I read an Associated Press article today, posted on miamiherald.com called, “Lugo accepts DNA test for third paternity claim”. Until recent years, paternity suits have had a stereotype of being delegated only to middle or lower class families, and are associated with the terms “child support” and “deadbeat dad”. A list of recent paternity suits that have reached the public eye has changed all that. Take the following list of names I pulled off the top of my head:

1. Keanu Reeves
2. Jude Law
3. Eddie Murphy
4. John Edwards
5. Larry Birkhead

For a longer list, check out this celebrity paternity cases article. You’ll see that this has been happening for a long time.

The DNA test being required of Paraguay President Lugo is more surprising, however than all these others. At least to me. The AP reported that Lugo is a former priest, who resigned in only 2004 to get into politics. Talk about a mid-life crisis. This paternity suit is actually Lugo’s third. The first occurred while he was bishop of San Pedro. Now, I don’t know all the rules of being a bishop, so I won’t make any snap judgments to this claim. I don’t believe these claims have been substantiated.

This leads me to my point that many of these celebrities are being thrust into the negative light of paternity suits for many reasons. Some, maybe Lugo, because they actually fathered children to women who either want financial support or a father figure for the child, or both. Others, like Keanu, were targeted purely for financial reasons (the DNA test showed he did not father any of the woman’s 4 children).

What I’m getting at is paternity suits and DNA tests are not restricted to the lower class. U.S. DNA labs tested over 300,000 samples in 2007, the last reported year. That number is expected to grow.

In any case, these matters should remain out of the public eye. They should be kept behind closed courtroom doors to be worked out between the parties involved. I say this as I feed the media frenzy with my blog post. I suppose I am as anxious as anyone to see how Lugo’s DNA test results come out. At least he’s not going on Maury.

Reuters reported yesterday that the U.S. will implement strict DNA Testing guidelines for Guatemala Adoption cases, due to an increase in child trafficking. In the past, Guatemala has been a huge source of child adoptions by U.S. citizens. More recently, adoptions have been ceased because of child trafficking and fraud. DNA testing guidelines will be a large step in curtailing this problem.

According to adoption.com, DNA testing must be completed prior to adoption approval by a company authorized by the U.S. A maternity test will be completed between the mother and child being put up for adoption.

The second phase of DNA testing comes when the child arrives in the U.S. A DNA sample must be taken from the child and compared with the DNA profile from the first test to ensure that the child has not been switched.

Although painful for U.S. families trying to adopt and the attorneys going though the steps to help them, DNA testing seems necessary to prevent child trafficking. Families spend upwards of $50,000 to adopt a child from Guatemala. $1000 to complete DNA testing in order to make sure the child is willingly being given up by the mother seems like a small price to pay.

Be on the lookout for more posts about the procedures for completing DNA testing for Guatemala adoptions.