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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Courier New"><FONT face=Arial>Some previous estimates were even higher, so maybe this is good news for some of us?</FONT> </FONT></o:p></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Courier New"><FONT face=Arial><A title=http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050812_dadsfrm.htm href="http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050812_dadsfrm.htm">http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050812_dadsfrm.htm</A></FONT></FONT></o:p></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">One in 25 dads could unknowingly be raising another man’s child, researchers find<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">Aug. 12, 2005<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">Courtesy BMJ Specialty Journals<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">and World Science staff<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">Around one in 25 dads could unknowingly be raising another man’s child, new research suggests. The study is published in the September issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">The implications are huge, said the researchers, because of the growing reliance of judicial and health systems on DNA profiling and genetic testing, such as organ donation and criminal identification.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">More frequent testing means more parents are likely to learn about their children’s true status, with devastating consequences for some families, they warned.<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">More instances of the phenomenon, which scientists politely term “paternal discrepancy,” may come to light through the ever-more common paternity tests being conducted in Western countries, the researchers said. In the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>, rates of such tests more than doubled to 310,490 between 1991 and 2001. <o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">The authors based their conclusions on an array of international, published scientific research and conference findings, covering the period between 1950 and 2004. <o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">In the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.K.</st1:place></st1:country-region>, around a third of pregnancies are unplanned, the researchers said, around one in five women in long term relationships has had an affair. Other developed countries have reported similar figures.<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">There are few support services to help those affected, added the researchers, Mark Bellis of Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, U.K., and colleagues. And there is little guidance on what roles healthcare or criminal justice system workers should play in disclosing paternal discrepancy.<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New">“In a society where services and life decisions are increasingly influenced by genetics, our approach to [paternal discrepancy] cannot be simply to ignore this difficult issue,” wrote the researchers.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
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