A matter as thorny as paternity is the debate of the moment in Germany, where the Council of Ministers will foreseeably approve next Wednesday a bill that will force mothers to reveal their children's biological father's identity in case of doubt.
There are men who gladly exercise parents knowing that the children do not carry their genetics, but what the measure intends is to cover a legal vacuum that protects the man when he has been a parent and has paid the child support without knowing that he He was not the father.
Why force to reveal the identity?
Parents who have doubts may request a paternity test and if this is negative (that is, it is not the biological father of the child), may claim what they have paid in support of the child to the biological parent.
To recover that money invested in child support we will have to claim it from the biological father. To do this, you must first know your identity, and therefore they believe the woman should be obliged to reveal her name.
The law specifically states that the woman will have before the false father the obligation to disclose who has had sex with at the time the conception could occur.
Whoever paid the support could demand that the expenses be reimbursed but only since he had doubts about his paternity until the moment in which the result of the negative test is known.
And the mother's right to privacy?
From my point of view it is an outrage to the intimacy of the full-fledged woman. A very intimate matter that does not have to be made public if you do not want to. And if you're really not sure who the father is? If revealing it was counterproductive for her or for the child? Could you refuse to reveal it, what happens if you do?
In Spain there is no such intrusion to privacy. Any single woman can enroll a baby without providing the father's name. In case of doubts of the father, it is proceeded by judicial means and a DNA test is required, but in no case is the mother obliged to reveal the identity of the child's father.
Paternity tests
Years ago it was not possible, but today only a DNA test is enough to check the genetic compatibility between two people to certify the affiliation. If a man has doubts about his paternity, he can go to a laboratory or even do the test from home through online sales kits.
In the last decade paternity tests have multiplied by 40, according to the different institutes that carry out genetic studies. The majority of fathers (or supposed fathers) and mothers request it during pregnancy, although there are also those who do so immediately after birth and to a lesser extent throughout the first year of the baby's life.
In cases where you request a paternity test, between 25-40% of cases the result is negative.
