PATERNITY TESTING SERVICES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AND ALMOST ANY LOCATION IN THE WORLD
Houston Medical Testing Services, Inc., is a nationwide testing company offering its services throughout the world, wherever DNA testing is needed to provide the answer to paternity. In addition, HMTS offers its DNA testing facilities for use in many legal matters where DNA has proven to be an effective tool in assisting with legal questions in both civil and criminal matters.
HMTS offers two types of DNA testing to assist in establishing paternity. The first type of testing, called the "Beta Test", offers a very cost effective way for individuals to learn the answer to paternity, for their own purposes, rather than legal purposes. The Beta Test is a "self-test" whereby individuals can collect their own specimens for testing, learn the answer to paternity, and do with the results whatever they wish, all for one very low price. Not everyone needs a paternity test for legal purposes, so the Beta Test gives those individuals a way to get the answer at a very reasonable price of $300.00. The $300.00 total testing price includes testing specimens from the mother, child, and alleged father, or just from the child and alleged father. There are no additional costs for cases without the mother's specimen. Extra siblings can be added to the panel for an additional $100.00 per individual. The whole process is quite simple; you pay for the test; we send you the needed kit and forms; you collect the specimens following very simple written instructions; you mail the collected specimens to the laboratory. If you wish to have a professional collector do the actual specimen collection, that is no problem at all, for HMTS works with a network of over 5,500 professional collection sites throughout the country and we can easily arrange a specimen collection. The usual price range for that is $20.00 to $35.00 per person, depending upon which site, but you would know the exact price prior to having the services performed. Should you utilize our collection services here in our Houston office, the fee is fixed at $20.00 per specimen collection.
The other DNA test that we offer is the "Legal Test". Simply put, the results of this test are acceptable in any court jurisdiction in the United States and Canada. HMTS has never had a single instance where the test results were not accepted by anyone in the legal community or court system. The Legal Test follows specific collection procedures that are standard in the industry. In following proper and acceptable chain-of-custody procedures, photo identification is required; for minor children where no positive photo identification is available such as a driver's license, we require a copy of the birth certificate from the county of birth, or the temporary certificate issued by the birth hospital; we take thumb prints of all the donors; we copy the paperwork for our files; we are cautious to never leave the specimens out of our sight until they are properly secured and sealed within visual contact with the donors; the specimens never leaves our control until it is documented that they were shipped by Airborne Express directly to the laboratory. All of these types of procedures make the results fully acceptable within any court jurisdiction that is trying to make legal judgments on such matters as child custody, child support, estate settlements, and such. Too, the laboratory is ready to provide expert testimony, if needed, to back up the results from any legal test. The legal test cost is $400.00 total for the test itself, to include the mother, child, and alleged father, or just child and alleged father. Extra siblings are an additional $100.00. To the test cost, add $20.00 per donor for the specimen collection costs if done at one of our Houston area offices. If a professional collection site is utilized elsewhere, the specimen collection fee usually runs between $20.00 to $35.00 per donor and that is pre-arranged and known before the collections are done.
At the laboratory itself, there is absolutely no difference in the actual specimen analysis between the Beta Test and the Legal Test. The analysis is the same-the only difference is in the collection procedure itself!
There is absolutely no need for you to be located solely in the Houston area. Our firm on a daily basis, handles cases everywhere. Too, often the donors are located in different areas from each other. Frequently the mother and child are in one State and the alleged father in another State. In the event that we arrange for testing in another location outside of the Houston area, there is NO additional charge or cost to you; we simply provide this service for you as a courtesy. Certainly, the Beta Test can be sent easily directly to the donors, so most of the time, this situation applies only to the Legal Test. We have a large network of over 5,500 professional collection sites available to you. Our goal is to make the whole process as simple as possible for you. One call from you to us is all that it takes to arrange for your test anywhere.
The specimen collections are not difficult for the donor at all and they do not require blood testing in normal cases. The laboratory utilizes the cells contained within the loose skin tissue from the inside of the donor's mouth in the cheek area. A sterile cotton swab that looks like a large "Q-Tip" is used. The procedure is painless and only very slightly uncomfortable in a few instances. We have done collections on children as young as three days old with no problems whatsoever.
Houston Medical Testing Services, Inc. is affiliated with one of the largest and most prestigious laboratories in the United States. The laboratory is fully certified and accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks, the official certification agency for the paternity testing industry. Additionally, the laboratory is accredited by CLEA. We are pleased to report that in thousands of paternity test cases, that no result produced by Houston Medical Testing Services, Inc., has ever been challenged, and we are known throughout the industry for prompt, courteous, and professional service to our clients.
Houston Medical Testing Services, Inc. accepts payment by cash, money order, cashier's check, Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card, and American Express. We suggest credit card payment because of the comfort and security that credit card use offer you today, but we are happy to accept payment by all means except checks. From the time that the specimens are received at the laboratory, the results normally take 7 to 9 business days. First, we get a faxed result from the laboratory, followed up by original certified copies mailed the same day. We distribute the results
strictly according to your instructions. We treat results with the highest level of confidentiality and will not release those results except to the donors without other written instructions or a court order.
In addition to the traditional paternity testing to determine the biological father, we have other tests to determine
grand parentage, siblingship, twins, etc. Pricing for those services depends upon the facts of the case, as so many of those tests have special circumstances.
We look forward to serving your paternity testing needs. If you have any questions and would like to discuss the subject further, or if you would like to arrange for a paternity test, please give us a call at
1-800-568-8065 or 713-665-4687, and ask for JON VOGLER or
RUTH HUDSON. Thank you for your inquiry; we appreciate your interest in our services.
|
