Definition of paternity

Modern medicine offers several methods for establishing the relationship between the child and his alleged father. It is noteworthy, but, mankind possessed such knowledge hundreds of years ago, come to know how our history would have turned out. And it's true, this question did not bother kings and noblemen, poets and actors, and in simple families, such doubts also did not arise as rarely as one would like. Unfortunately, even today the number of doubting men only increases. However, we reject moral and ethical reasoning and move on to the pressing problems, or rather, talk about the existing methods for determining paternity.

How to determine family ties?

Depending on how strong the doubts of the alleged daddy, he can choose one or several ways to determine paternity, which, in turn, differ in cost, complexity, degree of reliability and associated risks:

1. The simplest but most questionable method is the definition of kinship by external similarity. Despite the fact that external signs are laid genetically, they can manifest themselves in different ways. In addition, it is not uncommon for children to be born completely similar to their mother or grandmother, and there can be no question of any definition of kinship between the child and the father.
2. By the date of conception and the term of pregnancy, some mistrustful daddies try to figure out whether they are involved in the karapuza or not. In this case, nature can play a malevolent joke with men. The fact is that spermatozoa can remain viable up to 5-7 days, so if a woman had intimacy with another man several days before ovulation, and with the claimed father - on the day of ovulation, the probability of kinship with the child is the same for both partners.
3. The definition of paternity by blood group and Rh factor is based on a comparison of the relevant data of the mother and the alleged father.

In this case, the reliability of the results obtained is higher, but far from complete.

4. To date, the most accurate and reliable test for determining paternity, which can be done before the birth of a child, is DNA analysis. Determination of paternity by DNA during pregnancy became possible not so long ago. Depending on the period, the biological material for the study can be: chorionic villi (9-12 weeks), amniotic fluid (14-20 weeks), fetal blood from the umbilical cord (18-20 weeks). Determining paternity for DNA during pregnancy is a time-consuming and expensive procedure, besides, it involves a risk of interruption. Therefore, doctors recommend patience and wait until the birth of the child, when the sampling of the material for research is easier and safer. All that is needed to determine paternity after the birth of the baby is either blood from the vein (father and child) or cells of the mucous membrane of the cheek, and nails or hair will also be used for research.