Tabloid Scandals- Read to Believe

There’s a reason why paternity tests are often done discretely and privately. Unless it’s a court order for child custody reasons, most men undergo these tests in a sensitive way. After all, the results could impact on major relationships. But with today’s tabloid press, discretion is the last thing on the agenda. And paternity DNA tests can be used to fuel scandals and create good copy.

Paternity Tests on TV

Television and the press have seen a growing number of people undertake DNA tests in public. The Trisha Show was a high profile case in point. It revealed on air that a 19 year-old was not the father of a baby he believed was his. The man was soon in court. He had punched his girlfriend’s father for laughing when he heard the results of the test. His lawyer said releasing the test result on air was the ‘lowest common denominator’.

Opt for Discretion

For the men who fathered a child as if it were their own to find out in such a public and humiliating way can be devastating. Although the majority of the public opting for DNA testing for paternity have the right to privacy and discretion, when it comes to celebrity there seems to be a different set of rules altogether.

Bill Clinton’s DNA Paternity Tests

In 1999, the then-American President Bill Clinton was in the press shortly after the Monika Lewinsky scandal. An American tabloid magazine, Star, said it was trying to establish whether or not Clinton was the father of a 13-year-old mixed race boy. The magazine claimed Clinton had ‘relations’ with the boy’s mother who was a black prostitute at the time. Paternity tests require consent from both parents, but then legislation was not in place to prevent secret DNA testing. The magazine stated the prostitute claimed the boy was Clinton’s off-spring as a result of a $300 dollar sex session.

Damaging Paternity Tests

Clinton denied ever meeting the woman and tabloid stories are often taken with a pinch of salt, nevertheless they can be incredibly damaging and picked up on during sensitive times. Clinton’s Lewinsky escapade meant he was an easy target. Although the magazine said it was going to use DNA polymarkers from Clinton to see if there was a DNA link to the boy, such evidence would not be conclusive. Only DNA tests would offer proof that could be accepted in a court of law.

International Biosciences offer a broad range of paternity tests 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 or click here to email us.