You no longer have to plead to Maury Povich in front of thousands of viewers to find out who your baby's daddy is. Affordable home DNA paternity tests are giving curious families peace of mind — or tearing them apart.

About one in three questionable fathers tested in 44 laboratories worldwide since 1999 are not the biological fathers they thought they were, according to DNA Testing Centre, Inc. The bad news is that the results of DNA testing can lead to broken families and child support issues. The good news is that a simple Google search offers hundreds of companies with a solution to replace your Povich application.

DNA testing first became available in the 1980s and involved a series of invasive blood tests conducted in labs and costing nearly $1,000. According to Genesys Biotech, a DNA testing company, the introduction of new technology in the late 1980s using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) allowed for smaller samples and faster processing time, which cut costs and increased availability.

Non-invasive buccal testing, in which DNA is extracted from the inside of the cheek with a cotton swab, is a less scary, more doable way for moms, kids and the daddies in question to get tested in the privacy of their own homes.

Recent statistics published by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), which sets standards for accredited testing companies, show there’s been a nearly 700 percent increase of DNA paternity test cases since 1984. Kristine Ashcraft, director of client relations at Genelex, credits the media and daytime television, which frequently cover paternity testing on shows like Montel Williams and Jerry Springer, for the increased awareness of genetic testing kits. “We’ve seen about a 200 percent to 300 percent growth consistently for the last two years,” she says.

Even though home DNA paternity kit test results are more than 99 percent accurate, they cannot be used as legal evidence in court. “The sample collection, lab processing and Ph.D. analysis are exactly the same,” according to the Web site of Orchid Cellmark, one of the leading companies of DNA testing in the world. “The difference between the tests is that the legally admissible test is AABB approved and requires an impartial third party witness to the collection and chain of custody procedures.”

And as expected, the legally admissible test costs a little bit more. The home test’s increasing popularity is less about legality and more about curiosity.

Curiosity killed the cat, or the man who just discovered he’s not the father of the child he thought he was. More and more men are becoming suspicious of their wives or partners. According to DNA Testing Centre, Inc., dubious men place about 62 percent of orders for home testing kits. This raises social questions surrounding pre-conceived stereotypes of women being naturally monogamous creatures. Are women as capable of cheating as men? And if so, will they go as far as lying about whose child they’re carrying?

Elaina Najeeb-Brush, a happily married mother of four, says would never consider cheating on her husband. However, she doesn’t believe in the notion that adulterers consist primarily of men. “I feel that we are all human beings with the same urges, whether male or female,” she says. “Therefore, I feel that men and women cheating is close to 50/50. Otherwise, who have these men been cheating with?”

As conventional gender roles regarding fidelity blur, at least we have cheap options to unveil truths. Depending on the company of choice, prices of the home DNA kits range anywhere from $150 to $600. As technology continues to advance, DNA testing will become even less expensive, Ashcraft says. “There’s new technology, new machines. It’s always moving forward.”