, so it wasn’t immediately obvious where to find information about the peace of mind paternity test. However, reading through the different descriptions, I realised that it fitted into ‘Non-Legal DNA Testing’. Luckily, the description included a link that took me straight to a page about their Peace of Mind Paternity Test. I was reassured to read that the test would provide more than 99.99% accuracy, and that the company employed PhD qualified scientists that would be able to answer questions I might have or discuss my results if required.
I was pleased to see that inclusion of the mother’s sample was free, but it wasn’t a requirement. There was lots of information about consent and the law that surrounded it, which was all explained clearly. I would have to provide I.D. for myself and the person taking it with me would have to as well. If they were under 16, the adult responsible for them would have to provide consent on their behalf. Although it was made clear that I would have to provide a “suitable copy of identification”, I wasn’t sure quite what types of I.D. would be accepted and, unfortunately, the link provided (to the BMA website) didn’t work, so I couldn’t read anymore there.
Ordering Experience
I was able to order the test via the ‘Order Now’ button on this page. I entered my name, address, email and phone number before answering two questions. The first asked “Will you be taking part in the test?”, to which I answered yes, and the second asked whether the mother would be taking part, to which I answered no. I then entered the number of children and putative fathers that would be taking the test, (one, in both cases) and was given the option to request a hard copy of the report, which seemed to come at no extra cost.
Before submitting my order, I decided to check the terms and conditions. These were easy to read through and made clear that all aspects of my sample (the sample itself, then the DNA extracted from it) would be destroyed within six months of me receiving my results and that all data and paperwork associated with it would be destroyed within a year. I was less impressed, however, to read a clause which stated that although I was able to claim damages against the company if they made mistakes, “whether negligent or otherwise”, I would only be able to claim back the cost of the kit, and only if I informed them of an error or omission within 30 days of receiving my results.
I was surprised to find that, when I clicked ‘Submit’, rather than being taken to a payment page, I was informed that I’d be called, within two hours. This was a bit inconvenient, as I’d planned to go out after ordering the test, and now had a two-hour window in which I needed to be available. I learnt that I would pay via cheque when sending back the samples, or, if I wanted to use a credit card, I’d be contacted via phone once they had been received. I don’t think I’ve ever paid for anything over the phone before and use cheques so rarely that I haven’t even got a cheque book. Overall, this process felt a bit old-fashioned.
Once I’d completed my order over the phone, I received my kit in a discreet A4 envelope the next working day. This envelope included lots of documentation: A Code of Practice, Service Level Agreement, Terms and Conditions, a welcome letter, list of FAQs, Consent Form and DNA Step By Step Guide. Whilst I was happy to have hard copies of these (I found the Step By Step guide particularly helpful) and some needed to be signed, I’d already seen that some of the information, for example the terms and conditions, were available on the website, so felt that it was a bit of a waste of paper to include these hard copies by default.
The samples themselves were easy to take, via the colour coded swabs provided. Once I had used them, I placed them in the matching coloured envelopes and sent them back to the lab via the prepaid envelope provided in the kit, using the helpful list on the Step By Step Guide to make sure I’d included all of the required paperwork.
The Results
I got a phone call informing me that my samples had reached the lab, which was a nice personal touch. The results arrived the next day, which was impressively quick.
My results were sent to me in an email, which also outlined when my samples and data would be destroyed, something I appreciated being made clear. It also asked me to fill out a survey about the service. I was a bit frustrated to find that this, and another copy of the FAQs, had been attached before my report, and because their file names didn’t make this obvious, it took me a while to find my results.
Once I did though, I was pleased to see that the outcome was made immediately clear, with the words ‘EXLUDED’ and ‘IS NOT THE BIOLOGICAL FATHER’ capitalised, underlined and in bold (shown below).
Results letter 1 of 2.
I was pleased to see that the results had been signed off by two ‘Authorised Scientists’ and that the date the analysis had been carried out was confirmed as the day before I’d received the results.
The next page was called the Appendix (shown below) and provided explanation of my results.
Results letter 2 of 2.
This started with an explanation of the analysis. It included quite a lot of technical details, for example about the equipment used to analyse the sample, but I was impressed with how clearly and straightforwardly it was all explained. I felt they included enough information for me to be able to check their processes if I needed to, without making it too complex for me to understand.
It explained that when three or more of the STR markers they used for analysis differed between the alleged father and child, then he could be excluded as the biological father. This explanation was followed by a table that clearly showed that there were eight differences (each marked ‘inconsistent’) between me and the child in this case. Again, whilst I didn’t understand everything in this table, I was pleased to have this level of information, that I could show and discuss further with people that did.
Summary
My experience of testing with Anglia DNA was positive. I was impressed with how quickly the results were delivered and appreciated how well explained they were. I found the ordering and payment process a little old fashioned and the amount of paperwork included in the kit seemed a bit excessive, but overall the process was straightforward and I’d use them again if I needed to take another paternity test.
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