Ethical and Legal Issues Involved in Paternity Testing / 中国医学伦理学

ABSTRACT

Paternity testing has to be cautiously practiced,since it involves issues coming from all aspects including ethics,legislation,family and society.If the educational backgrounds of the litigants prevent them from fully understanding the ethical and legal issues involved in paternal testing,it would thus be impossible to achieve a real "informed consent" for the litigants.It is our point of view that in these cases,and when no alternative solutions are available,it is the responsibility of those who perform paternity testing to advise the litigants give up the application for paternity test.Besides,it is time for judicial departments to place on the agenda the establishing of a technique standard for paternity testing and relevant judicial procedures,in order to protect the basic rights of informal consent and autonomy of litigants in paternity testing practices.It is in this article that some ethical and legal issues commonly involved in paternity testing are discussed.