DNA PATERNITY TESTING
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Paternity fraud is 'arguably' the single largest cause of suffering to children and fathers in this country today. Sadly, when it is exposed, everyone loses, including the mother. Why then is it allowed to continue?
Men's Confraternity believes that DNA testing should be a compulsory procedure at the birth of every child born to ensure that the correct father is registered. Paternity must be determined via DNA testing at birth because any man can be deceived into believing they are the father. It is a very simple and non-invasive procedure at birth, with the taking of umbilical blood. Personal acceptance by the man is not sufficient. Even if the man chooses to accept paternity regardless of any doubts, the child has the right to know who their biological father is.
There are many arguments supporting the fact that after a man has established a relationship with a child that he should not have the right to break that bond just because he establishes the fact that the child is not his biological offspring. Men's Confraternity believes that this should be a personal informed choice. Every child has the right to know their genetic heritage and to know who their biological parents are. Conversely, every man has the right to know with 100% certainty who their biological offspring are. The reality is that a man should not be deceived in the first place into believing a child is his and establishing a false relationship on that basis. Many would not have established the relationship in the first place had they known the truth about paternity.
Currently there is a lot of pressure being put on the government (including from the Australia Law Reform Commission) to make it a criminal offense for fathers to DNA test their children without the mothers consent or without a court order from the Family Court. We believe this is truly outrageous, given the fact that a mother, complicit in the deception or at least aware of the possibility of non-paternity due to multiple sexual partners at the time of conception, is highly unlikely to give consent and the Family Court on average only grants less than 8% of applications from fathers for paternity tests to be conducted (- this is because the Family Law Act presumes paternity; therefore a father must provide evidence of non-paternity in order to be granted a DNA paternity test to prove non-paternity). This proposed legislation would effectively outlaw paternity testing and deny the truth to literally thousands of children and fathers. You should voice your concerns immediately to your state or federal politician and to the Federal Attorney General
Men's Confraternity believes that one of the reasons for the concern is a misguided attempt at protecting the children. Many fathers choose to extinguish their relationship with their children when non-paternity is established. Whilst Men's Confraternity does not support men doing this, we also believe that it is a personal choice. The reality in this situation is that these men would never have established the relationship with the child / children in the first place had they known the truth. Men have the right to make an informed decision and denying them the right to know is not the solution, the solution is to stop them from being deceived in the first place. Where paternity has been misaligned, whether through mistake or design, the sooner the error is corrected the lesser the damage that will be done to all parties concerned. Compulsory paternity testing solves this.
Another reason for the concern, being voiced by mainly women and single mothers groups, is because when a deliberate fraud is exposed, these women will have to front court to face compensation claims (as they should). Currently there are a number of paternity fraud test cases before the courts here in Australia, which have the potential to establish a precedence allowing other fathers a more easier path to damages and compensation when paternity fraud is exposed. The Liam Magill case is the most important case you should look at. There are now many similar civil actions before the courts seeking restitution from fraudulent and complicit mothers and the number will only continue to increase as more men use DNA testing to ascertain the truth. Currently it is not a criminal offense to commit paternity fraud in Australia, but Men's Confraternity would also like to see that changed.
Sadly in these situations there is rarely a winner. This is why we are campaigning for DNA testing to be compulsory at the birth of every new child in this country and for the Child Support Agency to be compelled to conduct DNA paternity testing prior to making any man liable for child support.
In circumstances where a registration for child support is accepted but the child is later determined not to be the biological child of the payer, the Child Support Agency Registrar deems the application to never have been made. The payer must then pursue the payee in civil courts for the return of monies paid. The payee in turn must then identify the correct biological father and register him as the liable parent. The new payer in turn may only be held to be liable from the date of registration, and thus the payee is deprived of any child support income for the duration of the period in which paternity was falsely attributed. It is then clearly in the interests of all parties that biological paternity be established upon registration.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that more then 20% of all men in Australia currently having DNA paternity testing done are being shown not to be the father. The American Association of Blood Banks found in 1999 that nearly 30 percent of 280,000 paternity cases evaluated excluded the alleged father as the biological parent.
Paternity fraud is a scourge on our society and it is time that we used readily available technology to eradicate it.
If you're seeking a DNA paternity test then click here. Men's Confraternity is proud to be able to offer you, in conjunction with DNA Bioservices , the cheapest and most accurate DNA paternity tests in Australia using a NATA approved laboratory.
Men's Confraternity is also very concerned about the effect the results of these DNA paternity tests can have. Negative paternity tests can be devastating and bring up a lot of very intense emotions. Men's Confraternity has an online forum which we encourage people to use to discuss all the issues they may have going through their head, both before and after having the paternity test done. Register and become a Forum Member to access additional forum features.
Men's Confraternity recently made a submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission on their 'Discussion Paper on the Protection of Human Genetic Information'. You can read it here.
Articles worth reading:
Duped dad seeks refund in court - By Nikki Protyniak
Father's life rocked by boys' DNA tests - By Julie Butler
Legal minefield for deceived fathers - By Leonie Lamont
$70,000 paternity ruling sets precedent - By Ian Munro