DNA Testing in North Dakota: Legal Collection & At-Home Kits

You can test at GameDay DNA collection sites or use an at‑home cheek‑swab kit for private peace of mind. For court or child‑support cases, many families work with North Dakota Child Support, and the state’s page on establishing paternity and its detailed section on genetic testing explain that Child Support offers no‑cost DNA testing when paternity has not yet been established and you are receiving Full Services, and that results are then used to legally determine the father through a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity or a court order.

North Dakota follows the Uniform Parentage Act in Title 14, chapter 20 of the Century Code, which makes genetic testing central to parentage cases. The chapter on parentage and genetic testing and the index for Title 14 – Domestic Relations explain that under section 14‑20‑26 the court must order the child and other designated individuals to submit to genetic testing if a sworn request alleges paternity and shows a reasonable probability of intercourse at the likely time of conception, and that under section 14‑20‑29 a man is rebuttably identified as the father if compliant tests show at least a 99% probability of paternity and a paternity index of at least 100 to 1, in which case the court must adjudicate him the father unless other admissible test results rebut the finding.

Most legal paternity tests in North Dakota use buccal‑swab (cheek‑swab) DNA samples from the child and the alleged father, and often from the mother. North Dakota Child Support’s page on genetic testing explains that testing is performed at a Child Support office, that the mother, child, and man believed to be the father may come in together or separately, and that a technician collects DNA by swabbing the inside of each person’s cheek, while local paternity education materials like the Paternity Educational Material describe genetic testing as a painless way to legally determine who the father is.

For at‑home kits, use the sterile swabs in your kit, rub firmly along the inside of each cheek for the full time listed in the instructions, let the swabs air‑dry, and seal them in labeled envelopes before mailing. Private labs serving North Dakota, such as walk‑in DNA providers in Fargo, describe at‑home and in‑office cheek‑swab paternity tests as accurate and convenient, but North Dakota Child Support’s establish paternity page emphasizes that only genetic testing arranged through Child Support or ordered by the court—using supervised cheek‑swab collection and photo identification—can be used to legally determine the father and add his name to the birth certificate.

GameDay DNA provides results by secure online portal or encrypted email, with printed reports available for legal tests. When testing is arranged through North Dakota Child Support, the genetic testing page explains that results are typically received in about two weeks and that Child Support notifies all parties of the outcome by letter, with “0%” results meaning the man is not the biological father and Child Support will look for other possible fathers, and “99%” results meaning the man is the biological father and will be asked to sign a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity or, if not, will be established as the legal father through a court order that may also set child support and medical support.

Yes—North Dakota’s Uniform Parentage Act specifies when and how genetic test results can be used as evidence. The chapter on genetic testing for parentage includes section 14‑20‑29, which states that a man is rebuttably identified as the father if compliant tests show at least a 99% probability of paternity and a paternity index of at least 100 to 1, and that unless other admissible test results are introduced to rebut those findings, the court must adjudicate him the father; it also provides that a man excluded by genetic testing must be adjudicated not to be the father, and that if testing neither identifies nor excludes a man, the court must consider genetic results together with other evidence rather than dismissing the case.

Either parent, the child (through a representative), or a support enforcement agency may be involved in establishing paternity in North Dakota. The Uniform Parentage Act in Title 14, chapter 20 and the North Dakota Court System’s self‑help page on paternity explain that the mother, a man alleging he is the father, a man alleged to be the father, or a support enforcement agency can file to adjudicate paternity, and that a child or child’s representative can also bring a case; Child Support’s establish paternity page adds that paternity can be established by genetic testing, by presumed paternity when a child is born during a marriage, or by court adjudication beginning with a summons and complaint.

In special situations—such as when an alleged father is deceased, refuses testing, or there is an identical brother—North Dakota law allows courts to use genetic and non‑genetic evidence to resolve paternity. The genetic‑testing provisions in Title 14, chapter 20 state that if a man is identified as the father under section 14‑20‑29 without considering the possibility of an identical brother, the court may rely on non‑genetic evidence to adjudicate which brother is the father, and that the paternity of a child with a presumed, acknowledged, or adjudicated father may only be disproved by admissible genetic‑test results excluding that man or identifying another man, while Legal Services of North Dakota’s overview What is paternity? notes that anyone who believes a man is or is not a child’s parent can file a court action to address parentage when genetic testing and existing legal status conflict.