Mobile clinic offers paternity

NEW YORK - Reuters

Founder Jared Rosenthal poses with his ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ DNA testing van. REUTERS photo

A mobile DNA testing facility that looks more like a motor home than a medical clinic is raising questions about the ramifications of quick and easy tests to determine paternity and other biological connections.

Once a time-consuming and complicated process, DNA testing has become so accessible that experts worry families and individuals may not be properly prepared for the results.

A 8.5-meter recreational vehicle cruising around New York City emblazoned with the question “Who’s Your Daddy?” and offering on-the-spot DNA testing services starting at $299, has renewed those concerns.

The clinic, operated by a New York company called Health Street, started in 2010 but was revamped two months ago.

Test results in three to five days
Passersby can hail the conspicuous brown and blue Winnebago to have DNA samples taken by a technician, packaged and sent to a laboratory in Ohio. Results are returned within three to five business days.

Health Street appears to be the first to splash exactly what it does on the vehicle. “DNA TESTING” in bold red lettering is painted on the side.

Jared Rosenthal, who founded Health Street and drives the RV, recounts some of the people affected by his service: Two women who learned they were half-sisters, and a man whose suspicion that he might be the father of a friend’s daughter was confirmed.