What do you think of the paternity test ban in France?

In article 16-11 of the French penal code they further restrict it so that they cannot even obtain DNA as part of a judge ordered investigation contesting parent-child relationships.

[Google Translation]:

"In civil cases, this identification can not be sought in enforcing an investigation ordered by the judge to whom an action is aimed at the establishment or contesting of a parent-child relationship, or the obtaining or removing subsidies. The consent must be obtained in advance and explicitly."

[Original French]:

"En matière civile, cette identification ne peut être recherchée qu'en exécution d'une mesure d'instruction ordonnée par le juge saisi d'une action tendant soit à l'établissement ou la contestation d'un lien de filiation, soit à l'obtention ou la suppression de subsides. Le consentement de l'intéressé doit être préalablement et expressément recueilli."

I think this is going too far. Even if the law has a well-meaning purpose to protect privacy of people's DNA it ought not to do so at the expense of parental rights.

A Human rights violation against the alleged father, a child and a biological father.

No one should be forced to raise someone else's child.

A child has a right to know its biological father.

A biological father has a right to know he has a child.

Three human rights violations just not to harm a mother's convenience in any way. Disgusting.

There can only be one message with this set of laws: every man who has the slightest doubts should reject signing the paternity certificate upon the child's birth until it's proven unambiguously he is the father, because he won't be allowed to do it at any point later. Then there will be a court order for the testing to be made. Many families will be broken in this way too, but there can be no other way if you're living under such laws.

Could you please give a link? I would like to read more details about this before forming an opinion.

Edit: Thanks :)

If I understood it correctly (google translate was weird), then the part about the paternity test ban is unfair. I also think that in this case whether or not a paternity test is done needs to be decided privately by at least one parent and the law should not become involved.

There were also other parts like it being illegal to identify a body using DNA and regarding medical and scientific research. I suspect these were lumped together with the paternity ban part to get the law to pass.

The really frightening thing is how this is rationalized...but before we get to that, lets understand what the new rules in France effectively do.

You see, France has banned paternity testing for at least the last 15 years or so...but French men were effectively getting around this ban because they would send away for testing kits, and send them to labs in Switzerland, Spain or other foreign labs to have the results examined. What the new rules effective do is make it a prosecutable offense for these men to use ANY foreign labs to determine if they are the Father of their children.

Now here's the reasoning behind it: "French psychologists suggest that fatherhood is determined by society not by biology. French Authorities believe that paternity testing can cause friction within families..."

In other words, if your wife gets pregnant, and you are both caucasian, but the child clearly has Asian/African/Arab/etc... features, it really doesn't matter that your wife obviously cheated on you...you're not allowed as a man to cause friction within the family because your marriage automatically requires you to be a Father to that child.

Furthermore, if you're a man who impregnates a woman who later marries another man...you don't have a right to be a Father to that child...because society, not biology, determines Fatherhood.

Of course what do you want to bet that if a single woman has a baby, society is more than happy to claim that the biological Father is responsible for footing child support for the baby?

And even more twisted indictment of where Europe is headed: Germany also bans or plans to ban paternity testing as well with similar laws to those enacted in France.

I guess on the plus side, if you're a European man who has sex with a woman who later becomes pregnant...and you absolutely do not wish to be a Father, deny, deny, DENY!

But of course if that's the case, I have my suspicion that the courts would be more than happy to force men into paternity tests if it means that Mother's of children could receive money from those men!

Really? I already knew that anti-male laws were being made, but this is absurd! What is the excuse this time? I think it's a load of BS that they try to attack men's right to know if the child he is paying for is truly his if he is unsure.

Dongeal: So it's perfectly fine for a man to raise a child that is not his without his knowledge? Not only that, but his spouse cheated on him in order for a child that is not his to be conceived. You see nothing wrong with that?

It is not a completely stupid idea if it is done for the protection of the children, not the women. Imagine the disruption of thousands of children's lives if their fathers discover that they are not their own. They could end without father in an instance. And even it the test turns to show that they are their father's children, how do you think they will feel knowing their father did that test? I don't mean that the tests should't be done at all, but inside the frame of a judicial procedure it would be done better.

It sounds to me like a massive invasion of human and privacy rights.

And like the sort of government invasion of privacy that the French government is usually against, when it's targeted at any group of people other than men.

That's so odd. What is the point? That's a serious question - what is the reasoning behind this law?

I don't agree with it, unless it is incredibly easy to get courts to request it… and even then… a *ban*? Sounds too excessive with no specific purpose, I'm not for it.

yeah, I read about that.. wierd that they would actually make it illegal.