Law of Persons

can a person be legally forced to submit himself or herself to bloodtests in order to establish paternity?

[MySonsMom]

Not unless it is court ordered.

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Originally posted by caterina
can a person be legally forced to submit himself or herself to bloodtests in order to establish paternity?

My response:

Now please, don't think that I'm making fun of you, because I'm not. I just think your post is so cute and unusual.

I'll tell you why . . .

You included the female gender in your question. First, a woman wouldn't need to take a blood test or DNA test to know whether or not she's the mother of a child - - unless it's a police authority trying to find the mother of an abandoned infant. Second, women don't take "paternity" tests. The root word, "Pater" is Latin for "father". Also, a doctor is there to sign the birth certificate and, that doctor usually knows that the baby came out of that woman's body. Whereas, the doctor wasn't around at the time of conception and wouldn't know who the father might be.

That's another reason why the place in a hospital where a woman stays after giving birth is called a "Maternity" ward. The root word is "Mater", latin for "mother".

So, in the normal course, a woman wouldn't need to prove her "motherhood" by taking a test. As a matter of fact, I've never heard of a Civil Court ever ordering a "Maternity Test".

Again, I just thought it was cute, and I wish you the best of fortune.

IAAL

[Edited by I AM ALWAYS LIABLE on 02-21-2001 at 06:57 PM]

From Caterina.
Thank you for responce!
But let me clear up a few misunderstandings...
I was not only refering to paternity tests but also blood testing! You said that you had never ever heard of someone going for "maternity tests" before, well neither have i But there have been cases when the female (mothers) have been asked by the court to take blood tests.
For example: The appellant was the mother of a child , she was receiving maintenance from the supposed father. the father alleged thst despite these payments he had never admitted paternity.He admitted to having sexual intercourse with the appellant during the time the child was conceived, but contended he was not the only one to do so, when the appellant applied for an increase in maintenance. the father opposed this, and requested that the appellant and the child subject themselves to bloodtests in order to establish whether he was indeed the father of the child. the mother now refused to do so...
( S v L 1992 3 SA 713(E))

That was why i worded my question : "CAN A PERSON BE LEGALLY FORCED TO SUBMITT HIMSELF OR HERSELF TO BLOODTESTS IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH PATERNITY"

But I guess you probably didnt realise that the above was in actual fact an extreme possibility