Is Mother carrying Boyfriend / Lover child? Prenatal DNA Test can Tell
Posted by Raj Fun News Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Paternity tests are being carried out by DNA laboratories on unborn children while they are still in the womb, enabling their mothers to abort them if they are the product of an extramarital affair. The service, known as a prenatal paternity test, is being used by hundreds of British women every year, according to one of the laboratories performing it. Most of the women opting for it have had affairs and are anxious to know whether the child they are carrying was fathered by their partner or their illicit lover.
Some DNA laboratories are refusing to perform the prenatal paternity test, insisting that it is unethical, a view echoed by pro-life campaign groups.
Invasive procedures are necessary for testing, raising the risk of a miscarriage and also posing a health risk to the mother. It is the latest ethical difficulty to hit the burgeoning business of private DNA testing. There are believed to be at least 20,000 tests carried out each year in Britain, with prices starting from as little as £99.
Academic research shows many fathers are right to be doubtful about their children’s provenance, with 1 in 25 unwittingly raising another man’s offspring.
Last week a court heard how Elspeth Chapman spent 17 years believing that an unrelated man was her father, only discovering his true identity in her mother’s diary. It was later confirmed through genetic testing.
To avoid such a situation, some women are resorting to invasive procedures to find out their child’s father. DNA Solutions, an international firm that claims to be the biggest provider of genetic tests in the UK, acknowledges that some of the women using its prenatal test — which costs upwards of £234 — will probably go on to have terminations if the baby is shown to have the “wrong” father.
Dan Leigh, marketing director for the company, said that they were performing up to 500 prenatal paternity tests in the UK each year. The practice is even more prevalent in the United States, where DNA Solutions also operates. “The prenatal paternity test is starting to grow,” Leigh said.
“The vast majority of clients for the prenatal paternity test have perhaps had an affair and the husband has found out about it and is demanding a test, or else she wants clarification of who the father is without actually asking her husband,” Leigh said. SUNDAY TIMES, LONDON CLEARING DOUBTS: Most women opting for the test want to know whether the child they are carrying was fathered by their partner or their illicit lover
Source : TOISome DNA laboratories are refusing to perform the prenatal paternity test, insisting that it is unethical, a view echoed by pro-life campaign groups.
Invasive procedures are necessary for testing, raising the risk of a miscarriage and also posing a health risk to the mother. It is the latest ethical difficulty to hit the burgeoning business of private DNA testing. There are believed to be at least 20,000 tests carried out each year in Britain, with prices starting from as little as £99.
Academic research shows many fathers are right to be doubtful about their children’s provenance, with 1 in 25 unwittingly raising another man’s offspring.
Last week a court heard how Elspeth Chapman spent 17 years believing that an unrelated man was her father, only discovering his true identity in her mother’s diary. It was later confirmed through genetic testing.
To avoid such a situation, some women are resorting to invasive procedures to find out their child’s father. DNA Solutions, an international firm that claims to be the biggest provider of genetic tests in the UK, acknowledges that some of the women using its prenatal test — which costs upwards of £234 — will probably go on to have terminations if the baby is shown to have the “wrong” father.
Dan Leigh, marketing director for the company, said that they were performing up to 500 prenatal paternity tests in the UK each year. The practice is even more prevalent in the United States, where DNA Solutions also operates. “The prenatal paternity test is starting to grow,” Leigh said.
“The vast majority of clients for the prenatal paternity test have perhaps had an affair and the husband has found out about it and is demanding a test, or else she wants clarification of who the father is without actually asking her husband,” Leigh said. SUNDAY TIMES, LONDON CLEARING DOUBTS: Most women opting for the test want to know whether the child they are carrying was fathered by their partner or their illicit lover
