Dear Editor,

The debate about mandatory DNA test at birth has resurfaced and, has again, sparked divergent reactions.

Many local clinics note that Jamaica is not at that place of maturity and compulsory paternity testing could lead to a spike in gender-based violence. The clinics disclose that some women have requested counterfeit results for fear of their lives.

It has long been known that Jamaica has a paternity fraud (jacket) problem, so if this fraud is not addressed now, when will it be? Why should men be forced to invest and sacrifice their time, emotions, and financial resources for a child who is not biologically theirs?

The alarming statistics of ‘wrong daddy’ show that men are not the only ones who sleep around, carelessly too, at times, but many women are equally guilty of the practice. After all, it takes two to tango. Studies within the last 10 years reveal that 25 per cent of Jamaican men are unknowingly raising children they did not father.

Many women are against DNA testing not only because they fear domestic violence but also because pinning a child to a man, especially one who might be well off, provides a source of financial income, which they cannot afford to lose. Is this a selfish stance?

But giving a child the wrong father can have serious long-term effects. Imagine growing up with your dad but later finding out that you were given the wrong last name. That can shatter a child’s entire life. How can he/she trust his/her mother again? In fact, in some cases, the child’s features are so evident — suggesting he/she belongs to another man — that everyone in the community except for him/her knows that he/she is a ‘jacket’. Sometimes they are even teased in community-based schools for a situation over which they have no control.

Imagine a father filing for his child for migration purposes only for both him and the child to discover at the same time they are not blood-related. How does one move forward from that?

Will this anger the man who had been supporting the child all these years? Will he walk away or will he engage in violence? Imagine his ego being shattered. Imagine him being jeered by the same men, and women too, who are to provide support in this time. A 2023 study conducted by Northern Caribbean University, which surveyed 1,000 men, found that almost five per cent of the respondents said they would engage in verbal or physical abuse with their female partner if they discovered they were given a ‘jacket’ child.

But could mandatory DNA testing at birth help to reduce the number of ‘jackets’ made? Perhaps both women and men would be careful about their sexual entanglements.

Oneil Madden

maddenoniel@yahoo.com