Screengrab from YouTube/Universal Pictures
100,000 at-home kits were sold at retail in America alone. Industry insiders estimate that as many as 1,000,000 total paternity tests, including court-ordered ones, are processed yearly in labs from coast to coast.
Salt Lake City, UT. (PRWEB) September 14, 2016
The new major motion picture Bridget Jones’s Baby, set to release in the United States on September 16, is (of course) about Bridget—a lovable woman-next-door who is pregnant and isn’t sure which of her two suitors is the father of her baby. Paternity testing is occasionally in the news for high-profile celebrity cases, but is the need for this service really that great in the general population? IDENTIGENE, LLC, the first company to offer an over-the-counter paternity test kit to consumers and America’s #1 brand, says that according to 2015 numbers provided by sales-measuring service IRi, 100,000 at-home kits were sold at retail in America alone. Industry insiders estimate that as many as 1,000,000 total paternity tests, including court-ordered ones, are processed yearly in labs from coast to coast.
- 41% of U.S. births in 2014 were out of wedlock. That’s a 33% increase in 10 years. And the rate is 68% for black babies (CDC)
- 2% of men are unknowingly raising children who aren’t biologically theirs (KU Leuven Laboratory study, 2016)
Why is it important for a child to have a relationship with their biological father?
- Children who live absent a biological father are 2-3 times more likely to:
- experience emotional and behavioral problems
- be a victim of child abuse
- engage in criminal behavior
- live in poverty
- use drugs (National Center for Fathering)
So although the new Bridget Jones movie is a light-hearted comedy, in the real world getting a paternity test can be stressful, and results have potentially life-changing consequences. The option to collect and submit DNA from home, with affordable paternity testing performed by an accredited lab, mitigates a lot of the stress and makes the test more accessible to everyone—especially a girl-next-door like Bridget Jones.
Steve Smith, Executive Director at IDENTIGENE, says, “I’m not surprised that paternity testing is being included as a theme in a major motion picture. We process thousands of tests a month at our lab and the desire to take advantage of DNA science for paternity answers is definitely becoming more mainstream.”
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About IDENTIGENE
IDENTIGENE is America’s #1 brand for DNA paternity testing and is a global leader in the industry, providing personal and legal paternity tests and a variety of relationship testing for clients around the world. IDENTIGENE, the first company to bring DNA paternity testing to the general consumer through major drugstores, grocery stores and supercenters, is nationally and internationally accredited for both DNA paternity and molecular diagnostic testing services. IDENTIGENE is a privately-held, wholly-owned subsidiary of Sorenson Genomics, which is a highly accredited genetic laboratory renowned for its expertise in human identity, forensics DNA testing and population genetics.
Visit http://www.DNAtesting.com for industry-leading resources, including how-to videos, a store locator, customer reviews and more. Connect with IDENTIGENE on Facebook or follow the company on Twitter at @Identigene.
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Contact:
Carolyn Engerman
IDENTIGENE Marketing Specialist
cengerman(at)sorensongenomics.com
801-462-1476
