Dr. Marjorie Greenfield
Specializing in pregnancy and birth.
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 Ask Dr. Greenfield
Paternity Testing Early in Pregnancy | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Greenfield,
I need to have the paternity of my baby known before the baby is born. How soon can this be done, and at what cost to the baby and myself? I am only seven weeks along and my husband doesn't think it's his child, and I just miscarried in October, sweetest day weekend. One other thing, I was diagnosed with MS in 1999.— Sadness in Detroit, MI | | | ANSWER |
January 29, 2002 | | | Dear Sadness,
There are a few options for you. If you need to get an answer during pregnancy, the baby must be tested through amniocentesis, where some of the amniotic fluid is withdrawn from your uterus by a needle, or by chorionic villi sampling, also called CVS, in which a tiny bit of placenta is removed either by an abdominal needle or by a catheter placed up through your cervix. Amniocentesis can be done around 14 to 16 weeks of pregnancy, and CVS can be done as early as week nine. Each procedure has some risk of causing miscarriage, and amnio may be slightly safer for the baby than CVS, especially if your local doctors don't do many CVS procedures.
Your blood and your husband's blood also will need to be drawn for genetic testing. Paternity can be established with 99.999 percent certainty, unless the other possible father is related to you or your husband, in which case the test results may be less clear-cut.
If you wait until after the baby is born, they will need blood from the baby as well as from you and your husband. In any of these procedures, the blood or fluid that is obtained is treated like legal evidence, and handled in a way that documents who it comes from so no one can deny the truth later. There are labs that specialize in handling these samples, and your doctor, midwife, or genetics counselor can help you to make the arrangements.
The amniocentesis or chorionic villi sampling procedure will not be covered by your insurance unless you need it for another reason, since paternity testing isn't considered medically necessary. Amnio or CVS can cost as much as $1500 or more, plus the charge for the blood tests, which adds another $300 or so. Testing after birth is much less expensive, costing around $300. If there is a question about whether a father will deny paternity and refuse to help support the child, the county will sometimes pay for the testing, especially if the mother will need government assistance for herself and the child if the father denies paternity.
What you have described sounds like it must be very upsetting and stressful. Whether or not your husband actually is the father, the fact that he is challenging his paternity shows that there is a significant problem in your relationship. Your husband believes that you slept with another man. Assuming that you told your husband that you did not, then the fact that he doesn't believe you is very concerning. A marriage without trust is a shaky marriage. If another man truly is the father, then there are additional problems in your marriage that need to be dealt with. These problems won't go away, even if you prove that your husband is the father. So, along with the testing, it is important that you and your husband get help from a marriage counselor, family therapist, or other professional.
Stress is a part of every pregnancy, and all pregnant women need emotional support. You have mentioned three reasons why your stress level is probably especially high: your recent miscarriage, your multiple sclerosis (MS), and your marital difficulties. You need the support of your friends, your family, and perhaps your religion, to help you through this difficult time. In addition, you yourself might also benefit from talking with a professional counselor, therapist, or social worker. Your obstetrician can make an appropriate referral. Taking care of your psychological needs--dealing with your stress--is a very important part of your pre-natal care, as important as vitamins and blood tests. You and your baby deserve this care.— by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. |
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