Kinship care in Ireland: How DNA testing can help families prove biological relationships

For many children who are unable to live with their parents, being cared for by a relative such as a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or older sibling, offers a vital sense of stability, identity, and belonging.

Kinship care plays a significant role in Ireland’s child welfare system. It’s estimated that around 8,000 children are living in informal kinship care arrangements across the country, according to Kinship Care Ireland.

However, many kinship carers face a difficult reality: because most of these arrangements are informal, carers often have no guardianship rights, making it harder to make basic medical, educational, or welfare decisions on the child’s behalf.

In some cases, this legal insecurity is compounded by a more fundamental issue – the biological relationship between the carer and the child has never been formally confirmed.

DNA testing has an important role to play in these situations. It can help confirm that a relative, such as a grandparent, aunt, or uncle, is biologically related to a child in their care, supporting applications for guardianship. It can also help confirm relationships between siblings, where family circumstances mean this isn’t always straightforward.

Here, we look at how DNA testing can support kinship care in Ireland, from proving family relationships through to meeting the standards required for use in Irish courts.

What is kinship care?

Kinship care refers to an arrangement where a child who is unable to live with their parents is instead cared for by a relative, such as a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or older sibling, or by another person who knows the child well, such as a close family friend.

In Ireland, kinship care is closely linked to the work of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, which has statutory responsibility for child welfare and protection under the Child Care Act 1991. Where Tusla is involved, a formal placement with a relative is known as relative foster care, governed by the Child Care (Placement of Children with Relatives) Regulations 1995.

However, most kinship care arrangements are informal, arising without Tusla’s direct involvement, for example when a grandparent or aunt steps in to care for a child following a parent’s illness, imprisonment, substance misuse, or death.

This informality can leave kinship carers in a vulnerable position. Without a formal arrangement or legal guardianship, carers may struggle to make routine decisions on a child’s behalf, such as consenting to medical treatment or enrolling a child in school, even where they are providing full-time care.

In many cases, formalising a kinship care arrangement, whether through relative foster care or an application for guardianship, requires clear evidence of the biological relationship between the carer and the child. Where this relationship has never been confirmed, this can present a significant barrier before an application even begins.

Why proving a biological relationship matters

Where a relative wishes to formalise their role as a kinship carer, whether by seeking legal guardianship or through a relative foster care arrangement, they are generally required to provide evidence of their relationship to the child.

Guardianship applications by relatives are made under Section 6C of the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, through the District Court or Circuit Court. To be eligible, a kinship carer must generally have provided day-to-day care for the child for a continuous period of more than 12 months, and the child must have no parent or guardian who is willing or able to exercise the rights and responsibilities of guardianship.

This can create a difficult period for kinship families, particularly where the biological relationship between the carer and child has never been formally confirmed. This can happen where:

• A shared mother is confirmed, but the identity of one or both fathers is unclear, making it uncertain whether children are full siblings (sharing both parents) or half siblings (sharing only one)
• Family circumstances are complex, and accounts of a child’s parentage are disputed or unverified
• A child’s birth certificate does not name a father, leaving that side of their biological family unconfirmed

Without clear proof of a biological relationship, a prospective kinship carer may struggle to progress an application at all, regardless of the strength of the relationship or the quality of care being provided.

In these circumstances, DNA testing can help resolve that uncertainty early, giving kinship carers, social workers, and legal professionals the evidence needed to move an application forward with confidence.

How complex relationship DNA testing works

Complex DNA relationship testing is used to determine whether a biological relationship exists between two or more people who are not a direct parent and child, such as siblings, grandparents, aunts or uncles. 

In a kinship care context, this typically means testing whether children are biologically related as full or half siblings, or whether another relative, such as a grandparent, aunt or uncle is biologically related to a child being considered for kinship care.  

This differs from straightforward parentage testing, which compares a child’s DNA directly with that of a potential biological parent to give a definitive result. Because siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles share DNA less directly, and to varying degrees, complex relationship testing requires a different type of analysis – calculating a likelihood ratio for relatedness, based on how much DNA relatives are expected to share, and how probable it is that they are biologically related.

• Sibling DNA testing determines whether two individuals are full or half siblings. Full siblings share both biological parents, while half siblings share only one.
• Grandparent DNA testing is used to establish a biological link between a grandparent and grandchild and is often used where a biological parent is not available to perform a paternity or maternity test. The test is more likely to be conclusive if both grandparents from the relevant paternal or maternal side are tested, but it can also be performed using a sample from just one grandparent.
• Avuncular (aunt and uncle) DNA testing examines the biological relationship between an aunt or uncle and a niece or nephew. For the highest chance of a conclusive result, the aunt or uncle must be a full biological sibling of the child’s possible mother or father.

In each case, the laboratory calculates a likelihood ratio to determine how probable it is that the relationship being tested exists:

• A score of 10 or above is supportive, meaning there is strong evidence that the relationship does exist
• A score of 0 to 0.1 is not supportive, meaning the individuals are unlikely to be related in the way tested
• A score between 0.1 and 10 is considered inconclusive, meaning it is not possible to determine whether a biological relationship exists based on the DNA evidence obtained

Learn more: Complex DNA relationship testing

What legally admissible testing requires

Not all DNA tests are suitable for use in kinship care proceedings. Where results are needed to support a guardianship application or a relative foster care assessment, the test must be legally admissible, meaning it can be relied upon and accepted as evidence by Tusla, solicitors, or the courts.

To meet this standard, testing must satisfy several key requirements:

• Chain of custody: Samples must be collected, labelled, and handled by a trained, independent sample collector, with full documentation at every stage. This ensures that samples cannot be tampered with and that the identity of each person tested can be verified.
• ISO 17025 accreditation: This is the internationally recognised standard for laboratory testing competence, confirming that a laboratory’s processes, equipment, and reporting meet rigorous, independently assessed quality standards.
• A recognised, accredited provider: For DNA testing to be relied upon in Irish legal or official matters, it should be carried out by a laboratory recognised for this purpose. AlphaBiolabs is listed as an accredited DNA testing provider on Treoir, the national information service for unmarried parents in Ireland.

This applies equally whether the test is being used to confirm a sibling relationship or a wider family connection with a grandparent, aunt or uncle.

AlphaBiolabs holds ISO 17025-accreditation for DNA testing, providing court-admissible DNA testing that kinship carers, social workers, and family law professionals can rely on.

All samples for legally-instructed tests are collected under chain of custody conditions, maintaining sample integrity from start to finish.

AlphaBiolabs’ kinship DNA testing services

AlphaBiolabs offers a full range of legally admissible complex relationship DNA tests to support kinship care cases, including sibling, aunt, uncle, and grandparent DNA testing.

Whether the goal is confirming a sibling relationship or establishing a wider family connection to support a guardianship application, our testing gives kinship carers, social workers, and family law professionals the evidence they need to move forward with confidence.

Our legal DNA testing service offers:

• Nationwide sample collection under chain of custody, from any location within 24-48 hours of instruction, including our walk-in centres, where we offer FREE Sample collection for legally-instructed tests
• Rapid results, helping to reduce delays and meet urgent legal deadlines
• User-friendly, court-ready reports, accepted by Irish courts
• Dedicated Case Manager, providing expert advice and support throughout the testing process
• ISO 17025-accredited testing laboratory

Kinship care cases are often time-sensitive and emotionally significant for the families involved.  

By removing biological doubt early in the process, DNA testing can help ensure that children are given every opportunity to remain with family members who matter most to them, and that kinship carers are given the legal recognition and security they need to care for them properly.

If you’re a kinship carer, social worker, or family law professional seeking legally admissible DNA testing to support a kinship care case, contact our New Enquiry team on 01 402 9466, email testing@alphabiolabs.com, or complete our online quote form.