Identical Twin Fathers: Determining Paternity for 4 Yr Old

[tangosdead]

There are identical twins, male, one of which is the father of a 4 year old. How do we determine which is the father?

 

[Meir Achuz]

Offer to split the child in two.
The one who refuses is the father.

 

[tangosdead]

Do you have a suggestion as to how I explain that to the child and would it be okay to wait until his broken ribs heal from his mom's boyfriend's abuse to tell him?

We are seriously trying to find an alternative home for this child and need to know who the legal and/or biological parents are. Neither of the twins are stepping up to the plate. If we can't identify the parents, they can't decide to take him or have their rights terminated so someone else can adopt.

I know the DNA will be identical in terms of chromosomes but I didn't know if there was something else either absent or present we could also look for. Any suggestions (well almost any) would be helpful.

 

[moe darklight]

legally, if no one steps up as the father of the child and wants to take care of him, doesn't that qualify him for adoption?

 

[hypatia]

It doesn't mention what country this child is in. If your in the USA, any responsible adult that is aware of abuse needs to report it. The child should be placed in protective services at once. It seems the Mother does not have the skills needed to protect her child.
If a childs safty is at hand, its not up to anyone but the legal system to solve it.

 

[tangosdead]

We are in the US legal system which is why we are trying to establish who the parents are of this child. Unless we can resolve this issue, adoption may not be available.

 

[jim mcnamara]

To my knowledge there is no genetic way to determine parenthood when the determination involves identical (not fraternal) twins.

I have no idea how the legal system views this, but I'm sure a lawyer for either of the twins could very easily argue the invalidity of genetic test results.

About one in 10000 identical twins (of the pair) is a chimera, which means that there is a really remote possibility that sperm DNA samples from twin A may not match sperm samples from twin B, but that blood DNA samples do match. This is grabbing at straws, IMO.

 

[hypatia]

If there is no father listed on the birth cert of the child. Then no father is required to sign off on parent rights.

 

[Moonbear]

If there is no father listed on the birth cert of the child. Then no father is required to sign off on parent rights.

That's what I thought was the law. Only if one of them is on the birth certificate, or wants to step up and fight for parental rights would it be an issue.

I also don't think there is any way that one can determine who the biological father of a child is if the two fathers in question are identical twins. Is it truly the case that the mother of the child doesn't know which of the two is the father? If neither wants to claim the child is theirs, is it possible to get both to sign something saying they do not wish to exercise any potential parental rights? That way, it doesn't matter which is the father, they've both signed away any parental rights. I'm sure a good lawyer could draft up something that would suit the situation and would appropriately address that they are not admitting to being the father, but IF they are the father, they do not wish to exercise parental rights.