Can a prenatal DNA paternity testing be done prior to the birth of the child?
Situations exist where it becomes necessary for a mother to determine the paternity of her child prior to its birth. Prenatal paternity testing can be performed on samples obtained by trained medical personnel such as an OB/GYN using a procedure called amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS). The amniocentesis procedure is used to obtain fetal cells from the amniotic fluid that surrounds the developing fetus. Amniocentesis is performed in the second trimester, anywhere from the 14th-24th weeks of pregnancy. During this procedure, the doctor uses ultrasound to guide a thin needle to draw out a small amount of amniotic fluid, which contains the fetal cells from which the babies DNA is obtained. An alternative method for obtaining a sample of the child’s DNA prior to birth is CVS. This test consists of a doctor using a thin needle or tube guided by an ultrasound, to obtain chorionic villi. Chorionic villi are little finger like pieces of tissue attached to the wall of the uterus.
