Search for maternity
How to do a Maternity search?
Genetic research is a powerful and useful tool when you have doubts about a parentage link between two people.
This gives you the opportunity to use your DNA to prove a biological relationship and thus dispel a doubt about a family member, confirm your membership from a legal point of view or find unknown relatives.
​
Unfortunately when you want to do this type of genetic analysis, unlike a genealogy test which will only allow you to have relationship matches by percentage, you must compare the DNA of two or more individuals to have a reliable result on your parentage.
​
So the first thing to do in this situation is to know:
Who is available for the DNA test?
What is the family situation with this person?
Which DNA test to choose?
​
The search for a maternal filiation link can then be done with close members of the family of the presumed mother and depending on the participant available, a choice of DNA test will be offered to you.
Who can participate in a maternity search?
As indicated previously to do a relationship DNA test, you must compare the DNA of several people to define a maternal parentage link. For this, we propose in this guide to put you in the position of:
​
- A man
- A woman
​
Depending on your profile, you will be able to do genetic analysis with:
​
- The alleged mother
- Your Brothers and Sisters
- Your Grandparents
- Your Aunt or Uncle
- First cousins
​
However, there are conditions for each of the participants and it is often recommended to include your biological father to improve the results of DNA tests, if possible.
What are the conditions for each participant?
Siblings :
DNA testing can be performed between siblings, including both brothers and sisters or just between brothers, or just between sisters.
It is not necessary for siblings to have the same biological father for a maternity test.
Grandparents:
​
It is feasible to conduct a DNA test between a grandchild and their grandparents, given that both grandparents participate in the test.
While some genetic labs may offer testing with only one grandparent, this is not recommended as it may result in unreliable and imprecise results due to a lack of genetic information.
Additionally, it is imperative to note that both grandparents must be the biological parents of the mother in question.
Aunt / uncle:
​
When selecting a participant for a DNA test, you must choose between your aunt and uncle.
Testing both is not required to obtain high-quality results, and the lab may charge you double for the test.
However, it is crucial that the selected participant be either a full brother or sister of the suspected mother, and they must have the same biological parents.
(They must share the same biological parents)
Cousin:
​
DNA testing with a first cousin is feasible.
The comparison will be based on mitochondrial DNA, which is only passed down from the mother to all her children.
The requirement is that the cousin must be a descendant of your grandmother's maternal line, such as your aunt's child or another female descendant.
What DNA tests are available?
​
To perform a maternity DNA test, you must compare your genes to that of a presumed mother.
This genetic analysis is the most reliable and the most direct way to confirm the parentage link between the children, boys or girls, and the mother tested.
The biological father is not necessary, but can also take part in the test.
​
To confirm a shared maternity among siblings, a sibling DNA test can be performed.
The genetic examination will provide you with a percentage of relatedness, which can vary based on your genes.
It is more precise to conduct this test with multiple participants (more than two) to increase the accuracy of the results.
Including your biological father is strongly recommended, though not necessary.
​
A DNA test can be used for genetic analysis between grandchildren and grandparents.
Since the laboratory does not have the genetic information of the potential mother, it is advantageous to provide the genetic profile of the biological father if available.
The test's reliability is dependent on both grandparents participating.
​
A relationship DNA test between a nephew and a niece can be conducted with either the aunt or the uncle.
To increase the reliability of the results, it is recommended to cross genders:
-
Nephew with aunt
-
Niece with uncle
The examination results are expressed as a percentage of relatedness, and including the biological father's genetic profile is always recommended if feasible.
​
The mitochondria test is as reliable as the maternity test in the results. It will give you either a positive or negative answer depending on the family situation. This test can be done with male and female individuals to determine if they belong to the same maternal line. Participants can be:
​
- Presumed mother
- Aunt
- Grandmother
- Brothers and sisters
- First cousins ( feminine / masculine)
​
How to read the results of a DNA test?
DNA tests can give different information depending on the type of test performed. However, most of the time, the results include a comparative analysis of the genetic profiles of the people concerned.
The information can be represented in different forms such as graphs, tables or percentages which indicate the probability of genetic relationship between the participants.
