Paternity test shows neither mom or dad is biological parent

A neglect case at the Disctrict and Juvenile Court in Accra, Ghana took an odd turn when a court ordered DNA test showed neither the man or woman was biologically related to the 6 month old child in question.

Judge Cynthia Wiredu ordered a DNA test after the man claimed that the woman faked a pregnancy as part of a blackmail scheme. Judging by the article i found on peacefmonline.com,  Celestine Owusu, the claimed mother, may have some issues. Ahe was arrested following the DNA test results.

Ms. Owusu denied the DNA test results, saying that they must not be accurate. As someone who has worked in DNA testing for four years, I’ve never seen a case like this, so I am inclined to believe her. Here are a couple ways the DNA test results could go wrong.

1. The DNA collection facility may have switched the DNA samples, leading to a false negative.
2. The facility may have mis-labeled the samples, noting the child as the father and vice-versa.
3. The DNA laboratory may have switched the samples. Although rare, DNA sample switching in laboratories has happened.

Ms. Owusu is using her own money to pay for a retest. Hopefully she uses a reputable laboratory for this test. I will be anxiously awaiting the results.