The perils of the $50 paternity test
As the cuckold is revealed, the studio audience roars. On screen, electronic bleeps offer the only protection from the curses denoting humiliation, anger and grief. For producers of the grubbiest daytime television, the novelty of exposing the ultimate betrayal never wears off.
Now, thanks to the wonders of science, the very same drama could be coming to a store near you.
Last week, Britain's biggest drugstore announced plans to stock its shelves with a $50 paternity test to check a man's DNA against that of the child his partner has carried.
For some scientists and those with an interest in genetics, the decision by Boots constitutes a sort of progress, replacing a hazy world of suspicion and mistrust with lab-coated certainty.
Gamely, the makers of the tests go further, with reassurance that the kit will provide families across Britain with "peace of mind." Yet psychologists and commentators on ethics see in the commercial decision something quite different; the power of cheap technology to destroy complex and fragile bonds holding thousands of lives together.
While paternity bombshells provide easy fodder for reality TV and soap-opera cliffhangers, many people assume this is not an issue that affects "people like them." One professor of public health wonders who they are trying to kid. Research by Mark Bellis, director of the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University, suggests one in 25 children in Britain has been sired by someone other than the man who believes he is the father.
Dr. David Jones, director of the Roman Catholic Anscombe Bioethics Centre, believes companies should not be able to profit from revelations which could tear families apart, and leave children without a father figure.
"It is irresponsible to leave these decisions to the free market and not think about the consequences for children and families," he said.
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