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Could be that dad is not real father, report shows (Is that kid really yours?)
reuters via Yahoo News ^ | Aug 11, 2005 | SOURCE: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, August 2005.

Posted on 08/11/2005 12:40:55 PM PDT by summer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Perhaps one out of every 25 dads could unknowingly be raising another man's child, a finding that has huge health and social implications, according to report released Wednesday.

Exposing so-called paternal discrepancy -- when a child is identified as being biologically fathered by someone other than the man who believes he is the father -- could lead to family violence and the breakup of many families. On the other hand, leaving paternal discrepancy hidden means having the wrong genetic information, which could have health consequences.

A UK-based research team reviewed scientific research dealing with paternity published between 1950 and 2004 and reports that rates of paternal discrepancy range from less than 1 percent to as much as 30 percent.

The investigation also showed that becoming pregnant at a younger age, low socioeconomic status, and being in a long-term relationship rather than being married seem to be linked to greater likelihood of paternal discrepancy.

It is generally believed that rates of paternal discrepancy are less than 10 percent. A paternal discrepancy rate of 4 percent means that one in 25 families could be affected.

However, soaring rates of paternity testing in North America and Europe means more cases of paternal discrepancy will be identified in the years ahead, Professor Mark A. Bellis, from the Center for Public Health at the Liverpool John Moores University, and colleagues point out in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

In the United States, for example, rates of paternity testing more than doubled between 1991 and 2001. The increasing use of genetic testing for diagnosis and treatment of disease as well as in judicial procedures will also yield more opportunities to uncover cases where a father, unbeknownst to him, is not the biological parent.

"Modern genetic techniques continue to open a Pandora's box on hitherto hidden aspects of human sexual behavior," the investigators write.

Exposing such situations will inevitably affect not only deceived dads but also their family and potentially the biological father. Leaving paternal discrepancy undiagnosed, on the other hand, leaves those affected with incorrect genetic information that could prove harmful.

What's urgently needed, the authors say, is guidance on how and when paternal discrepancy should be exposed.

At present, most cases that are inadvertently identified are ignored by whoever uncovers the situation.

"However, in a society where services and life decisions are increasingly influenced by genetics, our approach to paternal discrepancy cannot be simply to ignore this difficult issue but must be informed by what best protects the health of those affected," Bellis and colleagues argue.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: dads; families; genes; kids; oops; paternity
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To: PatrickHenry

Yea! Could cast lightning bolts! LOL!!


141 posted on 08/14/2005 9:54:17 AM PDT by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: PatrickHenry; RadioAstronomer

I'd go with Apollo. How can you go wrong with the patron god of light? The arts, athletics, intellect, reason, healing, prophecy - you've got it all! That, and he was an especially slutty god..


142 posted on 08/14/2005 9:56:54 AM PDT by AntiGuv ("Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick)
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To: RadioAstronomer
The one with the noodley appendage seems appropriate, and also nutritious.
143 posted on 08/14/2005 10:00:22 AM PDT by Gumlegs
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To: AntiGuv; PatrickHenry

LOL! You convinced me. Apollo it is. :-)


144 posted on 08/14/2005 10:00:47 AM PDT by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: Gumlegs

Except he aint Greek. Gots to keep tradition alive ya know! :-)


145 posted on 08/14/2005 10:01:33 AM PDT by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: AntiGuv

"My faith didn't begin falling apart until I was in college, and it had nothing to do with the dissonance between the scriptures and empiricism. It had to do with the irreconcilable paradoxes of Christian theology alongside my studies of its historical emergence and development. One day I finally looked up and thought to myself: what silly nonsense this all is. And BTW I've never come to peace with that, but reality is what it is, not what I want it to be."


Actually your situation make complete sense as well. You found a "void" in Christian theology and nothing else but "evolution" filled it.

My opinion, the Heavenly Father knows you, where you are and when and if He wants your attention it will be Him that gets it. That is pure and uncontrolled love.


146 posted on 08/14/2005 10:03:47 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
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To: RadioAstronomer
"Dolmades" sounds like it could be the name of a Greek God. Properly prepared, it tastes divine.
147 posted on 08/14/2005 10:07:56 AM PDT by Gumlegs
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To: Gumlegs

Mmmmm.... You are making me hungry!!!


148 posted on 08/14/2005 10:11:24 AM PDT by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: RadioAstronomer
Dolmades, the Greek God of Green Colored Food was believed to help ancient families plan their meals ...

He would also watch over picnicers ...

... and inspired the army to change the color of their uniforms.


149 posted on 08/14/2005 10:26:16 AM PDT by Gumlegs
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To: RadioAstronomer
"Ultimately you personally "make" who you are, not your bloodline."

Personality doesn't necessarily have anything to do with either knowledge or character. Those are things that need to be cultivated. "Roots" are more than bloodline. They are the environment in which one grows up, what he learns to value, what he learns about love. How can a child who has never seen a good relationship know how to HAVE a good relationship or be a good mate...if, indeed, that child ever learns that a mate is anything more than a sperm donor or receptacle? How can a child who has never been parented know how to parent his/her own children? A child learns what a man is based on his/her own relationships with men, particularly his/her father. A child learns what a woman is by his/her relationship with women, particularly his/her mother. If these relationships are warped and twisted and ungrounded, it stands to reason that the child's view of them will be also.

A child learns what he lives, by default, and that learning forms the foundation of everything that comes after. If the foundation is false or unstable, how can that which is built on it be sound? A house built on sand might stand for awhile and a beautiful house can be built on a rotting foundation, but the foundation will ultimately collapse because it is unstable.

That's not to say that a child cannot rise above his/her circumstances and some of the desire to do so indeed is born of the innate personality, but it requires a lot of self-motivation that many of them just don't possess.

150 posted on 08/14/2005 10:26:23 AM PDT by sweetliberty (Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.)
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To: najida

You mean like this?

http://www.familytest.com/


151 posted on 08/14/2005 10:28:57 AM PDT by exnavychick (Whom the gods would destroy they first make chads.)
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To: RadioAstronomer

Krum. At least there's a town north of Denton (I35) named for Him. This choice would provide a counterbalance to your research.


152 posted on 08/14/2005 10:33:17 AM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: Gumlegs

ROTFLMAO! OMG, how do you keep coming up with this stuff. Too funny. :-)


153 posted on 08/14/2005 10:40:42 AM PDT by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: summer
I believe that someday, DNA testing at birth will become routine, perhaps universal and automatic.

That doesn't mean the _results_ of such testing will be automatically released to the parents or others. It will be done as a precautionary measure with the results stored for possible future requirements.

Just as a birth certificate contains simple information as to date of birth, location, name, mother's name, etc. - the birth certificates of the future will contain an encapsuled "genetic code" of the baby.

It would probably become good practice to immediately release the DNA results to the _parents_ in confidence. This guarantees that the father will _know_, proof positive, that the child his wife has just produced is indeed his own. Even if the father is _not_ present or even unknown (don't laugh), the genetic information will be _there_, in case at some point in the future the father re-enters the scene.

Hopefully, this will all-but-shutdown those wrongful paternity cases where a man ends up burdened with the cost of child support for a child that he had nothing to do with genetically.

- John

154 posted on 08/14/2005 10:41:06 AM PDT by Fishrrman
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To: sweetliberty

Believe it, it can be done.

Possibly as you say not often though.


155 posted on 08/14/2005 10:42:02 AM PDT by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: absolootezer0

I hate to say this, but I don't think he's gonna get any fundage back...


156 posted on 08/14/2005 10:48:55 AM PDT by Experiment 6-2-6 (When the disbeliever sees this, he will say, 'How nice if I was also turned into sand.')
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To: Doctor Stochastic

Hmmmm... Thats a thought. :-)

Hard to pass up on the "he was an especially slutty god.." though! LOL!


157 posted on 08/14/2005 10:50:00 AM PDT by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: summer
Can't believe no one has posted this set of 'family' photos:


158 posted on 08/14/2005 10:50:47 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (Lemmings: The Ultimate Team Players!)
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To: PatrickHenry
The girl would just say: "A god came to me when I was alone in the woods."

Perhaps the origin of the term "woods colt" for a child of uncertain paternity. It might have been the horse-god Wheeheehehehuhuhblffftthh!!

159 posted on 08/14/2005 11:14:31 AM PDT by VadeRetro (Liberalism is a cancer on society. Creationism is a cancer on conservatism.)
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To: Just mythoughts
No wonder you find comfort in evolution.

What an utterly illogical connection. Exactly the kind of lack of logic in attempting to relate events that I would expect from a creationist.

I have to wonder if there is not a similar story behind 80% of evolutionists.

What, that 80% of us were teased because we were adopted? I think you'll find that to be the case for far less than 80% or even 25% of those who accept the theory of evolution.
160 posted on 08/14/2005 12:15:02 PM PDT by Dimensio (http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif <-- required reading before you use your next apostrophe!)
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