A Look at Paternity Fraud tagged: , , , ,

A Look at Paternity Fraud

Posted by Paternity Test in Paternity Tests & Legalities

Unfortunately, paternity fraud, also known as child identity fraud, is more prevalent than you might have thought. Without a Paternity Test to determine the true identity of the biological father, paternity fraud can, and often does, easily take place.

What is Paternity Fraud?

Not every child is born to a set of parents in a committed, monogamous relationship. Often, the mother has multiple partners and genuinely isn’t sure who the father of her child is. In this case, paternity testing is essential for establishing, without a doubt, the true identity of the biological father. However, when a woman simply claims that a particular man is the father, she could be lying for a variety of reasons.

This constitutes paternity fraud or child identity fraud under the UN Convention on the Rights of  Child because lying about who the biological father is means that the real father is denied knowledge of his child and the child is also denied knowing who her real father is. Often, the mother wants to get child support and financial help on medical bills and might choose a man who is more well-off than the biological father.

Why the Law Must Play Catch-Up to Paternity Fraud

Despite the UN Convention mentioned above, the law is behind the times and must play catch-up in order to effectively stop paternity fraud. DNA paternity testing can quickly and easily determine who the true biological father is, but paternity testing isn’t always done. For example, the law says that the woman’s husband, at the time of the birth, is the father: period.

Unfortunately, the law has failed to keep up with the fact that infidelity is rampant as is pregnancy outside of marriage. The law, however, is set up to favor the husband-whether he’s the father or not. If another man suspects he is the true father but the husband won’t sign a denial of paternity, the other man has no right to demand a paternity test and thus loses the chance to be the child’s biological father.

When a woman isn’t married at the time of birth, she still has a limited time to get the biological father to claim paternity. Genetic testing, in this case, would greatly improve upon the method of simply taking someone’s word on paternity.

Benefits of Paternity Testing

There wouldn’t be as much paternity fraud if paternity testing was performed on a more regular basis. Although establishing paternity might cause pain to a man who thought he was the father of the child, it’s the essential right of the child to know who his biological father truly is. Genetic testing for paternity can also reveal the likelihood of certain genetic disorders or diseases that are passed down through DNA from the parents and can usually be performed with the paternity test.

Although paternity fraud will likely be around for a long time, the faster legislation catches up to the fact that more women have multiple partners and this can cause paternity questions, the less children will have to wonder who their real father is.