The verification of paternity is a delicate activity, which falls under the Forensic Medicine field. Both in the pre-DNA era and after the advent of new technologies, the answer to the question “is he the father or not?” needed and still needs careful medico-legal skills, since the legal consequences of a hasty or inaccurate ascertainment can be extremely serious.
From a technical standpoint, the advances in molecular biology now allow the verification of paternity or maternity providing results of practical certainty. It is now possible, by simply taking a saliva sample or even other biological materials, to provide clear results of exclusion or practically proven paternity with extremely informative and reliable tests.
The high sensitivity of the methods makes it possible to obtain positive results even in cases when the putative father is decesead. This can be done by performing genetic analyses on living relatives of the deceased or on other materials (biopsies, paraffin embedded tissues for histological exams), as well as on samples collected when the individual was still alive.
The possibility of performing a private paternity test must be examined on a case-by-case basis in the light of the specific family situation. The complexity of these issues and the legal consequences that may follow a paternity test, especially when minors are involved, require detailed explanations both before and after the test, when the results are delivered. This enables the person requesting the test to better understand the legal, medical and ethical issues involved.
“Paternity testing is a medico-legal activity”
