Proper Applications of Paternity Testing

Maternity testing is thankfully not something needed in mainstream society--yet. Unfortunately, with the large amount of children born out of wed-lock, and high divorce rate, paternity testing also appears on the rise. A paternity test is a DNA comparison between a child and suspected father for a match of key chromosomes in multiple locations. In today's world, paternity testing has many uses, and serious ramifications if not carefully exercised by parents embattled over interest in a child.

The uses of paternity testing goes beyond custody disputes. However, the majority of paternity testing today is still used for designating a rightful biological father in custody disputes. Determinations of child support responsibility rely on legally acknowledged rights of fatherhood, frequently conferred based on a man's marriage to a child's mother at the time of birth. If the parents were not married at the time of conception nor birth, a paternity test may be legally required. States are also slowly repealing the automatic right of fatherhood when a child is born unto a married couple, if the marriage dissolves on charges of adultery. This is to protect both the child and father. In extreme cases, a man can keep visitation rights and support responsibilities for a child after a negative paternity test, if he has been a major provider and caretaker of the child since a very young age.

Paternity testing, and sometimes even maternity testing, are also needed to validate fertility services. As more couples turn to alternative measures to conceive, laboratory mishandling and pure human error, can mean heartache and legal headaches for families. Women are beginning to freeze eggs for use later in life. Couples are planning families with heavy reliance on science to schedule children between career goals. Paternity testing may be necessary to prove any negligence or misdoings by a fertility service. Legal compensation and protections against other parental claims for the child cannot be awarded without first verifying the facts of the case.