Paternity fraud: Menacing social epidemic

Paternity fraud, an emerging affliction of the modern man, must be confronted head-on and criminalised.

Currently, under common law, this phenomenon is viewed simply as the tort of deceit and thus, a civil wrong whose treatment and remedies lie in civil courts.

The challenge with civil action, however, is its focus on restitution – restoring aggrieved parties, in so far as possible, to their positions prior to the said wrong – as opposed to punishment or deterrence.

Given the pain and the sheer scale of the psychological devastation this fraud inflicts, one may rightly wonder what lasting succour could ever emanate from civil reliefs alone!

What compensation can assuage the pain of being misled to raise and care for another man's child disguised as yours? What possible recompense could atone for the stolen years that might have been squandered on building near-unbreakable bonds with another man's seed?

Paternity fraud does not just hurt the man against whom it is perpetrated, but the entire society to which he belongs! It clearly carries disastrous implications for succession and inheritance, as well as traditional or customary practice where, in most cases, the prominent yardstick for qualification for kingship and other hallowed offices of service, for example, is conformity to established bloodlines.

The fallout from a scenario where the paramount chief or overlord of a respectable people is illegitimate by virtue of this duplicitous conduct is simply unfathomable!  

The entire line of kings, succession pathways and the heritage of unborn generations could be jeopardised where this fraud goes undetected! Evidently, the repercussions of this mischief are society-wide!

Yet I suspect some fellow might hasten to suggest that criminalising this act will be some sort of discrimination because men also cheat. Such a move is likely to be very high on emotions but low on logic.

Neither women nor female infidelity is the subject under scrutiny but  packaging one man's child as another's! By the very design of nature, no man, regardless of what creativity may be at his disposal, can smuggle his progeny with another woman into his home disguised as his wife's!

Anywhere a woman has had to care for another woman's child by reason of her man's extra-conjugal engagements, she has done so in open awareness of the child’s maternity and not under the illusion that the child was her own.

As yet, no woman lies in bed at night with lingering uncertainty about the motherhood of her children. Nature seems to have spared women this ordeal. It is fitting, therefore, that men, too, on account of law, should enjoy a similitude of this peace, is it not? 

Criminalise

There must be swift movement in our legislature to criminalise this practice with the attendant punishment, including imprisonment, clearly stipulated. Thereafter, mandatory paternity tests when a child is born, before official entry is made of a genetic father, should be standardised.

The advantages of this undertaking are manifest. First, there's sure to be the guaranteed supply of the needed legal steam to power the turbines of deterrence to sustain the campaign of purging the existing social fabric of genetic misrepresentation which is fast becoming an everyday occurrence.

A second stream of benefit which flows naturally from this is the offer of reassurance or peace of mind about genetic relationships.

No man whose genetic connection to a child has been successfully vetted and established in the crucible of this legislation will ever entertain fears of fraud even if certain physical attributes seem to be conspicuously missing in their child.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this provides automatic resolution to genetic disputes and preserves the information of a child's lineage and family against distortions. Any fatherhood joy more desirable can hardly be imagined!

No parent should ever have to wonder whose child they are raising, or discover some 10 odd years later that they are a complete genetic mismatch with the child they have grown to love!

The law must intervene to rescue those already distressed by this nuisance malady and deal decisively with the forces committed to its continuance and growing spread!

The writer is a law student, University of Ghana School of Law.
E-mail: elkington.andrews@gmail.com