How much does a DNA genetic test cost in the US?

Question:I need to get a DNA test to find out who my real father is. My family is saying that the man on my birth certificate isn't my dad because I'm not light skinned-I'm my mom's skin color & have some of his features, & I'm afraid they might go off on me if I were to ask for a test. This man is also French & Native American but looks Italian. I have hair & eyes sort of like him, & the man they're describing to be my dad doesn't have features like I have & they say he's African American like my mom. I really would like to know who my real father is because that's pretty messed up if the man named on me & my twin sister's birth certificate isn't our real father, & I'm sitting here receiving Social Security checks from off of him. If he's not really my dad, then I don't want to be receiving SS checks from him. I'm disabled & willing to work but can't find a job.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I need to get a DNA test to find out who my real father is. My family is saying that the man on my birth certificate isn't my dad because I'm not light skinned-I'm my mom's skin color & have some of his features, & I'm afraid they might go off on me if I were to ask for a test. This man is also French & Native American but looks Italian. I have hair & eyes sort of like him, & the man they're describing to be my dad doesn't have features like I have & they say he's African American like my mom. I really would like to know who my real father is because that's pretty messed up if the man named on me & my twin sister's birth certificate isn't our real father, & I'm sitting here receiving Social Security checks from off of him. If he's not really my dad, then I don't want to be receiving SS checks from him. I'm disabled & willing to work but can't find a job.

First of all you would need to double the cost of the tests because you will need two. One for you and one for "your dad".

You both need to be tested because that is the only way they can compare the DNA to find a match. DNA tests range from $200 to $400 and more. The cost of the test differs depending on how many markers they are testing for....

Heres a webpage that explains what a DNA test can and cannot tell you

http://www.coolrogue.net/genealogy/dnate...

More important is what you will get (or more likely NOT get) for your money.

Read the fine print! Disclaimers abound. You will NOT get a list of your ancestry, but probabilities. Don't take my word for it, here is a direct cut and paste from one of those DNA testing sites (hidden deep in the fine print):

"Test results are statistical probabilities of your origins and must be interpreted with caution. Human populations have been mixing since they began leaving Africa more than 100,000 years ago. A genetic marker can strongly suggest an origin, but is not 100% proof because no markers have so far been found that exist exclusively in a single group. If all the available tests are run on any given individual that still represents only a small percent of their total DNA."

Another site, again deep in the bowels, at least was honest enough to define what the haplogroups they were testing for meant...unfortunately, their definitions about the various haplogroups included (again, cut and paste) the following wording for each haplogroup identified here...

A: “considered the group”; B: “best represented among”; C: “are also to be found - although less commonly – among”; D: “thought to have arisen”; E: “progeny is most common”; E3a: “thought to have migrated”; E3b: “thought to have emigrated”; F: “Very little is universally accepted”; G: “It is thought to have its origins in”; H: “is believed to have been born”; I: “is thought to be linked”;

Really confident statements wouldn't you say?

Also, many have found that if they submit their "uncontrolled" sample to multiple places, they get back multiple analyses.

Would suggest people do research first and definitely read the fine print. A decent place to start would be:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/articl...

As this writer tells you first hand her experiences. The paragraph from this article I like best is:

"Today at least half a dozen companies will, for about $200 a pop, take your spittle, analyze the heck out of it and tell you who and what you are. The tests are popular among adoptees, armchair genealogists and high school seniors praying that a link to some underrepresented ethnic group will help get them into the Ivies."

I don't understand why your mother can't tell you, unless it could have been more than one man.
Surely when she accepted the arrangement to get SS checks from him she believed him to be the father.
Paternity tests may have been made at the time of your birth.
I would recommend next time you go to your medical practitioner you ask there, particularly if he/she knows the medical history of your family.