DNA Test Before Will Part 4
Dear Reader,
I have been waiting to know what the outcome of the Forensic DNA analysis would be. I wonder how Mary must be feeling.
Is this your first time reading from us? Here’s a recap (or you can click the following links below for parts 1, 2 and 3). Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Mary is a single mum who was in a relationship with the alleged father of her child, John. John is now late but, in his will, he asked for a paternity test to be conducted on Mary’s son before receiving his own share of John’s property. A paternity test was done using the buccal swab samples from the late John’s father and John’s alleged son.
The result comes out and it is a shocker. John and Mary’s son are in no way related. Mary is devastated yet sure that John was her son’s real father. She can’t question the credibility of the result because the analysis was handled by the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Center, a center known for accuracy and credibility. So instead, she tells John’s lawyer that she wants John’s direct sample used, as opposed to John’s father’s buccal swab that was initially used for the test.
The only possible way to use John’s sample is to exhume his body. The family gets an exhumation order, his body is exhumed, and a bone fragment is collected and sent to the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Center. A buccal swab is also collected again from Mary’s son.
“Sir, this is going to be a Forensic DNA Analysis, and it will be a more rigorous process”, said the Forensic DNA Analyst to the Lawyer, at the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Center on the faithful morning Mary took her son for the second buccal swab collection.
Mary asks the analyst “How long will it take before the report is out”? The DNA Analyst says, “8 -12 weeks ma”. Mary isn’t too happy because 8-12 weeks sounds like forever considering what is on ground. The lawyer looks at her and says “Madam, remember this is what you wanted”.
11 weeks later, the lawyer gets a call from the DNA analyst at the center to pick up the forensic report. “Wow, it didn’t even take up to 12 weeks o, I’ll be there first thing tomorrow morning,” said the lawyer. The moment he hung up, he called the late John’s family, and Mary, and asked that they all meet at the late John’s house.
The next day came very fast. He picked up the report, which was perfectly sealed, and headed straight to John’s house. Everyone was eager but Mary was even more eager to find out the truth.
The lawyer unwrapped the result, glanced through the pages and spotted the part labeled “Conclusion”. He immediately read it out loud, “The alleged father cannot be excluded as the biological father of the child. Based on the DNA result obtained from the above loci, the probability of paternity is 99.99%.”
The moment the lawyer was done reading, Mary screamed, “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!”
Dear Reader, if the result, after using late John’s DNA for this second test, proves that the Late John was the father of Mary’s son, it can only mean one thing. John’s father, whose sample was used the first time, is not John’s biological father. Shocked? You should be. Only a DNA Analysis could have unraveled this truth. Like they say, “Science doesn’t take sides, it shines the light on what already is”.
Now that the DNA Analysis has proved that John is the biological father of Mary’s son, he will now be given his own share of property, which he will gain access to once he clocks 18.
The room is suddenly quiet as the man who believed he was John’s father stares at his wife with so much disappointment. What explanation will she give? Dear Reader, we can only wish that it ends well for her. At least we rest assured that the bone of contention, the paternity of Mary’s son, is resolved.
Remember that if a child’s paternity is in question or if there’s a dispute like this, which only science can answer, the Lagos State DNA & Forensic Center will be more than willing to help.
Contact us on 08147411921 or send an email to info@lsdfc.org.
