pro-Test im Ausland

Odin, Saturday, 15.01.2005, 15:32 (vor 7690 Tagen)

Bin zu faul, englisch zu lesen. Aber irgendwie gehts da um uns. Mal was anderes, wenn englische Väter mal nach Deutschland blicken. Sonst wars immer nur umgekehrt

Short comment on the below German debate about rendering genetic testing
illegal - please redistribute.

In the Christmas issue of New Scientist, an analysis of present giving, on
the frivolous theme of who it was best to suck up to if you wanted the best
presents, was provided. The upshot was that statistically, the greater the
degree of biological relational certainty, the more generous the presents -
proven in research.

Grandparents, particularly maternal grandparents, particularly grandmothers,
were most likely to give generously, both because grandparents tend to have
more money and because, in the maternal line, they have more certainty of
biological relationship, and thus of the preservation of their genes for
posterity. It should be mentioned that interaction with grandchildren can
render grandparents and grandchildren very happy and add years of joy to
their lives.

This research is particularly useful as it gives a quantitative measure of
the tangible results of biological certainty of parentage.

It also gives the lie, comprehensively, to the thesis presented by Greens,
Socialists and Fathers' Rights activists about the reasons for and against a
law making secret paternity testing illegal.

It's the children, stupid - to paraphrase a well-known American president.

It's not the fathers.

By weakening certainty of parentage, you will statistically weaken the
investment that adults are prepared to make in children's futures. This is
not a criticism of reconstituted families, or adoptive families - for each
individual family will have its individual traits and behaviours.

But it IS a clear refutation of any system of social parenting of children
based on lies and deceit - best practice in adoption already recognises
this, with the provision even to adoptive children, in the UK, of scrapbooks
and information about who their real parents are. It doesn't help that for
years artificial insemination techniques have been practised in a number of
countries, techniques which prohibit knowledge of who the biological father
or in some cases the biological mother is.

The inability to take a paternity test, or the desire to have paternity
tests found inadmissible in law, even if scientifically totally above board,
is an utterly retrograde step in safeguarding the wellbeing of children. The
absence of biological fathers, and the prospect of mothers reigning supreme
in this sphere, is in the interests of no family member, including mothers,
it merely weakens the social glue which children rely on for their survival
and healthy development.

Human beings should have an inalienable right to know who their parents are,
particularly where utterly non-invasive techniques of establishing parentage
exist.

Far from having a law prohibiting the establishment of parentage in both the
paternal and the maternal line, there should be a law enabling children and
their parents to be genetically tested at birth, and the tests destroyed on
verification of true biological parenthood. Such measures would be a big
step towards providing a clear acknowledgment that conceiving and bearing
children is not simply a leisure activity, but a life work which is of the
utmost interest to all our children, and their whole families.

Julian Fitzgerald
Leeds UK

See Langeac Declaration Article 1.d):
http://www.amnesty-4-families.com/index.php?message=105

.........

Subject: DNA Testing: Are German fathers getting a raw deal? Fathers' rights
suffer setback

Two articles FYI. Tom

<http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1457216,00.html>

Deutsche Welle
13 January 2005

Fathers' Rights Suffer Setback
By Deanne Corbett, DW-WORLD.DE

Picture: Are German fathers getting a raw deal?
<http://www.dw-world.de/dw/image/0,1587,1457039_1,00.jpg>

German politicians seeking to outlaw secret paternity tests won a first
battle on Wednesday, much to the disappointment of fathers' rights groups
hoping for greater justice in the areas of alimony and child support.

The German Federal Court of Justice decided on Wednesday that paternity
tests carried out in secret are inadmissible as evidence in a lawsuit.
Unless the mother gave her consent for the test, the child's personal
rights would be violated, the court in Karlsruhe ruled.

The decision was welcomed by German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, who
is leading a campaign to make secret paternity tests illegal under a new
law regulating the use of genetic data.

"These tests are a serious invasion of the private sphere," Zypries said.
"If a man has doubts about his paternity, he should talk about this with
the mother."

Campaigners for fathers' rights in Germany say making secret paternity
tests punishable would be yet another blow to men who already get the short
end of the stick when it comes to laws regulating alimony, child support,
and child custody following a divorce or separation.

"It cannot be that, as a woman, I have the right to make my husband pay to
support a child that is not his own, or to deny children the right to know
who their real father is," said Dr. Karin Jäckel, an active supporter of
the fathers' rights movement and author of several books on the subject.

"Men are, in every respect, held responsible for their children under our
laws, which is why they have the right to know who their children are."

Modernizing alimony

While the battle over paternity tests continues, Justice Minister Zypries
has also announced an overhaul of German laws on alimony. Divorced dads are
hopeful that the changes will mean more justice for them.

The growing fathers' rights movement in Germany rejects the stereotype of
the heartless man who abandons his family for a new relationship. In
reality, they say, the situation is very different. Women file for divorce
more frequently than men, and are more often awarded custody of the
children.

And in cases where a divorce is contested, fathers frequently become
estranged from their children, making it harder for fathers to gain custody
rights once the divorce is settled, Jäckel said.

Despite this emotional strain, fathers are still seen as the familial
breadwinner, and can often find themselves burdened for life with child
support and alimony payments to ex-wives.

"In cases where the man earns a lot and can pay for everyone, there's no
problem. But we're seeing more frequently that the man's income isn't
enough for everyone," Zypries said in an interview with the women's
magazine Brigitte. Ideally, she said, both partners would take financial
responsibility for themselves after a divorce.

"A man can't be expected to support his ex-wife for years, especially if
she could go back to work, and as a consequence not have the money to
support children from a second marriage," she said.

Lack of political reaction

But Jäckel said that those closely involved with the fathers' rights
movement are skeptical that their concerns will be heeded by politicians.

Unlike in Britain, where the activist group Fathers 4 Justice has
successfully attracted attention to the plight of divorced dads through
spectacular stunts, campaigns by similar German groups have "barely
registered politically," Jäckel said, adding that ploys aimed at grabbing
media attention can make a desperate father's situation even worse.

"I've often seen it happen here that fathers who go to the media to
publicize their cases are punished by the judges," she said. "In the worst
case, this can even result in their custody rights being taken away. The
judges' logic is that dragging a case of unfair treatment into the public
eye only damages the child's rights, and that someone who would do this is
a bad father."

---

<http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1422595,00.html>
Who's Your Daddy?

Father's rights groups in Germany are fighting to retain their right to
have secret paternity tests without a mother's permission. They say it is
the only way to combat "paternity fraud." (Dec. 9, 2004)

<http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1204327,00.html>
Family Counseling on the Rise in Germany

Today's International Day of Families is not a reason to celebrate for
everyone: An increasing number of German families are seeking professional
advice to cope with problems they face in their daily lives. (15 May 2004)

Do you think dads are unfairly discriminated against in divorce
proceedings? Please include your name and country in your reply.
<Java Link>

==========================================

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1422595,00.html

Deutsche Welle
9 December 2004

Who's Your Daddy?
DW Staff

Father's rights groups in Germany are fighting to retain their right to
have secret paternity tests without a mother's permission. They say it is
the only way to combat "paternity fraud."

In a debate over paternity tests in Germany - father's rights groups are
lobbying to block proposed legislation banning secret tests without the
mother's permission - advocates are employing increasingly alarmist
arguments. One group, the Network for Paternity Tests, claims on its Web
site that making the tests illegal would lead to an increase in incest
between half brothers and sisters who don't know they're related.

But the core of their argument, that fathers have a right to know if the
child they have been supporting financially and come to think of their own
is in fact their biological offspring, is gaining sympathy. German
politicians and medical ethicists are divided, and it is not certain that
the new legislation proposed by the ruling coalition of Social Democrats
and Greens will be passed.

A fringe issue steals spotlight

The debate began quietly in 2003, when as part of a larger packet of
legislation intended to curb the misuse of diagnostic tests by employers
and other interested parties, the German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries
decided to address the increasing number of anonymous paternity tests
procured by fathers without the mother's permission.

In her opinion, such tests threatened the integrity of the family, many of
which break up after a negative result, and violated the rights of a child.
"Secret paternity tests violate the rights of the child and the mother,"
she said. "They also violate data protection laws."

According to Zypries and her supporters, which include prominent Green
parliamentarians, the rights of the child supersede the rights of the
father.

Fathers fight for their rights

A growing movement of father's rights advocates in Germany, who have united
under the banner The Network for Paternity Tests and launched a Web site at
pro-test.net, take issue with Zypries' line of argument. They have started
a grassroots effort, complete with buttons and bumper stickers, to block
the legislation.

With a few Christian Democratic and Free Liberal politicians currently in
the German opposition coming out on their side, the movement is gathering
steam.

Incest claims

In addition to arguments stressing a father's right to know, the network
opposing the legislation has made some other fairly remarkable claims. They
say banning the paternity tests could result in an alarming rise in incest,
since half brothers and sisters - who are not aware they are related - may
become involved.

The group also claims so-called "test tourism" could mushroom, much like
the abortion tourism which became prevalent in the 1970s when German women
who were prevented from having abortions at home travelled to the more
liberal Holland.

They also counter advocates' claims that secret paternity tests endanger
the rights of the child and break up families. In their view, it is far
more harmful for children to grow-up in a family held together by a web of
lies.

The Network for Paternity Tests
http://www.pro-test.net/