MCT Identigene is the first-ever nationwide over-the-counter DNA paternity test kit. They are available at Rite Aid Drug stores.

By Georgea Kovanis
Detroit Free Press

They probably won't put Maury Povich out of business - after all, there will always be people who are willing to find out the paternity of their child on national television.

But for those who are more private, there's something new on the market: at-home paternity tests.

Rite Aid recently announced it was carrying the Identigene DNA Paternity Test Collection Kit - which retails for $29.99 - at 4,363 stores in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

Regionally, Meijer stores have been selling the Identigene kits since last fall.

The testing procedure is easy: Swab the inside of the cheeks of the mother and child and the man who is believed to be the father.

Send the swabs to the Identigene lab, along with $119 to process the results. In three to five days after it arrives at the lab, you'll know whether the man in question is the baby's daddy.

Results are confidential and available by mail, e-mail or through a secured Web site. The at-home tests are said to be faster than other options.

This test won't hold up in court. But for an extra $200, Identigene can coordinate a test that will pass legal muster.

Rite Aid, which tested the product on the West Coast last fall, won't provide information on sales or who is buying the kits.

Craig Fogg, chief operation officer of Identigene, says his company's research shows that about 60 percent of the people who purchase the kit are women and that most of those women are in their 20s. About 30 percent of the women who buy the tests say they are buying them for someone else.