Heritage ID

Orchid Cellmark offers identity DNA testing services as part of its Heritage ID product line, which is designed to help individuals establish their genetic heritage.

Preserve Family Genetic History When Planning a Funeral

Our Heritage ID service to the funeral industry gives families a simple way to preserve the genetic information of their relatives. This new service preserves this unique source of genetic information with potentially important medical, legal and genealogy applications after a person’s death. A record of an individual’s DNA can provide a number of safeguards to families – as a possible protection against future estate or lineage issues, as a way to trace family genealogy and identify ancestry, and so families may be able to track more detailed information about their medical history as technology advances. This new service will be offered through funeral homes as a component of routine preparations before burial or cremation or as part of pre-planned funeral arrangements, an increasingly common practice in the United States. This new service requires only a simple procedure – sending a DNA sample obtained with a mouth swab to our laboratory. Customers receive a Heritage Card™ that contains the preserved DNA sample and a written profile of the person’s DNA in an attractive commemorative holder. Families interested in learning more about the service or funeral directors interested in participating can call our Customer Care Center at 1-800-DNA-TEST (1-800-362-8378) for more information.

Confirm Familial Relationship in Native American Tribal Enrollment

Our Heritage ID service for Native American tribes can confirm the familial relationship of specific individuals to existing tribal members for tribal enrollment applications. Because DNA testing can establish genetic relatedness with exceptional accuracy, it is a powerful tool to confirm the biological relationships of prospective tribal members. Native American tribal membership can be a valuable asset that brings economic and social benefits as well as cultural inclusion. While many individuals who seek membership in a tribe have a valid claim, some do not possess the genetic heritage that qualifies for membership. Tribes may choose to conduct a routine paternity or maternity test or they may choose from Orchid Cellmark’s sophisticated panel of technologies including Y-STR and mitochondrial DNA testing to resolve more complex issues of patri-lineage or matri-lineage. This type of testing can be performed at the request of the enrollment office of Native American tribes and Canadian First Nations bands or at the request of individuals who wish to compare their DNA to a known member of a tribe or band. Prospective tribal members interested in learning more about the service or tribes interested in participating in this program can get more information at 1-800-DNA-TEST (1-800-362-8378).

Orchid Cellmark also offers a more general ancestry test that can help individuals determine their individual ancestry proportions. It is a well-known fact that we originated from a common ancestor that lived more than 200,000 years ago and due to the migration of our ancestors, the world is endowed with a variety of cultures. In its broadest sense, the human population can be broken up into four (4) unique lineages including African, European, East Asian and Native American. Using the AncestrybyDNA 2.5 test, 175 unique DNA markers are analyzed to determine an individual’s ancestry proportions. Results can be provided electronically or in written format and include a certificate, ancestral proportion results presented in a table and as a graph, a map of ancient migration patterns and personal DNA results for each tested marker.

Call for More Information

For further information on any of our Heritage ID services, please call our Customer Care Center between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm ET, Monday through Friday at 1-800-DNA-TEST (1-800-362-8378).

For information on Orchid Cellmark’s paternity and other familial relationship testing services, please visit www.1800DNAtest.com.

Note: AncestryByDNA™ 2.5 is a registered trademark of DNA Print genomics.