Thanks to reality TV shows and police dramas, you're probably already familiar with the phrase "DNA testing". DNA testing as we know it has been around since the 1980s, and gives scientists a reliable, accurate way to determine if two individuals are biologically related.
Contrary to popular belief, DNA testing isn't particularly expensive. There are dozens of commercial companies out there who can perform a simple relationship test for as little as £99! You don't even have to leave to house - you can receive a testing kit in the mail, which you simply send back to the lab and await your results.
In a standard DNA test, two individuals (such as a child and their alleged father) provide a buccal swab - a simple, painless procedure where a large cotton swab is used to collect cells from the inside of the cheek. Scientists can then extract the DNA from the samples for analysis.
But what happens when you need to test a baby for paternity before they have been born? A cheek swab is obviously out of the question, which is where things get a little complicated...