2008 Woodie Awards
Serial Scribblings:Paternity tests available in drugstores need governmental regulation
Sam Koch '11
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Opinion
Instead of booking an appearance on Maury, people asking "Who's the daddy?" now have a slightly more discreet option: paternity tests in the family-planning aisle of their local Rite-Aid stores.
Over-the-counter paternity testing kits, created and distributed by the DNA testing company Identigene, are now available in over 30 states nationwide.
For $29.99, people can purchase a kit; another $119 processing fee is required to obtain the results.
Everything needed comes conveniently in a box: cotton swabs for collecting cell samples, plastic bags for holding said samples, and consent forms. Results arrive via e-mail or snail mail in a mere three to five business days.
Best of all? The tests are over 99.99 percent accurate, according to Identigene's research.
The company's slogan, "Peace of mind through DNA testing," speaks to a growing trend in our country-it seems that everything, from law enforcement to family-ancestry services to TV shows, has some connection to genetics.
Perhaps our national obsession with double-helix evidence is a natural progression in a technology-packed existence, but I wonder if a cheek swab and some lab results can really guarantee full peace of mind for those questioning a child's parentage.
Our society believes that DNA holds uncontestable truths-that one drop of blood or a strand of hair can tell investigators everything about an entire crime scene, no questions asked.
Now, I'm not arguing that genetic information isn't important or generally accurate; it is.
What I am concerned about, however, is the need and demand for such a product as OTC paternity tests. What does this say about our culture?
In the good old days, the thought of using paternity tests might have seemed absurd. If a woman had a child, it was assumed that the husband was the father--end of story.
Shotgun weddings were scandalous, to be sure, but pregnant brides generally felt confident that they were marrying the fathers of their unborn babies.
Over-the-counter paternity testing kits, created and distributed by the DNA testing company Identigene, are now available in over 30 states nationwide.
For $29.99, people can purchase a kit; another $119 processing fee is required to obtain the results.
Everything needed comes conveniently in a box: cotton swabs for collecting cell samples, plastic bags for holding said samples, and consent forms. Results arrive via e-mail or snail mail in a mere three to five business days.
Best of all? The tests are over 99.99 percent accurate, according to Identigene's research.
The company's slogan, "Peace of mind through DNA testing," speaks to a growing trend in our country-it seems that everything, from law enforcement to family-ancestry services to TV shows, has some connection to genetics.
Perhaps our national obsession with double-helix evidence is a natural progression in a technology-packed existence, but I wonder if a cheek swab and some lab results can really guarantee full peace of mind for those questioning a child's parentage.
Our society believes that DNA holds uncontestable truths-that one drop of blood or a strand of hair can tell investigators everything about an entire crime scene, no questions asked.
Now, I'm not arguing that genetic information isn't important or generally accurate; it is.
What I am concerned about, however, is the need and demand for such a product as OTC paternity tests. What does this say about our culture?
In the good old days, the thought of using paternity tests might have seemed absurd. If a woman had a child, it was assumed that the husband was the father--end of story.
Shotgun weddings were scandalous, to be sure, but pregnant brides generally felt confident that they were marrying the fathers of their unborn babies.
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Neil Stolmaker
posted 4/09/08 @ 8:22 PM EST
Both Home DNA Paternity Tests and Legal DNA Paternity Tests provide the same information. Either the Alleged Father is excluded from being the father of the child (which means that it is 100% certain that he is NOT the biological father), or the Alleged Father cannot be excluded as being the father of the child (in which case a percentage of likelihood is stated). (Continued…)
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