An avuncular test compares the DNA profile of a child with that of an alleged aunt or uncle — the brother or sister of an alleged parent — to estimate the likelihood of a biological relationship.
It is used when the alleged parent cannot be tested: he or she has died, cannot be located, or will not take part. Because an aunt or uncle shares only about a quarter of a child's DNA rather than half, the laboratory reports a likelihood ratio — how much more likely the observed DNA is if the two are related than if they are not — rather than the near-certainty a direct parentage test gives.
Read this before you order. An avuncular test can come back strongly supportive, strongly against, or genuinely inconclusive. That is the nature of the test, not a failure of the laboratory. Two things improve it: including the child's mother, and testing a second aunt or uncle. If the alleged parent is in fact available, a direct test is cheaper, faster and far more definitive — call us and we will say so.
Function and purpose- The alleged father or mother has died, cannot be found, or will not test
- Estate, inheritance and probate matters
- Social Security and survivor benefit claims
- Establishing a family relationship for support or custody proceedings
- Private peace-of-mind answers for the family
- Results are reported as a combined avuncular index and a likelihood of relationship, not as a single 99.99% figure.
- Including the child's mother materially strengthens the result, and testing a second aunt or uncle strengthens it further.
- Legal (chain-of-custody) tests require photo identification, witnessed collection and tamper-evident packaging.
- Testing is performed by an AABB-accredited laboratory, accredited for Relationship Testing Activities, using dual-technician review.
- Standard turnaround is 2 to 3 business days after the final sample arrives at the laboratory.
- Where the alleged parent is available, a direct parentage test is always the stronger option.