Labcorp Review

Thursday, March 20th

2025 Paternity Test Reviews

Labcorp

• Cost: $210+ for At-Home Paternity Test, $525+ for Legal Paternity Test
• Tests 21 markers
• AABB-accredited laboratories
• Likely to have a convenient location near you (if required)
• Results delivered via email or USPS for free; can get express hard copy delivery for $25
• Has done paternity testing since 1981

Labcorp, founded in 1978 and headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina, is a leading global life sciences company that provides comprehensive clinical laboratory services. Renowned for its extensive network of laboratories and patient service centers, Labcorp performs over 500,000 tests daily, ranging from routine blood work to complex genomic testing.

2 kinds of paternity testing offered

With respect to paternity testing in particular, Labcorp is a mid-tier option. You can choose between an At-Home kit, with a starting price of $210, or a Legal Paternity Test if you need to prove something in court (with a starting price of $525). If you've done some research into these kinds of tests before, you'll already know a few things. First, Labcorp is more expensive than most competitor tests, by double or more, depending on the rival you're looking at. Second, Labcorp is missing some options, like prenatal paternity testing and alternative sample sources (like toothbrushes or nail clippings). Finally, Labcorp only tests 21 markers: that's about the same as most of the paternity tests we've seen, so it's neither a plus nor a minus here.

Expensive, but worth it?

However, let's consider some of the benefits of using Labcorp for paternity testing, even with the higher cost. As you likely realize, Labcorp has locations just about everywhere in the US, so if you opt for the Legal Paternity Testing that requires samples to be collected under rigorous chain-of-custody controls, it won't be a stretch to figure out where to go. There's also no doubt about the quality of Labcorp's testing facilities, which are AABB-accredited at the very least. And, you won't find too many paternity testing providers who can say that they've been delivering accurate results since 1981 (likely longer than the alleged father or even grandfather has been alive!).

Easy to add more individuals to test

Another plus of working with Labcorp that you'll see as you get a little further into the ordering process is how easy they make it to add more children or potential fathers to the testing kit. With the At-Home test, for example, you can add up to 9 fathers and 15 children. All of those kits ship for free, even though you'll have to pay extra for each person tested, of course.

Get results via mail or email

Finally, Labcorp lets you request your results via email or USPS; the latter usually comes with an extra cost when you look at Labcorp's competitors, so that earns this lab some points. If you're in a hurry, though, you can pay $25 to have your paternity testing results delivered via express mail.

BBB only gives the lab a "C-”

So, with all of that, why has Labcorp landed so low on our list? The company as a whole has a disappointing "C-” from the Better Business Bureau, with over 500 complaints filed in the last three years. We'd expect that number of complaints for a lab that does so many tests every year, but the BBB rating indicates that they're not necessarily satisfied with how Labcorp is operating.

Complaints about paternity tests are shocking

However, the bigger reason behind our own low score for Labcorp is what we saw from customer complaints specifically about paternity testing. Read some of them and weep: "I received someone else's results (their name was on it), and Labcorp refused to accept responsibility or provide a new test.” "They refused to provide the complete chain of custody information.” "I got tested with other men and somehow two of us came back positive as the father.” That's about as far from "peace of mind” paternity testing as you can get!

Too disappointing to choose for paternity tests

We have no choice but to rank Labcorp as a paternity testing option we don't recommend. We would think that having more than 40 years of experience would put them at the forefront of accuracy and reliability, but customer comments indicate otherwise.