Should Paternity testing be mandatory?

Easier just to run your personal life in such a way that if you are pregnant you know who the father is, I should think.

Thinking about it,

Of course there are families where the kids are not the dad's.

We also have a not small issue around male violence.

How will women and children be protected from the reactions of some men to the results of these tests?

It's got to be a consideration.

TransExclusionaryMRA So you expect any woman to accept you'll demand a paternity test regardless of the situation? If you're separated that's already an option anyway.

What about all the men that don't pay for their children?

But if the man disputes paternity then CMS permit testing before he is being made to pay anything. And even after it's proven he is the father, a lot of them don't pay and nothing is done about that so what would be the point of what you suggest?

Other than to tarnish all women as liars and worse which I guess is the goal here.

The data is notoriously sketchy so it’s tough to make hard assertions you’ll see statistics as low as 2% and as high as 30%. The higher figure is only amongst men who suspect they are not the father, so it’s a self selecting group.

In France it’s actually illegal for a man to seek to establish paternity through DNA testing. Given this is something that would establish an equity between the sexes why not do it? I am deeply suspicious of any women who wishes to retain the right to deceive in these circumstances.

If you want a clear and easy way to understand this from the male pov consider shroedingers rapist by way of analogy. Most men aren’t rapists, but you have no way of knowing so of course it’s wise to be skeptical of a man’s intentions. In the same way women who commit paternity fraud are indistinguishable from the general large majority of women who would never dream of doing something so horrendous.

Thinking about it it’s a travesty that this kind of fraud isn’t criminal, and carries with it a custodial sentence.

Also agree that the real issue with child support is not men who ? paternity but men who cba to pay.

So, not going to help with child poverty is it.

Man A >> these kids that you thought are yours, are yours, will you pay? No. OK then.
Man B >> these kids aren't yours. In fact they are Man C's. Man C, will you pay? No. OK then.

The whole thing is also based on an idea that women lying about paternity is more common and more important than men who know full well the kids are theirs, not supporting them. This idea is not true. It is in fact just an expression of the paranoia around paternity that has led to the subjugation of women all over the world for ?1000's of years and still goes on to a massive extent in lots of places leading to things like fgm, child marriage, extreme restriction on women's freedom e.g. afghanistan under taleban, saudi arabia.

Well I'm happily married, got 2 kids, one looks just like DH brother and sister, the other looks just like him. Not that people who don't look like their kids aren't related to them, but you know, it's a bit of a clue when it is there.

So this £200 for paternity testing is going to achieve what, exactly?

The government should be able to garnish wages appropriately

Is this not done in the UK? It's quite common in the US.

How would you know who to test and who not to test.
No man goes into a relationship stating they'll be a deadbeat Dad.

As someone who's lucky enough to still be with my dh, I'd refuse to have dh take a test, it's bloody insulting.

There is no way that figure is anything other than a stab in the dark.

My son recently had genetic testing done and we were told by the genetasist the figure is 11%. We had to be warned as it would come up in the test of dh wasnt the dad.

It might be lower for younger people as ivf and sperm donation are now avaliable.

So those of us who are in happy relationships and trust our partners and in fact might have only ever been with that person are supposed to be forced to submit to dna tests?
What about surrogate mothers, does this apply to Just fathers?
What about adopted kids?

It is wrong.

Apparently around 11% of children's fathers arn't who they believe

There is no way that figure is anything other than a stab in the dark.

Apparently around 11% of children's fathers arn't who they believe.

That's a pretty low percent to make the whole of the UK population take a paternity test.

I'm married and I resent the fact my fidelity is being questioned.

If a father denies paternity then dna testing is offered through the csa.

So should mothers be dna tested too? After all, no one knows how often babies were swapped in hospital.

When babies were stolen in Ireland, Australia, Spain, Chile and Argentina (at least) , the governments have pretty much spared all expense to reunite those people with their birth families. I.e they've washed their hands of the whole thing.

Do you realise how misogynistic your idea is? Women routinely cannot be trusted to tell the truth about their child’s father?

my ex has never doubted he is the father he just doesnt want to be a father (yet had 4 with me!) so what would be the point? as he says "if you dont see kids you shouldnt have to pay for them."

If 2% of babies were handed to the wrong mothers down to hospital errors, you can bet money would be no object in solving it and there would be a major public outcry...

@ShesABelter most crimes don't come with a handily left, fully testable untainted DNA sample for a start. Also DNA processing is highly expensive, the police aren't going to start running DNA forensics because someone broke into your shed. If it's a murder investigation or rape allegation the police have powers of arrest and the ability to request a DNA sample which can be enforced by a court. Stop watching CSI.

We already share a lot of intimate information online through social media platforms, so what is wrong with a 'mandatory DNA testing'

If you think that’s a valid comparison there’s a major issue without even heading into the bonkers idea of DNA testing

The only time it should be court enforceable is if someone is refusing to pay maintenance on the grounds the child isn't their child or might not be, you shouldn't be exempt just because you say so. CM should also be court enforceable, in s criminal sense, like tax evasion. For everyone else there is no need, why on earth would I need a DNA test to prove my DC is my husband's?! PP is right that leads to the assumption that all women are liars who sleep around, in order to have children and con poor innocent men out of money.

A few points to consider on mandatory DNA testing for fighting crime:

DNA isn't perfect - it is a statistical probability analysis so 1:1000000 means 60 people in the U.K. its not absolute.

DNA evidence can also be easily contaminated and passed on - handshakes, washing machines, even handling money which was subsequently handled by a victim of crime.

Also if 2% of men are raising children which aren't there's, that's presumably public money proving that 98% of men are raising their own children. There are 14million dependant children. At £100 per paternity test, that's over a billion pounds. What a waste of money.

Not to mention it might end up with quite a few homeless, penniless women with new born babies for the state to support.

I’m sure quite a lot of men wouldn’t want to know anyway.

I’ll just leave this here:

Why would your dna being stored in a way bother anyone, not being goady just curious as it genuinely wouldnt bother me at all.

In an ideal world no, but probably it would be sold to insurance companies and you'd find it difficult to get cover . But in other way it could be used to predict disease etc

Blood spot heel prick is for screening diseases, questionable paternity isn't a disease and no midwife or nurse would want to deliver the news.

Imagine the chaos when whatever backward government public body (or most likely one of Branson's mob) put in charge fucks up the handling of the DNA, gives out the wrong results, or some sadistic jobsworth who doesn't give a shit gets to deliver the news to not-the-daddy 😱

Just, no, a thousand times no.