Frequently Asked Questions

What are the advantages of using Nimble Diagnostics?
What are the important things to look for in a testing company?
How is the sample taken?
How is the test performed?
Why is information regarding the parent(s) ethnicity required?
Do I have to provide information on the parents ethnicity?
How are the results presented?
Is a sample from the mother required?
Does the mother need to give permission for testing?
Is there a minimum age requirement for the child?
What if the child and/or parent(s) live in different cities?
Can the test be performed on someone who is unavailable?
Can Nimble Diagnostics provide a court-admissible paternity test?
Can the testing be billed to my credit card discreetly?
Does Nimble Diagnostics accept international orders?
How is shipping arranged?
Tell me about Nimble Diagnostics.
Does Nimble Diagnostics offer other genetic testing services?
How can I contact Nimble Diagnostics?

What are the advantages of using Nimble Diagnostics?

Highest standards - Unlike many other paternity testing companies, our company utilizes a paternity testing laboratory fully certified by the AABB, ISO 17025, and NATA, ensuring your test is performed to the highest international standards.
Highest quality - All of our senior analytical staff hold PhD's, so you can be sure that our tests are performed and interpreted by experts.
Painless testing - Samples are taken simply by gently rubbing a soft swab on the inside of the cheek. No blood or other sample collection is required so the testing is painless and non-invasive.
We accept international orders - We accept orders from anywhere in the world, and the sample can be sent to one of several Nimble Diagnostics international locations. We also can accept payment in several currencies.
No hidden charges - Other testing companies have hidden costs and will charge an additional fee to provide the results once testing has been completed. ALL of the costs to collect the sample, process the result, and report the result back to the requestor are included in the prices quotes by us, guaranteed.
Privacy guaranteed - Your privacy is of utmost importance to us. Any genetic or other information generated by us or provided by you or will NEVER be shared with a third party, such as an insurer, employer, or medical practitioner without your express written permission. Any and all personal data can be destroyed on request.

What are the important things to look for in a testing company?

There are several paternity testing companies offering what look like very cheap tests, however, NOT ALL PATERNITY TESTS ARE OF EQUAL QUALITY. To avoid getting an incorrect result from your test which could have devastating consequences, always ensure the following:

The testing company is fully accredited, preferably by international accreditation bodies such as the AABB, ISO 17025, and NATA. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025 is the world standard in the certification of competence of testing and calibration of medical diagnostic laboratories. ISO 17025 certification ensures a high level of competence and compliance for the certified laboratory, ensuring that testing is undertaken by professionals. The AABB also certifies laboratories, and runs a accreditation programme specifically for high competence levels in parentage testing. The lab used by Nimble Diagnostics is accredited by both bodies.
The company uses a an adequate number of genetic markers - To cut costs, many companies will use only a small number of genetic markers, which severely limits their accuracy. They will quote a 99% accuracy which sounds high, but in fact means that 1 in every 100 of their tests results are INCORRECT - are you willing to risk that on such an important result? Nimble Diagnostics uses at least 18 genetic markers for testing, meaning the chance that these markers will assign paternity incorrectly is as low as one in several billion.
Many companies have hidden costs. They will lure you in with the promise of a cheap test, then charge you extra for shipping, for rapid results, or even to provide a copy of the results. Nimble Diagnostics guarantees that you will pay NO MORE than the advertised price - shipping of the test kit, results, and testing is all included.

How is the sample taken?

The sample is taken simply by gently rubbing a soft swab on the inside of the cheek. No blood or other sample collection is required so the testing is painless and non-invasive. All instructions are provided in our free test kits.

How is the test performed?

We test a number of genetic locations (known as 'loci') for each test in accordance with international paternity testing standards (including ISO 17025 guidelines) - which provides unsurpassed confidence in the paternity result. We utilise various population genetics statistics such as the Paternity Index to calculate test results. This allows us to exclude paternity with 100% accuracy, and include paternity with up to 99.99999% accuracy. With accuracies this high, Nimble Diagnostics provides the only paternity test you will ever need.

Why is information regarding the parent(s) ethnicity required?

The frequency of a given allele for each of the loci we test generally changes depending on the ethnicity of the parents - i.e. genetic differences between people of Caucasian, African, Hispanic, or Asian backgrounds for example means we need to calculate the Paternity Index slightly differently to take into account their different backgrounds and to provide the most accurate result.

Do I have to provide information on the parents ethnicity?

It is entirely up to you whether you want to/are able to provide this information, however it will increase the accuracy of the paternity test slightly. If this data is not provided, however, we will simply use the lowest Paternity Index value for each loci, which will generally still produce a result which is >99.999% accurate.

How are the results presented?

Results will simply be reported to you as a probability that the alleged father of the child is in fact the father. As we provide high quality testing services, this will most often either be 0% (indicating the alleged father is NOT the child's true father), or >99.9% (indicating that the alleged father is almost certainly the child's true father). The conclusions of the test are stated plainly in the report. Either the report can be emailed to a specific email address, posted, or both. This can be selected upon ordering.

Is a sample from the mother required?

This is not required, and many paternity tests are done with only samples from the child and alleged father. Testing including the mother can often increase the accuracy of testing however, and we will include the mother in a standard test at no additional cost.

Does the mother need to give permission for testing?

The mothers permission is not required for our peace-of-mind testing. However, for a court-admissible paternity test, the requirements may be different depending on your country of residence.

Is there a minimum age requirement for the child?

There is no minimum age requirement for the child (indeed paternity testing is frequently performed shortly after birth). The samples are collected painlessly by rubbing a soft swab in the inside of the cheek so it is painless, non-invasive, and simple to collect, even from a young child.

What if the child and/or parent(s) live in different cities?

This is no problem - we can send out multiple test kits at no extra charge, and will simply wait until we have received all samples from the different locations and will then process the samples together.

Can the test be performed on someone who is unavailable?

If for any reason a swab cannot be collected for any of the individuals being tested, genetic material can often also be collected from other sources, including saliva (e.g. on chewed gum or cigarette butts), blood stains (e.g. on a razor), hair (e.g. from a hairbrush), or other forensic samples. This may be specified in our online order form.

Can Nimble Diagnostics provide a court-admissible paternity test?

Court-admissible paternity tests require special collection and processing and thus are generally more expensive than "peace-of-mind", non-court-admissible paternity tests (it is important to note, however, our "peace-of-mind" tests provide an accuracy equal to or greater than all internationally accepted court-admissible paternity tests). In our experience, the majority of paternity tests reveal that the alleged father of the child in question is in fact the true biological father. Therefore, performing an initial "peace-of-mind" paternity test at much less expense is usually far more cost-effective for the majority of our clients. If a court-admissible test is required, however, please contact us and we can make arrangements for one depending on your country of residence.

Can the testing be billed to my credit card discreetly?

We appreciate the need for privacy for our clients and will bill your credit card discreetly.

Does Nimble Diagnostics accept international orders?

Yes! We accept orders from anywhere in the world, and the sample can be sent to one of several Nimble Diagnostics international locations. We also can accept payment in almost any currency if requested.

How is shipping arranged?

We will ship a test kit out to you anywhere in the world free of charge within 24 hours of receiving an order. Once the samples have been collected, the kit should be mailed back to us. If there are any other special requests regarding shipping, please contact us and we will do our very best to accommodate them.

Tell me about Nimble Diagnostics.

Information about our company can be found here.

Does Nimble Diagnostics offer other genetic testing services?

We also offer a full range of family relationship DNA tests, ancestry DNA tests, and prenatal gender DNA tests. We are also currently negotiating to perform a number of other diagnostic tests with our usual high standards. These will be available from our website soon. If you have any questions regarding any genetic tests please contact us.

How can I contact Nimble Diagnostics?

Our contact information can be found here.