So, who is the daddy? Paternity tests take off

One of the more famous paternity battles ended a decade ago with this admission: “I have accepted that Rohit Shekhar is my son,” said politician ND Tiwari. This came after his 34-year-old advocate son took him to court, claiming that he was born out of a relationship between Tiwari and his mother, and he was looking for acknowledgement of paternity. Eventually, the court ordered a paternity test in 2012 and, after much back and forth, it proved they were indeed father and son. medium nocaptionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX-yhiXcygkIn the intervening years, the question of paternity has come up often. Last month, the Supreme Court, while deciding a paternity case from Kerala, ruled that courts must be mindful of privacy while ordering DNA tests.But not every case reaches the courts. With many private labs offering paternity tests across the country, many doubting dads are setting their fears to rest — or not!Vinod Kumar, who works in marketing at DNA Forensics which has branches in several Indian cities, says they do about 500 paternity tests every month. The reasons behind these vary, he adds. “Some cases are where there is doubt about paternity, and people want to get the test for peace of mind. There are also cases where courts order paternity tests and we administer them,” says Kumar. “A minor chunk of our cases is for organ transplants, and the rest to prove family relation for immigration reasons.” ShowBlurbsDivorce lawyer Vandana Shah says one client came to her and told her that his wife was pregnant again. “I said that’s great news, why are you here? He told me that he was in a conundrum, because his wife admitted to having an affair and to being confused about who the father was. He was having sleepless nights because one option was that he would end up paying for a child that was not his, while the other prospect was abandoning his own kids. “He wanted to get a DNA test done when the child was born to know for sure,” says Shah. DNA Centre India, another private lab, sees 200 paternity tests being administered monthly. Rajesh Arya, COO, says many of their cases are due to suspicion of extra-marital affairs. “About 30% of the cases are confidential in nature, where the father or mother does the test without their partner knowing,” he says. This is further enabled by the nature of the test itself — while preferably they need blood or swab samples, nails or rooted hair can also be used for confidential cases. Kumar rattles off a list of everything they have used to test paternity: hair, nails, used condoms, dried blood, semen samples, even umbilical cords.Pricing depends on the material tested, he adds. While a blood or saliva sample DNA test costs Rs 14,000, using nails or hair makes the price double. medium nocaptionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5qTkw0U9AMCourts, however, are quite careful in ordering such tests. In the Kerala case, the judge noted that the stigma surrounding an ‘illegitimate’ child could make their way into their parents’ lives too. “The conferment of such a right can lead to its potential misuse against vulnerable women. They would be put to trial in a court of law and the court of public opinion, causing them significant mental distress, among other issues,” Justice Surya Kant observed.The basis of a court-ordered paternity test, Shah says, often rests on the idea of ‘reasonable access’. “Let’s say Sunita and Joseph are married, living together and have access to each other during that time. Now, Sunita has an affair with William. Even if Sunita gives birth to William’s child, it is assumed the child is Joseph’s because they had reasonable access to each other and the child was conceived during their marriage. Now, let’s assume Sunita goes to her marital home for a year and the child is conceived and born during that time, then there is basis to question the paternity,” she says. In a 2022 case, a man approached the court after his wife got pregnant. He was suspicious because after his wife went through tests in Singapore, the doctor found the foetus was 21 weeks old. Their marriage had been consummated 20 weeks ago. The court noted that this was based on an estimation that may not be accurate, but ordered a paternity test. However, it noted, “It is made absolutely clear that if on testing, it is found that the allegations are based on suspicion and the respondent is, in fact, the father of the child, the respondent shall pay compensation of Rs 30,00,000/ (Rupees thirty lakhs only) to the petitioner, in addition to usual maintenance and other costs and charges as the respondent may be directed to pay for the petitioner and for the child.” ShowQuotesNot all cases are about infidelity, Arya adds. In one case, they saw a couple who had donated their semen and egg to a surrogate and wanted to confirm their biological relationship to the child. They discovered that only the father was biological, and not the mother. Kumar says he’s seen people be concerned about a child being switched in the hospital too. Family counsellor Dr Maitri Chand says that the reason for increased paternity tests is the anxiety that comes with women’s increased access. “Once upon a time, infidelity, for the lack of a better term, was more in-house among women. Now, we study outside our homes and home states, we work and travel. These avenues have always been there for men, and now women have them too,” she says.Shah does not recommend paternity testing, noting the interests of the child must be considered, something which the courts have also highlighted. “Courts have held that children should not be pawns in family court. Getting a DNA test can also be scarring for the child, if they find out the person they think is their father isn’t when they’re only 7 or 8-years-old,” she says.Part of the reason for them becoming more commonplace comes down to cases in family courts getting more hostile, with nothing off limits, she adds. “In the past few years, cases have become more acrimonious, with so many demands from both sides. There’s a lot of rage, hurt and ego and when you mix that with money and cheating, it’s a potent mix.” For labs, that translates into good business.