Not everyone knows who their full family is. Parents can leave when their children are young and siblings can be separated at birth. Children who were adopted can be happy with their new parents and still have a desire to find out more about their biological relatives. If this is the case for you, you can use DNA testing to find out more about where you come from. Finding potential family members can be tough, but the test is easy. If you think you’ve already found your long lost sister, you can sign up for a DNA sibling test and find out once and for all.
How accurate are sibling tests?
Sibling tests can tell you if someone is your biological brother or sister. These tests can be useful if your biological parents are no longer around to confirm it. However, they aren’t the most accurate of DNA tests. For example, a paternity test to prove who your father is can be almost 100% accurate because there is a larger percentage of DNA shared. This is because a baby’s cells are made up of both a mother’s and a father’s genetic information. You can directly trace your heritage back easily. However, even though your sibling came from the same genetic background, the DNA sequences can be very different. This is why some siblings are very different in appearance despite having the same parents. The accuracy will drop even more if you are only half-siblings. Despite this, you can still get results that are conclusive enough to say that you are very likely a sibling to the other person tested.
Legal purposes for getting a sibling DNA test
Finding out if someone is your biological sister or brother can bring you peace of mind. However, there are legal purposes for these tests too. For example, immigration appeals can benefit from DNA tests. If you have a half-sibling living in a country you want to move to but you’re having trouble getting a visa, they can sponsor you to make things easier. The immigration services may want proof that you are half-siblings. If you don’t have any documents to prove this, you can get a DNA test to show with relatively good accuracy that you are related. The immigration services will take this into account and your chances of getting a visa can increase. However, make sure you get the test done in the right place. You must go to a certified clinic to have the samples taken. You cannot use non-certified clinics or home kits.