|
Your dad might not be your dad
From scotsman.com
| quote: | Thousands of families living a lie
ABOUT one in 25 fathers might be unknowingly raising another man's child, new research has shown.
Opening the "Pandora's Box" of false paternity was necessary because of increased use of DNA profiling and genetic testing in organ donation and criminal investigations, scientists who led the research said.
Professor Mark Bellis, of John Moores University Liverpool, and his team examined a wide range of international studies looking at estimates of paternal discrepancy between 1950 and 2004. They found that the number of cases where a man was not the biological father of his child ranged from 1 per cent to as much as 30 per cent.
Experts have generally agreed that the rate is below 10 per cent, with a 4 per cent rate meaning that about one in 25 families might be affected, the study said. But the researchers, writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, said that increased use of genetic testing for diagnosis, treatment and identification was likely to boost the rates of paternal discrepancy.
Prof Bellis said that as genetic testing was now widespread, it was important to realise the true number of people who might be affected by the results and to provide support.
He said: "The Pandora's Box is open now by the introduction of genetic testing.
"Thousands of people use these services to find the truth out. We do not know the exact numbers of people with different fathers, but that does not mean it is not important to know how many people could be potentially affected."
There are about 20,000 paternity tests carried out in the UK each year. David Blunkett, the Work and Pensions Secretary, underwent a paternity test which showed that he had not fathered a child by his former lover Kimberly Quinn.
However, the actress Liz Hurley proved that the billionaire Steve Bing was the father of their son, Damien.
Crucial Genetics based at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow is an accredited paternity testing centre. It carries out about 3,500 paternity tests a year at a cost of £399 per test.
Max Hamilton, the company's business development manager, said the number of tests has "definitely increased" since it was set up in 2001. He said most tests were to determine paternity for legal reasons during a divorce. Others are for medical reasons, or simply for "peace of mind".
He continued: "There is no uncertainty in what we do. It is 99.9 per cent accurate."
The company takes DNA from the mother, father and child and requires permission from all three parties. The tests are either taken at the clinic or sent to a medical professional.
However, many paternity tests available on the internet or through less reputable companies do not bother to gain permission from all those involved and even offer home-testing kits. These tests range from about £100 and are often sent away to laboratories in China or the United States.
One Parent Family Scotland is often left picking up the pieces after a paternity test.
Ian Maxwell, the deputy director, said people needed to know the practical implications of such tests - the financial responsibility of the real father and his right to see the child, as well as the psychological impact.
Many of the families needed counselling to deal with the results, he said.
"Once you find out whose the child is, it is only the start. If you have tested positive as a parent or a child, you have all sorts of issues to cope with," he added. |
So assuming that we're about 20 active participants in here, that means that there's a 56% chance that at least one of us has the wrong dad. Hmmm.
To me, what matters is who raised me, though. I don't get the fuzz about biological ties.
|
