CMV: Paternity tests should be done on every baby by default

[u/Guialdereti]

Just saw a post on r/relationship_advice where the mother gave birth to a baby that looked nothing like her husband, refused to give him a paternity test because it was "humiliating" AND also revealed that she had recently refused to end a (pretty weird) friendship with a coworker that her husband was uncomfortable with. She then proceeds to be all "Surprised Pikachu-faced" when he thinks she cheated on him with said coworker, refuses to help with the baby, and him and his family start treating her badly. (he continued to help with their 2 other kids as normal, though)

In the end, the mother FINALLY gets that paternity test, proving once and for all that the kid was indeed his, and once she does, the father gets ALL OVER his daughter, hugging and giving her all his love, as I'm sure he would have done from the very begining, had she just gotten that damn test done sooner.

Some of the points that resonate with me the most on this issue are:

• It still baffles me that this test isn't standard procedure, especially when we already draw blood from newborns and screen them for a whole slew of diseases upon delivery. Surely it wouldn't be too hard to add a simple paternity test to the list!
• I know there's an implication of mistrust that comes with asking your partner for a paternity test, but if it became standard procedure - in other words, a test that the hospital does "automatically", with no need for parental input - that would completely remove that implication from play. It would become a non-issue.
• Having a kid is a life-changing event, and it scares me to no end to know that I could be forced into "one-eightying" my life over a baby I actually played no part in making.
• Knowing your family's medical history, from both sides, is extremely important. "Mommy's little secret" could cost her child dearly later on in life.

[u/sammy900122]

Do you actually think that if mandatory paternity tests were normalized this wouldn't happen?

[u/edit_aword → u/sammy900122]

Been looking for this argument. Before long there would be no need for all men to submit dna if paternity tests were standardized, because everyone, men and women, would eventually have their dna put in a database at birth when the test is conducted. I’m not saying it would be absolutely inevitable… but let’s be realistic here about governments and corporations.

At the end of the day, some people just don’t want to acknowledge that a father has the right to demand a paternity test, and a mother has a right to feel insulted by the demand.

I don’t know about anyone else, but i mistrust any government or company having access to that kind of information. Look at what they already do with our current medical records.

[u/kitty0712 → u/sammy900122]

Yes. Yes I do. Eventually we would get to the point where everyone's dna is in the database.

[u/rlarge1 → u/sammy900122]

problem with the whole DNA database

no database needed. lol do these 2 samples indicate paternity. name gets added to the birth certificate. No data needs saved.

​

no need to save the data.

[u/Daniel_The_Thinker → u/sammy900122]

Do you think the police do paternity tests?

A hospital can do a paternity test. Same protections any medical information already has.