Police have warned the public against recording children at a loss of a relationship or theoretical biological link after the conduction and release if DNA results.
Recently there has been a steady increase in the demand for paternity tests at DNA testing centres, medical centres and hospitals.
The common relationships that utilise DNA testing, includes paternity, maternity, full siblingship or half-siblingship. Others are using the tests to establish whether they are susceptible to certain types of genetic diseases like cancer.
DNA testing has become so accessible, results are retrieved within 3-5 working days, the preferred collection techniques are by buccal (cheek or mouth cavity) swab, which is easy to collect, painless and non-invasive. In addition, the industry standard of 99.5% or greater degree of certainty, with respect to paternity or maternity is sufficient to support a biological relationship between a parent and child.
According to Police spokesperson Fred Enanga, the typical customers are men who are engaged and want to confirm off springs from a past relationship, father’s seeking reassurance that they fathered their children, fathers in distant relationships, women inquiring about paternity on behalf of their children, relatives from the paternal side, women seeking child support, and even children who want to know who their biological parents are.
Those whose results come out positive, they are always happy to receive the results, because of better proof.
However, we have witnessed clients whose results have come out negatively evoke strong emotions, with potential of altering their lives. The media hype and alarms over DNA results is too much and is affecting the privacy of children, whose welfare becomes uncertain, because the alleged father will no longer have a legal obligation to pay child support or any legal rights to child custody or visitation.
“We would like to warn the public against recording children at a loss of a relationship or theoretical biological link. Negative results have easily devalued past family relationships, when new biological conclusions are disconnected,” he said.
“We urge all DNA testing centres to be very transparent with the information they give to clients. They should inform them fully about the possible outcomes of the results. It could be surprises about unknown siblings, others learn their father is not their biological parent and in worst case scenarios, fathers have even dated their hidden biological daughters, in other instances, siblings have unknowingly dated each other and even married off,” he said adding that families should therefore, be careful and properly prepared for the paternity results or other biological connections.
In addition, Enanga said they should identify DNA testing centres that are certified, because they have trained genetic counselors. Some of the home DNA kits can be subject to contamination and can lead to inaccurate test results. It’s important therefore, to have DNA testing performed at a reputable testing facility that is certified. They have strict standards for testing and accuracy.
He said where a parent, mother has evidence that proves that a paternity test is not accurate or fraud, we advise them to file a complaint with Police or consult a lawyer. You can also request a second test, if you are concerned about falsified or inaccurate paternity test results.
DNA Tests: Police warns against recording children at a loss of biological link
