An 18 year old woman is
pregnant. Before she discovered her current condition, her boyfriend already
left her. The woman wants his boyfriend to acknowledge the child, so he is
requesting a paternity test while she is pregnant. Is the process possible or
there will be related health issues that would put the life of both mother and
child into danger?
Common characteristics between two people can also be acquired by the child.
However, there is a certain limit such as, couples with both blue eyes can also
have blue eyed child. If one of the couple has blue eyes and the other is brown,
they can either have brown or blue eyed children. Therefore, blue eyed man is
exempted of the suspicion if the child is born with brown eyes to the blue eyed
mother.
Paternity testing while the
woman is pregnant is performing on similar idea. The only difference is that the
process can be repeated based on various characteristics using biochemical
elements in the blood. If the baby seemed to be carrying majority of the
characteristics being set by the mother only, then the possibility is less than
what is expected. Thus, the suspected man is not the father.
Actually, requirements are the blood samples of the three involved parties:
mother, child, and the suspected father. Similar to a baby, a fetus is already
competent of undergoing DNA testing in order to establish accurate paternity
result. However, this can be done by typically collecting the DNA sample through
the uterus of the pregnant mother. This method used in paternity identification
is known as the Chorionic Villus Sampling or CVS. It is done to perform genetic
testing to determine growth abnormalities on the fetus. Risk is severe, but it
will cause pregnancy to be terminated ahead of time. Method is rarely used,
unless if the pregnant is incest or of a rape victim. But, it always involves
extra risk.
Paternity testing can also be performed on women while pregnant using
amniocentesis method. This is done by inserting the mother’s womb by a very thin
needle to collect approximately two tablespoons of fluid from the unborn child.
Fluid is made up of baby’s DNA sample. The possibility of risks involving the
procedure can be understood with the help of your health care provider or
doctor.
Amniocenteses method is commonly applied on more than 35 year old pregnant
mother, whose child condition might be in danger due to the abnormalities of
chromosomes. Furthermore, request involving such procedure can be obtained by a
pregnant mother, provided that she is in between 13-20 weeks of pregnancy. As a
mother, you need to determine whether you want the test to serve any legal
purposes you have or for personal use only.
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