Appendix Q: Fetal Tissue and Forensic Paternity Testing

The San Diego Police Department has a contract with Paternity Testing Corporation, 3501 Berrywood Dr., Columbia, MO 65201, (888) 837-8323, to provide paternity testing of a live child using blood or buccal swab reference samples.

Paternity may also be established using fetal tissue in those cases where the victim elects to have an abortion or in the case of spontaneous abortion. The laboratory will notify the detective if a sample does not meet the criteria for acceptance and a re-draw will be coordinated as soon as possible.

Fetal tissue collection kits are stored in the Sex Crimes Unit with the other forensic supplies. The fetal tissue collection kit should include:

• Sterile 50 cc screw-cap centrifuge tube • Labels for centrifuge tube • Permanent marker (ultrafine point) • Plastic Ziploc baggie • Security seal • TYVEK 12” x 15” envelope • Small cooler

1. Have the physician collect 1-5 cc of fetal material and place in the sterile screw-cap tube provided. Label the tube with the name of the mother, date and time. 2. Place the collected fetal tissue in a Ziploc plastic bag and put on ice in a small cooler. A cooler can be obtained in advance from the Forensic Biology Unit. 3. Fill out the San Diego Police Department Request for Paternity Evaluation Form. After obtaining a Sex Crimes supervisor’s approval, submit the form to the Forensic Science Section, MS #715. 4. The Forensic Biology Section will send the fetal tissue samples to Cellmark Diagnostic Laboratories in Maryland for analysis. The analysis should take at least four weeks to perform. 5. All samples should be taken to the property room and assigned a Property Tag Number. 6. The Property Room should be told that blood samples must be refrigerated and mouth swabs and fetal material must be frozen. 7. When the analysis is complete, the detective will receive a copy of the laboratory report addressing biological parentage in connection with the samples submitted. An explanation sheet will be attached to help interpret the results. Any questions should be referred to our Forensic Biology Unit.