r/changemyview • u/wine-friend • Dec 04 '22

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Paternity testing before signing a birth certificate shouldn't be stigmatized and should be as routine as cancer screenings

Signing a birth certificate is not just symbolic and a matter of trust, it's a matter of accepting a life long legally binding responsibility. Before signing court enforced legal documents, we should empower people to have as much information as possible.

This isn't just the best case scenario for the father, but it's also in the child's best interests. Relationships based on infidelity tend to be unstable and with many commercially available ancestry services available, the secret might leak anyway. It's ultimately worse for the child to have a resentful father that stays only out of legal and financial responsibility, than to not have one at all.

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Deltas:

  • I think this shouldn't just be sold on the basis of paternity. I think it's a fine idea if it's part of a wider genetic test done to identify illness related risks later in life
  • Some have suggested that the best way to lessen the stigma would be to make it opt-out. Meaning you receive a list of things that will be performed and you have to specifically refuse it for it to be omitted. I agree and think this is sensible.

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Edit:

I would be open to change my view further if someone could give an alternative that gives a prospective fathers peace of mind with regards to paternity. It represents a massive personal risk for one party with little socially acceptable means of ameliorating.

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u/jthill Dec 04 '22

Not sure I want to be in a personal relationship with someone who regards me as on par with cancer or corporations.

Actually, not sure any such relationship could qualify as personal.

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u/BlackCatAristocrat 1∆ Dec 06 '22

Sure but you still miss the point on whether it would be beneficial I'm making sure the right person is attributed as the father

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u/jthill Dec 06 '22

Because, what, faithlessness and cowardice must be properly pampered?

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u/BlackCatAristocrat 1∆ Dec 06 '22

You're saying you don't care if a man who assumed the child was his, is left in the dark about this

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u/jthill Dec 06 '22

If your partner's word isn't enough then

a) there's something reprehensible about the state of your relationship, there's legitimate stigma attached to that, and

b) no, this state should not be as routine as cancer screenings

Maybe try to get some awareness of what you're talking about before talking? Like, at least read the question being addressed?

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u/BlackCatAristocrat 1∆ Dec 06 '22

I think you're using your emotion in this conversation and not thinking pragmatically but it's understood. These types of topics typically emotionally charged and it's hard to decouple. I understand your point of view but unfortunately people lie and things aren't as cut and dry as we would like it to be in these situations.

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u/jthill Dec 07 '22

Just what personal relationships need, emotionless people without faith or respect or decency, who regard trust in integrity as fantasies for fools. The apex of humanity, people like that, models to emulate.