In recent years, paternity testing has become easier, faster, and more reliable. Courts now routinely accept paternity test results as a valid (and mostly irrefutable) means of determining the identity of a child's father for the purpose of instituting orders for child support. The acceptance of paternity tests to prevent or terminate child support orders, however, varies greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction at this time. Some courts will allow paternity test results to be used to prevent or terminate child support orders; some will not.
Since the results of a paternity test can have wide-ranging implications, it is crucial that the test method used be accurate and reliable, and that the laboratory performing the test be reputable and follow accepted scientific practices. A "false positive" result could have serious or even devastating consequences for all involved. What follows is a brief discussion of the paternity testing, with some recommendations you will want to consider if you are ever asked to take a paternity test.
For a DNA paternity test, samples (either cheek cells or blood) are taken from the mother, the child, and the alleged father. When the DNA is processed, attempts are made to find similarities between the samples. This involves looking at specific locations for common matches or 'markers'. The two most commonly used test methods vary in the number of possible locations available as markers, which has an effect on the overall ability of the test to differentiate between samples that match and samples that don't.
Pennsylvania paternity rulings
While DNA testing can determine whether a man is the biological father of a child, Pennsylvania courts have returned mixed rulings on whether he is responsible for support payments after he and the mother split up. When the child and presumed father have bonded and the man has acknowledged being the father, the man can be required to pay support. However, Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that men no longer had to make support payments in at least two cases involving DNA testing:
• In 2003, Superior Court upheld a Luzerne County judge's ruling that eliminated support payments by William Doran, who used DNA results to exclude himself as the father of a child conceived during his marriage. The child was 11 when Doran learned he was not the father, according to court documents.
• In February, Superior Court said an Erie County judge incorrectly ordered Gregory Gatti to continue paying support for a toddler who was not biologically his. The couple were never married. The child was 18 months old when Gatti learned through DNA testing that another man was the father. The Erie County judge said Gatti should pay support, noting that Gatti had acted as the father and claimed the child as a dependent on tax returns. Superior Court judges overturned that ruling, saying the mother tricked Gatti into believing he was the father.
Courts in a six Western Pennsylvania counties -- Allegheny, Westmoreland, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler and Washington -- ordered DNA tests of about 4,500 children and adults last year to establish paternity.
