Around one in 25 dads could unknowingly be raising another man's child

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December 19, 2005

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One in 25 dads could unknowingly be raising another man’s child, researchers find

Aug. 12, 2005
Courtesy BMJ Specialty Journals
and World Science staff

Around one in 25 dads could unknowingly be raising another man’s child, new research suggests. The study is published in the September issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The implications are huge, said the researchers, because of the growing reliance of judicial and health systems on DNA profiling and genetic testing, such as organ donation and criminal identification.

More frequent testing means more parents are likely to learn about their children’s true status, with devastating consequences for some families, they warned.

More instances of the phenomenon, which scientists politely term “paternal discrepancy,” may come to light through the ever-more common paternity tests being conducted in Western countries, the researchers said. In the United States, rates of such tests more than doubled to 310,490 between 1991 and 2001.

The authors based their conclusions on an array of international, published scientific research and conference findings, covering the period between 1950 and 2004.

In the U.K., around a third of pregnancies are unplanned, the researchers said, around one in five women in long term relationships has had an affair. Other developed countries have reported similar figures.

There are few support services to help those affected, added the researchers, Mark Bellis of Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, U.K., and colleagues. And there is little guidance on what roles healthcare or criminal justice system workers should play in disclosing paternal discrepancy.

“In a society where services and life decisions are increasingly influenced by genetics, our approach to [paternal discrepancy] cannot be simply to ignore this difficult issue,” wrote the researchers.

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Front image courtesy U.S. Department of Agriculture Food & Nutrition Service