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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

DIY DNA testing kits on sale. Good or Bad?

35 replies

GabbyLoggon · 03/02/2011 13:43

I think most progress has a plus and minus effect

I dont know the full implications of this

"Who,s the daddy?" was the headline in my paper

The whole caboodle kit and test seems to cost about £160

Anyone know more about it than me? Please tell.

    "gabby"

OP posts:

NotActuallyAMum · 03/02/2011 14:33

I read that they "can't be used as evidence in cases of disputed paternity"

I'd have thought that was the whole point of them but then again I don't know a lot about them either

bubbleOseven · 03/02/2011 14:34

well, they're good obviously.

what's bad about them?

Serendippy · 03/02/2011 14:35

Don't know anything about them. Neither good nor bad, just sad that there is such a call for them.

bubbleOseven · 03/02/2011 14:36

Oh,

it's you,

i'll move along now

MrSpoc · 03/02/2011 14:37

I think the point if them is if you have doubt then you can check yourself. If the results are not what you expected you then have a good reason to get a court appointed DNA test being very confident in what the out come will be.

I think they are a very good idea but there will be alot of people being upset by this.

NotActuallyAMum · 03/02/2011 14:43

MrSpoc I don't think 'checking yourself' is possible. The user has to swipe the inside cheek of the mother, child and 'father' and it's the results of that which determines whether the 'father' is indeed the 'father'. Permission from both 'parents' is required

NotActuallyAMum · 03/02/2011 14:43

Original poster

GabbyLoggon · 03/02/2011 14:44

Thats a fair summary, Mr Spoc. Time will tell. "Gabby"

OP posts:

MrSpoc · 03/02/2011 14:44

i understand that.

You ask the mother permision and she refuses. you will think why, what has she to hide? so she eventually agrees or you go to court as you have enough suspicion.

Amieesmum · 03/02/2011 14:45

They are good - buuut can easily be tampered with Worries me for daddys who want to sherk the responsibility of being a parent.

My dd's father has requested a DNA test, thats cool with me. Theres no doubt he's her dad - but i would like a court approved DNA test, with samples taken by a Dr or professional to ensure he doesn't cheat the results (he's trying to get out of paying CSA) I should add it's taken him 6 years to decide he'd like a DNA test with no doubts until i asked him to help financially.

chocoholic · 03/02/2011 14:46

They might put Jeremy Kyle out of a job so very, very good!

cantspel · 03/02/2011 14:47

The only people who have to worry are those who have something to hide.

MrSpoc · 03/02/2011 14:47

you can tamper them yes - but they are not going to be used in court. you still need to get a court appointed DNA test. so tampering will be irrelivant.

softglowsandmaybes · 03/02/2011 14:49

Choco - you are on my wavelength, although i think this could be a real money spinner - people could have Jeremy Kyle nights, complete with DNA test kits and some sort of home made lie detector test - It could be the new pampered chef!!

Amieesmum · 03/02/2011 14:50

lol yes - thats what i mean, i'd like to get a court appointed one rather than a over the counter

have nothing to hide, just dont trust him :D

mayorquimby · 03/02/2011 15:46

If they're accurate then it's brilliant.
As others have said they won't be taken as evidence by a court of law but they may well form the basis of a prima facie case which would require the court to order a dna test which would be accurate and reliable.

Original poster

GabbyLoggon · 03/02/2011 15:55

Yes, Mayor, thats seem to sum up the situation thus far. "Gabby"

OP posts:

Snorbs · 03/02/2011 15:58

DNA swab kits have been available through the post for years. That they're now available in shops as well is hardly going to change society overnight.

MrSpoc · 03/02/2011 16:03

Snorbs - they are more readily availible now especially to lower income families who do not have internet access to order mail order DNA kits.

I think you will be suprised at the issues this will cause.

Soon Mumsnet will need its own area just for DNA Test results gone bad.

Lamorna · 03/02/2011 16:16

I think that they are a good thing if parents are not honest. There have been threads recently where people think it is perfectly OK not to tell the DC the truth about their birth. I can't see any reason why they wouldn't from the age that they don't really understand. This shows that they would be silly not to when the DC can turn detetective when older. Anything that exposes family secrets is a good thing IMO. Everyone has a right to know their origins.

Bogeyface · 03/02/2011 16:37

I think the problem is that although they are £160, that is still cheap enough for some people to get them as a knee jerk reaction to a break up, argument or bitchy comment.

So they do the test without really considering what they would do with the results. Then they perhaps feel bound to follow a course of action they would not have otherwise considered.

The whole "right to know" thing is fine, but what about the "right to NOT know"? I know a very good man who has long suspected he isnt the bio father of the eldest child born to his marriage. But he chose to ignore the doubts and continue to bring the child up and assume it was his. They have and have always had, a wondeful realtionship and when the marriage ended he maintained that relationship. If these tests had been available then (the child is now) then in a fit of anger or pique he could have got the test and taken it and found out something that he obviously didnt want to know. He may have been prevented from seeing the child he had brought up from birth.

I think it doesnt give the space and time for thought that a proper doctor performed test does, with the cost and appointment times etc.

Bogeyface · 03/02/2011 16:39

sorry (the child is now 18)

Snorbs · 03/02/2011 16:43

MrSpoc, low-income families that can presumably afford £160 for a paternity test bought in Boots but not £1.20 for the bus fare to the local library to use the computers there so they can order a cheaper one on-line? Sounds... unlikely.

MrSpoc · 03/02/2011 17:07

Really Snorbs. the area I grew up in had not real public transport

Very rough area and was like a little island - no taxis in or out but only a buss ever so often (when i decides to come) the busfair do tend to be steap as well.

But the type of blokes who would do any thing to get out of paying will spend £160 to get the DNA test over the counter in their village.

Also it is a diprived area and low intelligance. hardly anyone can use a computer (i couldnt until 5 years ago)
and would not know they could of got a test on line.

kepler10b · 03/02/2011 17:23

good. although you have to worry about situations where they are deemed necessary. always something negative there - suspicious bloke / cheating woman etc

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