Testing can be performed prenatally (before birth) or postnatal (after birth). During the prenatal stage, testing can be non-invasive or invasive. Invasive prenatal testing is performed by means of certain fetal sampling methods such as amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling (CVS), or percutaneous umbilical cord sampling (PUBS).  Non invasive prenatal paternity testing is done using a maternal blood sample. Samples for the alleged father in a non invasive prenatal test are collected using mouth swabs.

Postnatal testing is often done using oral swabs. Swabs need to be rubbed inside the mouth of the test participants which typically include the mother, alleged father and child.