Paternity Testing Ends 55-Year Case
It’s been a 55-year battle but paternity testing has finally laid one custody battle to rest.
In 2003, Ragnar Johansson’s 55-year battle finally came to an end thanks to DNA paternity testing. The dispute began in 1948 in Sweden, when the man, now in his eighties, said he wasn’t the father of the girl said to be his daughter. His claim was dismissed and the court ordered him to pay child maintenance to the girl’s mother. It may have been 55 years on, but the initial ruling did not have the benefit of DNA paternity testing available – it wasn’t invented until the 1980s.
DNA Paternity Testing Conclusive Evidence
The case became the longest-running dispute in history – but it’s something that would have been cleared up in a day if paternity testing and DNA technology had been around. Over fifty years of paying child maintenance whilst not believing the child is yours must be a difficult psychological and emotional issue to deal with - especially if the parents of the disputed paternity child were acrimonious towards each other. Today, paternity testing technology would have saved the man years of financial ruin and possibly saved the emotions of the child in question too.
Paternity Testing Came Too Late
According to the Swedish government however, the ruling that the man was not the girl’s father thanks to the evidence of paternity testing came ‘too late’ for them to reimburse him for the years of child maintenance he shelled out. The story outlines how vital paternity testing and advances in DNA technology can be in modern day paternity disputes. Paternity testing has revolutionized the issues of child welfare, parental responsibility and child maintenance.
Deluge of Paternity Testing Requests
After the high profile Swedish case, Norway had a deluge of paternity testing requests after the Children’s Act was introduced in 2005. It meant that legally mothers could not refuse requests for paternity testing and DNA samples to establish biological paternity. It also meant that if a man had paternity testing and was not the biological father that they’d be entitled to refunds in any child support they had paid.
Paternity Testing - A Thorny Issue
The issue of paternity testing and financial maintenance is a thorny one, and not everybody agrees with making the refunds legal. In some places such as Florida if the father has agreed to pay child maintenance, they must continue to do so - even if paternity testing later shows him not to be the biological father. It’s thought that the demands for paternity testing will therefore increase so that more men are clued up about their legal positions before committing to parenthood. It’s thought that labs in America are already deluged with requests for paternity testing – with huge backlogs of DNA samples waiting to be analysed.
International Biosciences offer a broad range of paternity testing services designed to provide indisputable answers to emotional questions. Whether you seek to establish paternity, prove siblingship or research genealogy, for legal definition or peace of mind, we are able to provide the appropriate paternity testing at competitive rates, professionally and confidentially. Using state of the art technology we are able to provide conclusive evidence on time, every time. Contact International Biosciences on 01342 850945 or click here to email us.
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