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When the Father of One Twin is Not the Father of the Other

posted by n1 on Sunday May 17 2015, @07:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the well,-this-is-awkward dept.

tonyPick writes:

An bizarre story spotted at Lowering The Bar on a paternity case in New Jersey involving a set of twins where the judge ruled that the father of one twin was not the father of the other, following DNA evidence.

In what is said to be only the third such paternity case in the U.S., a New Jersey judge ruled that a man identified as "A.S." had to pay child support for one twin but not the other, because he was not that twin's father. How is that possible? I'm sure A.S. had the same question

[...] Basically, this can happen if, in the course of about a week, one blessed event occurs, the female ovulates again, and then she has a second romantic partner who also hits the target. Scientists refer to it as "heteropaternal superfecundation" but it is known informally as Have None of These People Ever Heard of Birth Control Syndrome.

Original story at NJ.com.

 
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Sunday May 17 2015, @10:47AM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Sunday May 17 2015, @10:47AM (#184007) Homepage

    the judge ruled that the father of one twin was not the father of the other

    Give science some credit. It's not like this is an "on the balance of probabilities" type situation.

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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 17 2015, @10:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 17 2015, @10:53AM (#184008)

    Silly Monkey, Government pwns Science because Government paid for Science with Grant Money.

  • (Score: 1) by dexcheque on Sunday May 17 2015, @12:51PM

    by dexcheque (4758) on Sunday May 17 2015, @12:51PM (#184028)

    The judge would've been required to make a ruling about it before the law could take the truth of the science into account -- especially considering the particulars about the situation were so unusual. Years ago, when blood type was first discovered to possibly disprove paternity, a judge didn't quite buy the "hocus pocus" of it all and Charlie Chaplin was legally found to be the parent of a girl he couldn't have possibly been the father of (according to the the blood type test).

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2015, @08:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2015, @08:15AM (#184398)

    You have too great faith in DNA tests or you have no idea what you are talking about, or both.

    DNA tests ARE a balance of probabilities: http://www.dnatestingforpaternity.com/dna-result-interpretation.html [dnatestingforpaternity.com]