Soaring paternity identification challenges traditional ethics

A non-regular investigation conducted recently in Zhejiang Province indicated that the requests for DNA identification of ones own children are rapidly increasing at a rate of 40 ¨C 50 percent every year. There are more rich people in the south and north of Zhejiang Province and more and more intermediaries have begun to carry out the business. Social observers speak openly this is because the family relationship is very weak and shaky. The tricky mentality of the rich of having "another woman to play with" outside is the main reason for the crop-up of this special market

Most of intermediary businesses are taken up by those civilian organizations
The Dawen Co. Ltd. for identification and consultancy set up in Wenzhou last October is a company in the locality, which was the first to deal openly with the job for the identification of ones own child. The company even put up advertisements on public conveyances for the DNA identification.

As learned there are only four legalized organs for DNA identification in Zhejiang that are the high people's court, provincial public security bureau, Hangzhou public security bureau and the house for refraining from drugs in Ningbo. However, there are over 70 such social organizations as legal identification center of Wenzhou Medical College and Huada Gene Research and Development Center in Hangzhou, which deal with the job for identification of ones own child for persons from overseas, and the increase of the businesses averages at a rate of 40 ¨C 50 percent a year with the social organizations to take up the most of the jobs. .

Wealthier clients in the south and north Zhejiang make up the majority of the cases
As revealed from a reliable personage most of those who wish to do the identification of ones own children are with a complicated mentality. They want to know "whether the child is their own flesh and blood" or "whether he is the father of the child". However, once they find out that the result goes against their expectations some of them are unable to face the problem of a broken family and the division of the property. And the emergence of the social organizations for DNA identification caters just to the thinking of those people who would like to know the true fact but do not like to fall into a lawsuit.

A person who knows the inside out of suchlike cases says, in the economy-developed areas in the north and south of Zhejiang those who go to the social organizations to do DNA identification for ones own child are mostly from the wealthier families. Every day the phone calls for consultancy the organizations received are much more than the actual number of dealings they are able to engage. Among these people some are suspecting that their wives are not loyal to them while some ladies want to make clear who's the father of the child and still others are for the division of the property after devoice and still others are for such cases of the "other women" to ask for the allowances for their illegitimate children. And the persons involved in case (or litigants) are mostly the wealthier people. What worries these people most is the division of the property. "To protect the privacy of the clients we'd like to suggest that they'd better resort to telephone calls for connection and consultancy."

An expert from the Zhejiang Academy of Social Science says, the frequent use of the DNA identification of ones own child reflects the fragile family linkage and the lowdown of confidence and loyalty between man and wife. "The more and more heatedness for identification of ones own child can only serve to indicate that the traditional ethics of a family is on the brink of breakup and the norm of social virtues is being led up a garden path."

Social identification short of legal validity
In the actual practice, each and every social organization will sign a "letter of entrustment" with the client beforehand in order to avoid unnecessary trouble. Clearly stated in the Letter of Entrustment writ by Hangzhou Baili Sci-tech Co goes like this: the individual family property troubles incurred out from the result of identification shall be borne by the party giving the mandate themselves and the private identification certificate has no validity in litigation.

So far there is no such a law in China to own and regulate the procedure and validity in which a person mandates a private organization to do identification of ones own child, says Li Jinsong, lawyer of Zhejiang Jun'an Lawyers Firm. It is a blank point of the law. Of the existing laws there is no such a law that can be applied alone to testify for filiation.

However, the 57 social intermediary organizations approved and authenticated not long ago by Zhejiang High People's Court to have the legal power cover only such businesses as for real estate appraisal, for automobile appraisal and for the price of construction project, a total of 10 categories which do not include the DNA identification of ones own child.

By People's Daily Online



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