Paternity Testing and You

Confusion over paternity can inspire huge interpersonal conflicts, and potentially be devastating for the people involved. Except in situations of surrogate motherhood, one can be relatively certain that a mother who gives birth to a child is that child’s actual genetic mother. But it can be a bit trickier for fathers, and this can lead to a lot of discord. Instead of allowing the issue to drag on, causing undue damage to family bonds, allow Any Lab Test Now to quickly resolve questions of paternity with our paternity testing.

Since society first acquired the technology to test for blood type in the early 1900s, it had many applications,  including paternity testing. This antiquated method could only exclude a potential father, and was unable to conclude that an individual was the father of a child. As technology became more advanced, additional characteristics of the blood began to be used to augment the effectiveness of a paternity test. But it was not until techniques for DNA sequencing and analysis were invented that people could determine paternity with 99.99% accuracy. Since then, the technology has only become more refined, and people are able to use it to determine familial relationships between generations from the smallest scraps of genetic material.

Today, most people use paternity tests when there is a question of parentage from one or both presumed parents. In court, paternity tests can be used to support claims of parental rights and requests for child support, as well as help to settle child custody cases. But many people are also using paternity tests to help them locate their birth parents after they’ve discovered that they were adopted earlier in life. Either way, a DNA sequencing and analysis test can give parents and children clarity, certainty and peace of mind.

Whether you need a court-admissible document, need testing for immigration purposes or you are simply curious about your lineage, Any Lab Test Now offers quick, walk-in DNA and paternity testing. With Any Lab Test Now, you can rest easy knowing you’ve taken the right paternity test for your needs, and that your confidential results will be shared with you in a timely manner. Don’t let questions of genetic relationships remain unanswered. Visit your local Any Lab Test Now to find out the truth!

Planning to Claim Your Child on Your Tax Return?

With tax season upon us, many fathers are beginning to file their tax returns and claim their child during the process. However, dads, did you know that if your name is not listed on your child’s birth certificate, you cannot legally claim your child as an exemption?

Finding out this information may be surprising, but by purchasing a Legally Admissible Paternity Test, you can use your test results with proper chain-of-custody as evidence to add your name to your child’s birth certificate. Then, you’ll be able to clear-up any confusion and file your taxes without any doubt of validity.

Any Lab Test Now® offers a Legally Admissible Paternity Test at an affordable cost with guaranteed quick results. Along with being able to add your name to your child’s birth certificate, your results will be able to serve as evidence in circumstances where you or the child’s mother wish to:

  • Seek social security or military benefits

  • Seek child custody

  • Adopt a child

  • Be in a position to inherit

To begin this process, contact your local Any Lab Test Now today. We’ll help you find the answers you need now.

Celebrate Your Siblings

Happy National Siblings Day! Siblings Day Foundation founder Claudia Evart was inspired to create a recognized day to celebrate and honor siblings after losing her own siblings early on in life. She chose April 10 specifically, as it is the birthday of her late sister.

Evart’s goal is to create a nationally known holiday, similar to Mother’s and Father’s day. Do something nice for your sibling today to let them know how much you appreciate them.

Because today is National Siblings Day, we’d like to remind you of our Siblingship DNA Test. If you want to know if siblings share one or both biological parents in common, a Siblingship DNA Test can determine the statistical probability of whether they are half or full siblings, or unrelated.

Measure Your Resolutions For An Even Happier New Year

ANY LAB TEST NOW® works hard to help you reach your goals. One of the ways we can do so, is by guiding you through which lab tests you can take to measure the results of your resolutions.

Kick off the new year with our recommended baseline tests to help you manage your New Year’s Resolutions.

The Basic Check-Up Panel tests include a complete blood count (CBC), chemistry panel, lipid panel, urinalysis, and TSH lab tests as well as a blood pressure check*. This is a great lab testing panel for evaluating your overall health and is commonly ordered by a physician during a routine or annual check up. This will help establish a measurable baseline for your health resolutions in the new year.

Is your resolution focused on better managing your diabetes?  Check your blood sugar levels with the Glucose (Serum) Blood Test or Hemoglobin A1c. These are pretty common lab tests and are helpful when establishing a baseline.

The C-Reactive Protein test, the VAP (Vertical Auto Profile) test and the PLAC test are also suggested to measure your standard heart health and to assess your resolutions. What about your cholesterol level?  Did those holiday goodies increase your numbers?  A Lipid Panel will let you know where your cholesterol level is now, and can be measured again in 3 to 6 months to reflect your hard work related to diet and exercise changes.

Check out other tests and use our test finder to search which ones will help you effectively meet your goals this new year!

*Not available at locations in the State of Florida

Get Tested & Spread the Word: World AIDS Month

As December brings the holiday hustle and bustle, all of us at ANY LAB TEST NOW® don’t want you to forget that it’s World AIDS Month.

A shocking number of over 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV. HIV and AIDS are closely related as AIDS is classified as the final stage of HIV.

December is set aside each year to bring awareness to what AIDS can cause and how to prevent it from spreading further. Getting a lab test is the only way to truly know if you or your partner have contracted the disease. It’s important for you to know what’s going on in your body for your sake and for the safety of others around you.

Get yourself familiar at www.aids.gov to learn all you can about AIDS 101, prevention, what to know if you’re recently diagnosed and how to stay healthy once you have been diagnosed. Also, check out these lists of STD and HIV tests that we make available to you!

Raising Awareness for Health Centers During Health Center Week

Have you ever noticed that when you get sick you always feel the need to find out what’s wrong? Who wants to go another day with a tummy ache, a sore throat or the dreaded sinus headache and congestion? Believe it or not that’s one of the many benefits provided by health centers. You might start asking yourself… “But I don’t have insurance, so how can I get service?” The good news is you have options at your disposal that will empower you to Take Control of Your Health® whether you have high deductible insurance, a Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account, or if you are uninsured.

A great example of available options is ANY LAB TEST NOW®. Though ANY LAB TEST NOW® does not treat or diagnose, it does empower its customers to be proactive about managing their health by providing direct access to blood tests, DNA tests, drug and alcohol testing as well as other lab testing services.  After you get your lab test results, you can quickly call a physician with our AmeriDoc telemedicine services program.  The doctor is just a phone call a way, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and can treat many non-emergent care issues by phone, video call, or chat.

According the National Association of Community Health Centers, there are around 44 million people in the U.S. that are currently uninsured with another 56 million with high deductible insurance. This often makes health take a back seat to cost, which stresses the importance of price transparency. Can you take more good news? ANY LAB TEST NOW®’s affordable, transparent prices fit into a person’s healthcare budget, providing a solution that continues to support overall health and wellness. Don’t let your health take a back seat, without it we are nothing.

During the week of August 11 – 17 the nation celebrates Health Center Week. Why not take the time during this week to stop by a health center near you, check in on your health and thank them for helping to empower you and your loved ones to Take Control of Your Health®?

To learn more about ANY LAB TEST NOW®’s lab testing options stop by an ANY LAB TEST NOW® near you or visit www.anylabtestnow.com

Paternity Doubts?

Regardless of whether you are an alleged father, mother, child or grandparent, dealing with questionable paternity brings on a rollercoaster of emotions that have an impact on your everyday life. You may feel angry or disappointed. You may feel complete confusion, or even embarrassment. The last thing you want to feel is judged.

Feeling these types of emotions is normal, especially when your relationship with your child and even other family members, partners or friends, is in question.  Believe it or not, you are not alone. But, because you want the question to go away, the question running through your mind when you first make that step to know the truth is…“I just want to know.” You want the feelings and the cloud of doubt hanging over you to go away – NOW.  However before making the decision to get a paternity test done, it is important to step back and approach the situation with a clear mind.  What you do now may affect your, and most importantly, the child’s, future. The most important step to take before going through the test itself is to ask yourself, “Once I know…What am I ultimately going to do with the answer and test results?”.

The reason this step is so important is because there are two types of paternity tests. One type of DNA test is “informational”, also called a “peace of mind” DNA test or “self-collection kit.  Although the DNA testing process is the same as for a legally-admissible paternity test, described further below, there is no chain-of-custody or identification information.  As with kits purchased over-the-counter, there are also no guarantees on whose DNA is submitted if samples are not collected in front of each other.  This means the test results cannot be used for any other purpose than to let you know the answer to the paternity question.  That’s it – no names, no ID’s, nothing but a probability of paternity.

The most common type of paternity test is a Legally Admissible DNA Test. Remember that there are many factors that can change yours and the child’s lives after you have the test results that go beyond just knowing an answer.  Will you or did you complete the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity at the time of the child’s birth?  You may need proper evidence to either add or remove your name in that case.  Are you going to utilize the results to change your child’s name on their birth certificate? Will you be asking for any kind of financial benefits, such as child support? Will you be seeking child custody, social security or military benefits? Then you need paternity test results that will be accepted as legal evidence. These test results not only clear you of doubts but also help you get the aid that you, your child and your family need.

Everyone’s situation and circumstance is a bit different. Either way, it is safe to say that the process can be no fun at all. For that reason, it is important to find a partner that will make the process go as simple and stress-free as possible. Whether you need legally admissible results or you just want peace of mind, ANY LAB TEST NOW®  is here to help you through this emotional time. We will guide you towards the right test for your particular situation in order for you to be able to take the necessary next steps. Best of all, you can get your results in an average of only 3 business days.

For additional information visit www.anylabtestnow.com or call your local ANY LAB TEST NOW® today! Don’t let a questionable paternity interfere with your relationships and daily life. The Truth is Waiting.

You Could Be Supplying Your Teen with Prescription Drugs

Do you know what is in your medicine cabinet?   Do you have prescription drugs left over from dental surgery or the time you threw out your back – just in case it happens again?  Do you know how many of those pills you have in the bottle?  Chances are if you live with a teen, they know exactly what you have in your cabinet and that you won’t notice a pill gone here and there – a pill that is worth $20-$40 and makes them the life of the party.

Two-thirds of teens who report abuse of prescription medicine are getting them from friends, family and acquaintances. Make sure the teens in your life don’t have access to your medicine. ANY LAB TEST NOW has joined forces with the Partnership at Drugfree.org’s Medicine Abuse Project to help educate our communities about this growing problem.

WHAT IS IT?

This initiative will kick-off a multi-year program designed to educate the public about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

• Every day, more than 2,000 kids use prescription drugs to get high for the first time

• Prescription medicines are now the most commonly abused drugs by 12-13 year olds

• Unintentional drug poisoning is now the leading cause of accidental death in the United States.

WHAT CAN I DO?

STEP 1: MONITOR

Parents are in an influential position to immediately help reduce teen access to prescription medicine because medicine is commonly found in the home. But how aware are you of the quantities that are currently in your home? Start by taking note of how many pills are in each of your prescription bottles or pill packets.

Make sure your friends and relatives — especially grandparents — are also aware of the risks. Encourage them to regularly monitor their own medicines.

Give your child another reason to say no to peer pressure and ensure they are safe by regularly testing your teens for drugs with ANY LAB TEST NOW’s Trust but, Verify Program. To find a local ANY LAB TEST NOW in your area, go to www.anylabtestnow.com/locations/.

 STEP 2: SECURE

Take prescription medicine out of the medicine cabinet and secure them in a place only you know about.

If possible, keep all medicines, both prescription and over-the-counter, in a safe place, such as a locked cabinet your teen cannot access.

 STEP 3: DISPOSE

Take an inventory of all of the medicine in your home. Start by discarding expired or unused Rx  and OTC medicine when your teens are not home.

Unbelievable as it may seem, teenagers will retrieve discarded prescription medicine from the trash. Find a medicine take-back location near you to ensure they are safely discarded.

Visit www.anylabtestnow.com/medicineabuseproject/ for more information.

Texas Mistaken Paternity Law’s Deadline Around the Corner

Having a child is one of the most rewarding things in life. Sadly cases of mistaken paternity, where an individual is forced to take emotional and financial responsibility of a child that is not biologically theirs arise every day. In May 2011 Section 161.005 of the Texas Family Code was amended to allow any man to challenge the paternity of his child with a court admissible DNA test, regardless of how long ago he found out the child was not biologically his or had signed an Acknowledgement of Paternity (AOP).  If test results find the man not to be the biological father of the child, the court must terminate that person’s parent child relationship as well as their child support order.

This law, however, came with a deadline of September 1st, 2012. This deadline fast approaches with only 5 days left for fathers in Texas that suspect mistaken paternity to get a court admissible DNA test. Once the deadline has passed every father that suspects mistaken paternity has a total of 12 months from the date of discovery to file their petition to terminate parental rights along with child support orders.

Mistaken paternity can be a stressful and complicated process for all involved. If there are doubts present, getting a court admissible DNA test is the best option to begin the process. ANY LAB TEST NOW® offers this test for men that find themselves in this predicament.

Entities like TexasLawHelp.org and local family attorneys can provide you with additional information and instructions for filing a Termination of Mistaken Paternity petition. For information and details about the court admissible DNA test or to find your nearest ANY LAB TEST NOW® Texas location visit https://www.anylabtestnow.com/

Got a Refund? Get a Paternity Test

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 41% of all babies are born out-of-wedlock (2009).  This rate has been inching up year after year.  Unfortunately, this also results in more highly-emotional relationship situations between the mother, the alleged father and even their families when it comes time to establish paternity for the child, who is ultimately affected by his or her parents’ reactions and decisions.

When a mother or father inquires about a paternity test, they most commonly state they just want to know the answer, is he or is he not the father; and they want to know quickly.  Urgency is a given – these parents are dealing with so many emotions, ranging from anger to frustration to confusion to trying to decide whether or not they should bond with the baby yet.   Many purchase what is called an “informational paternity test” or “self-collection kit” because it is the cheapest.  Yet, is it the right test?

Here are the most common ways people ultimately use their paternity test results:

  • Seek or deny child support
  • Seek or deny child custody or visitation
  • Seek military, health insurance or social security benefits
  • Add or rescind a father’s name on the child’s birth certificate
  • Adoption

This is the sad part:  Parents buy the cheapest test, because it is what they can afford to answer their question.  Yet, does it?  No.  These test results cannot be used to solve the most common ways people use paternity test results!  In these instances, they must have a legally-admissible test result document – no other option.

It’s tough when you are a parent in this position; however, you have to get past the “I just want to know” and move towards what’s in the best interest of the child; how you and your family will be able to more quickly bond and develop a strong relationship with the baby when you know the answer; and relieving all of those emotions that ultimately show up when there are paternity questions.

If you didn’t have the money before, maybe now is the time.  Many people will be getting their tax refunds this quarter.  Consider investing in your child’s future and your peace of mind.  It is a priority.

Happy Mom and BabyTo learn more, download our free e-book, or contact your local ANY LAB TEST NOW location.