DNA Paternity Test Kits Available Retail

Clockwork Pharmacy is launching DNA paternity test kits which will be sold over the counter. It is the first pharmaceutical retailer to make the move in the UK.

They initially went on sale on November 17 at its Mare Street store in London and the other 10 other outlets in London and Kent will follow.

UK’s top provider specialising in commercial DNA services, International Biosciences, is producing the paternity test kits.

With a reputation of being a pioneer in the business, Clockwork Pharmacy believes that retail paternity tests will become standard. The pharmacy chain is the only one in the UK to provide walk-in vaccination services as well as a wide variety of other consultancy specialist and medical facilities.

It sees the selling of DNA paternity testing kits as an extension of its forward thinking policy of serving the public.

The test kits contain swabs which are provided to get a DNA sample from the inside of the cheek. The sample is then dispatched to the accredited laboratories of International Biosciences for testing. International Biosciences then processes the samples and the customer receives their results within 5 days.

The DNA paternity test kit costs £30 and the laboratory processing fee is £119.

Ethical campaigners have said that DNA paternity kits may very well rip families apart and devastate children.

The awareness of this issue has been greatly raised in the UK mostly because of TV shows such as Jeremy Kyle where paternity claims are presented out in front the audience.

Paternity testing is regarded as a way to facilitate child support in the case of marital and relationship issues. It is also seen as way to reassure a suspicious male spouse.

A survey carried out by the University of Washington revealed that 50% of men were in favour of such testing while only 32% of women were.

Sievert Rohwer, co-author of a paper reporting the data in an issue of the publication Evolution and Human Behavior, said that finding the truth has a huge cost attached to it. He said this is where mistrust comes in.

It’s been reported that on average through out western countries, 1% of women involved in stable relationships choose to have another man as the father of their child, although it is doubtful that it is a proactive move on her part in most cases, simply being the result of an affair.

But the results also show that this number jumps to a staggering 10% amongst low income families in the UK, US and Mexico.