DNA Test All Children
March 3rd, 2009 by Pelle BillingWe’ve all heard jokes where the punch-line informs us that the mailman is the biological father, instead of the husband of the mother. “Mailman jokes” are harmless for the most part, and often give us a good laugh. However, it is no coincidence that these jokes exist to the extent that they do.
Women have always known for sure that the children they raise are their own; maternity never needs to be doubted, even in the most primitive of societies. Paternity, on the other hand, has always been something that men have doubted, consciously or unconsciously. In the absence of reliable scientific testing, how is a man to know for sure whether he is really the father of a certain child?
How Legal Paternity Arose
When human beings started to become more civilized, and traditional societies replaced the chaos of warring tribes, marriage became a cornerstone of society. A key reason for promoting marriage and monogamy was to ensure that each child had a father who would be legally bound to support that child no matter what the circumstances.
In most Western countries, legislators went as far as proclaiming that the father of the child was the husband of the mother, regardless of whether the husband was actually the biological father. These laws stay with us until the present day, meaning that it can be very difficult for a married man to challenge paternity, even when you have a DNA test that proves you cannot possibly be the father!
In my opinion these paternity laws, though valid and needed at one point in time, are quickly becoming outdated in modern and postmodern societies. Far from all couples get married these days, and both sexes enjoy the kind of sexual freedom that easily leads to “the wrong man” becoming the father of a child. Being married is no longer a sufficient criterion to determine who the father is, or who should be assigned the rights and responsibilities of fatherhood.
An Active Father Is a Good Thing
We have always known who the mother of a child is, this is considered normal and natural for obvious biological reasons. Throughout history however, it has been impossible for men to have the same kind of certainty around fatherhood, for purely biological reasons. However, the seeming destiny of men to always be uncertain about whether they are really the father changed more than a decade ago, with the advent of DNA testing.
DNA testing is a cheap and readily available tool that can be used to quickly, and with pretty much complete certainty, establish who the father of a child is. Now that such a method exists, wouldn’t it be great to have all uncertainty around paternity be removed?
If we want men to be good fathers, do not men deserve to be 100 percent sure that they are pouring out their hearts and souls to raise their own child, and not another man’s child? I’m not saying that you cannot love a non-biological child just as much (I believe you can!), but I do think that every individual deserves to know the truth, before deciding whether to help raise a child or not.
Children would benefit substantially from having maternity and paternity be established from the start. It would increase the likelihood of the man stepping into the role of father, and should he choose to avoid this, it will be easier to enforce child support.
Caring About Men’s Rights
DNA testing all children would also do away with a system where many men unknowingly raise children that aren’t their own, and where men are forced to pay child support for children that other men have fathered.
1 in 30 children don’t have the father they think they do. Even for men who are very confident that the child is theirs, 1 out of 50 children have a different biological father. For men who have their doubts about paternity, the false paternity rate soars to almost one third of the cases! (source)
Sexual Accountability
Knowing that all newborns undergo DNA testing would force both men and women to act more responsibly when having sex. A man having an affair would have to consider whether he wants to risk being named as the father of a child outside of his family. A woman having an affair would risk becoming pregnant with another man’s child, and having her husband find out about this once the DNA testing is done.
I’m all for people’s sexual freedom, and people having the kinds of sex lives that they desire. But every right and every freedom comes with a responsibility too, and DNA testing all children would indirectly force every adult to be accountable and accept the consequences of his or her actions.
The primary reason I advocate DNA testing is not to enforce sexual accountability; the reason I want to see this happen is that I think it would change parenting at a fundamental level, by giving men the peace of mind that women have always had.
Tags: biology, family, legislation, sexuality, visionary
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:45 pm
DNA testing is a cheap and readily available tool that can be used to quickly, and with pretty much complete certainty, establish who the father of a child is. Now that such a method exists, wouldn’t it be great to have all uncertainty around paternity be removed?
Yes, and I was under the impression that all those who want to use it are free to do so? Forcing people to use it, however, is a different matter.
Just to recap: becoming a housewife and depriving a child of quality time with their over worked father (who then has to work for two) is a choice that “rests with the individual”. But DNA testing your kid is not?!
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Unomi:
It’s true that individuals who want to DNA test their children can do so, if they know that such a test exist, and if they have the money needed to pay for the test. The test is cheap compared to many other things, but it’s not free.
However, the reason for DNA testing all newborns would be to enable a new legal definition of paternity. The biological mother of a child, is always considered to be the legal mother, unless she puts up the child for adoption. However, for paternity, the man who is married to the mother is legally considered to be the father. That kind of legislation was probably the best on available before we had access to DNA testing, but at this point in time it is an outdated way of establishing paternity.
If we are for equality between the sexes, then we should be for a legislation that is as gender neutral as possible, and that’s why I feel it’s reasonable to have the same definition for paternity and maternity.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
However, for paternity, the man who is married to the mother is legally considered to be the father.
Not understanding. Marrying someone does not make you the father of their children in any jurisdiction that I know of.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Unomi:
If a man is married to a woman, and she gives birth to a child, then he is automatically considered to be the legal father. That is the law in pretty much every jurisdiction that I know of, from Sweden to the US.
March 4th, 2009 at 12:08 am
If a man is married to a woman, and she gives birth to a child, then he is automatically considered to be the legal father. That is the law in pretty much every jurisdiction that I know of, from Sweden to the US.
Not only that but in many states if he later finds evidence that he is not the father if too much time has passed even a DNA test proving he is not the biological father won’t absolve him of his “responsibilities”. By responsibilities mind you I mean monetary ones. Whether he wants to stay or wants to go does not matter his future relationship (or lack thereof) with the child is totally at the mercy of the child’s mother and the courts.
March 4th, 2009 at 12:45 am
Danny:
“Not only that but in many states if he later finds evidence that he is not the father if too much time has passed even a DNA test proving he is not the biological father won’t absolve him of his “responsibilities”.”
Yes, that kind of system is clearly oblivious of men’s rights. It’s a remnant of traditional societies where legislators wanted to make sure that every child was supported by a man, regardless of whether that man was the biological father or not.
We cannot transition from a traditional to modern society by only caring about women’s rights, we need to look at the rights of both sexes.
Pelle
March 5th, 2009 at 12:50 am
“Not understanding. Marrying someone does not make you the father of their children in any jurisdiction that I know of.”
That’s your common sense talking. However there was a case somewhere recently where a step-father was left with child support payments pursuant to a divorce. This was in some eastern state in the US and there was concern that the case might set precedent.
As for DNA testing, it’s no guarantee that the results will have any legal weight. there was an infoamous case recently in Texas where a woman bore three children all sired by some lover of hers, she divorced her husabnd and informed him they were not his children, the courst assessed child support payments on him, and then denied visitation because they were not his children. That was in Neandertahl, chivalrous Texas. And then there was John Edwards who committed adultery and fathered a child, whose mother claimed he was the father but denied him the right to have the child tested, and of course the court backed her up, again of course in in some backward hole in the South.
I am sure you could find similar cases by the carload in Britain and in Australia.
Can someone help, does someone know - I read somewhere that in France the husaband must formally recognize each child his wife bears for it to be considered his by law?
March 5th, 2009 at 1:48 am
Jim:
Can someone help, does someone know - I read somewhere that in France the husaband must formally recognize each child his wife bears for it to be considered his by law?”
I found this very interesting article about France and DNA testing. Apparently French men are forbidden by law to DNA test their children!
I’m not familiar with any other details about French family law.
Pelle
March 6th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Wow. Then I wonder about the rest of that. I wonder for instance on what basis a man would repudiate a child of his wife’s - suspicion of infidelity? That can be pretty inhuman if he’s wrong.
March 6th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Yeah, I agree that that could be pretty inhuman. In fact, part of the reason I would like to see all newborns tested is that women wouldn’t have to feel that they are suspected of infidelity, since it would be considered a standard procedure, no more no less.
March 6th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Well if being suspected of infidelity is inhuman then a lot of women treat their husbands inhumnaly, and I think that’s an exaggeration was of describing that kind of behavior. What I meant by inhuman is if a man rejected a child, refused to have it in his house, and it turned out in fact to truly be his own child, that rejection would be inhuman treatment of the mother if she was put in a position of having to choose between that child and other children she already had.
March 7th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Pelle:
In fact, part of the reason I would like to see all newborns tested is that women wouldn’t have to feel that they are suspected of infidelity, since it would be considered a standard procedure, no more no less.
Sadly enough I think that if something like that were introduced women would protest it on the very grounds of, “Don’t you trust me??!!” Which I guess could be ironic because a deceptive woman will use that exact same question in a softer tone to trick a man into taking in a child that is not his own.
March 8th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Good point Danny. DNA testing of all children will only be possible to introduce once the social climate has changed significantly. As long as we only listen to women and view women as weak victims it won’t be possible to change the laws regulating paternity.
But the reason for DNA testing all newborns has nothing to do with not trusting women. Instead it would be a reform aimed at making the legislation gender neutral. Maternity is determined based on biology only, so why not do the same for paternity?
July 18th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
[...] rights, the legal system still lags far behind. I’ve previously written about my proposal to DNA test all newborns, and to do away with the old fashioned laws that presume the husband of a woman to be the father, [...]
October 14th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I have a brother who knows he concieved a child with a girl who just had a baby however she is back with ex husband and he wasn’t allowed to hold baby at hospital because they said he wasn’t the father. Her mother called him the morning the child was born to let my brother know and he would like to get a paternity test but doesn’t have 500.00 to do so or information on getting started on what to do he is a single parent and low incom father of one and we are in need of what to do ? Please help us!
October 15th, 2009 at 12:24 am
I suggest that he talks to a lawyer. If he cannot afford one then perhaps he can find someone who works pro bono? I’m not an American though, so I’m not an expert on the legal system in the US. Perhaps someone else reading can help?
August 29th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
I am a woman who agrees with you. I’ve known a few women who have lied or hidden the real identities of the father of the child. I believe a DNA test at birth of these children would help to keep woman honest and maybe even avoid having children in an adultrous relationship. I know of one man who is raising a child that is not his. The mother turned out to be a drug user and very promiscuous. After 7 years he left the marriage with the child, the ex, out of anger told him the child was not his, he had a paternity test done and his ex was right. The child is now 14 years old and has serious behavioral problems. He remarried to a wonderful lady about 6 years ago and together they have 5 kids and a wonderful life. The behavioral problems of this one child affects the rest of the family. My question is what has the most influence Nature or Nurture.
August 29th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Yes, a child has the right to know who its biological parents are, and tricking a man into taking on parental responsibilities for a child that isn’t his can lead to disastrous consequences for the child down the line.
I’m glad that you as a woman agree. Men and women alike would have to be more responsible if all children were tested. No individual, man or woman, could escape from their own actions.