DNA -test all babies, says dads' group

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24634310-12377,00.html

November 11, 2008
Article from: Australian Associated Press

ALL babies should be DNA-tested at birth to ensure men are not wrongly named as a child's father, a men's rights group says.

Mothers are being made to pay back money to men they wrongly claim fathered their children under changes to child support laws, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Men's Rights Agency director Reg Price said a DNA test at birth would stop men being wrongly identified as the father of a child.

"We believe that it should be done at birth - they do a blood test now and it would be quite simple to do it at that time," he said on Fairfax radio.

"It is absolutely dreadful what is going on out there, and it is quite easy to fix with a test at birth."

Mr Price said current laws made it difficult and costly for men to get permission for a DNA test, with court action often necessary.

"The big problem is the cost involved," he said.

"If (a woman) says that is the case (that they are the father), then a man has to go to court to get permission (for the DNA test)."