The Mixed-Up Brothers of Bogotá

Submitted by Matt on Mon, 2015-07-13 00:06

Story here. A strong case for mandatory DNA testing post-birth even when no paternity fraud is suspected. Excerpt:

'As Laura walked into the grocery store, catching up with Janeth, she was surprised to spot someone she knew. Behind the butcher counter was a colleague from her job at Strycon, an engineering firm. She gave him a big wave. He hardly acknowledged her. "That’s Jorge!" she told Janeth. "He works in my office." He was a well-­liked 24-year-old who worked a few floors up from her, designing pipes for oil transport, so she was surprised to see him waiting on customers in the shop.

"Oh, no, that’s William," Janeth said. William was a hard worker and rarely left that butcher counter, except to sleep. He definitely did not work at Strycon.
...
Eventually, William texted Wilber, who was working at a different butcher shop that day, and told him he needed to come right away. When Wilber arrived later that afternoon, William said he had to show him something and clicked, on his phone, on a photo of Jorge and Carlos. Immediately, Wilber saw, with total clarity, what it took everyone else hours to grasp.

"So we were swapped," Wilber said, shrugging, annoyed by the sense of momentousness William seemed to want to attach to the photo. "I don’t care who they are. You’re my brother, and you’ll be my brother until the day I die."'

Like0 Dislike0

Comments

Mandatory? I don't think it should be. I don't think anyone should be forced to submit DNA if they don't want to (aside from court order when a likely parent is denying parentage). Currently any legal parent can get their DNA tested against their child's DNA if they want to. So if a father wants it done, then he should just do it. I told my husband that I would not care if he got a paternity test. He must not thought it was important because, as far as I know, he hasn't done it. There are now do it yourself DNA kits available on line or at Walgreens.

Also keep things in perspective. Hospital mix ups where parents end up raising the wrong child are EXTREMELY rare. I dont know of any in the USA in last 25 years. In the USA moms, dads and babies are slapped with a wrist bracelet immediately. This case occurred in a very poor country, I don't think they should be spending money on mandatory DNA tests for every birth.

Even if it became mandatory in the hospital, a mix up could happen anytime in the first few days, so it could even occur after DNA is submitted.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Kris on Mon, 2015-07-13 05:50

... then what's the problem? When 1/10 of us are not the child of the purported dad (see here), that's beaucoup paternity fraud. Men shouldn't be getting hornswaggled and defrauded by cheating wives/gfs and requiring a paternity test at each hospital birth (and for listing on a birth certificate) would help that out a lot.

The burden of proof of paternity ought to be on the mother purporting paternity; the burden to disprove the mother's assertion should not be on the purported father. It's this fundamentally unjust standard that has ruined the lives of millions of men and defrauded millions more. It must end.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Tue, 2015-07-14 03:26

There is no problem, as a mother's permission is not required. What if dad is satisfied that the child born to his wife or gf is his child and he doesn't want to spend the money on a paternity test (they are around $300). What is wrong with letting men decide for themselves?

edit disclosure: I deleted my original comment and replaced it with this one.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Kris on Tue, 2015-07-14 20:07

... and in particular were unaware of the degree of fraud going on? Wouldn't you want to know if you were about to be on the hook for a kid that wasn't yours? Children also have the right to know their parents -- their actual parents, yet even their dads, if at all possible.

To use another analogy, imagine if hospitals routinely and intentionally switched out 10% of all newborns with other newborns. Now you, mom, have a 10% chance of raising another woman's child as your own when you could have raised your own actual child. Now let's say this nefarious behavior by hospitals was known to some but not to you. Wouldn't you want to be told about it? Wouldn't you want mandatory DNA testing by an indep. 3rd party done b4 taking the baby home? Even if it was only happening 1% of the time? Or .1%? I bet you would.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2015-07-15 01:05

My problem is with "mandatory" DNA testing. I have no problem with elective DNA testing, and all parents already have that right before they accept parenthood (some mothers who use artificial fertility treatments request maternity testing at birth, but some don't).

For me, and I suspect it is the same for those who make laws, it is about risk vs cost vs benefit, as well as human rights. Aside from crime, no one should be forced by the government to give DNA, and have to pay for something they do not want.

I have had children with two men. I told each man, that I would not be offended by a paternity test. Neither took me up on the offer when the children were born (although they did not need my permission). I assume it is because they were satisfied that the children were theirs and they probably did not want to waste the money even though each of them could afford it. So just as I believe in the right for any father (or mother) to get a DNA test, I also believe in the right for him/her not to get one.

I don't understand why you don't believe in a parent's right NOT to get a DNA test. But I guess we will have to agree to disagree :)

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Kris on Wed, 2015-07-15 05:28