TO TELL or not to tell? That is the question doctors face when they accidentally discover that children are not biologically related to their supposed father.
A fresh review of the literature on 鈥減aternal discrepancy鈥� -medico-speak for cuckoldry -estimates that as many as 1 in 25 children in developed countries may have been sired by someone other than the supposed father.
The review in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (vol 59, p 749) covers papers published between 1950 and 2004. In the light of the findings, Mark Bellis and his colleagues at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, have called for clear official guidance for GPs and health professionals on when and whether to disclose such explosive information.
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鈥�1 in 25 children may have been sired by someone other than the supposed father鈥�
Bellis says it is increasingly likely that such results will spill out by accident as genetic tests for predisposition to disease spread and through the increasing use of DNA evidence in courts.
Adding to the problem is the rise of commercial DNA testing to resolve paternity disputes. In the US alone, the number of such tests trebled annually to more than 300,000 between 1991 and 2001. Bellis says that companies offering the tests should be obliged to offer counselling and advice to customers.
