Recent world news headlines regarding a high profile politician have many people discussing paternity claims lately. The President of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, is facing a political crisis as several women have stepped forward in recent weeks claiming that he sired their children. What makes the claims all the more shocking is that Lugo was a Roman Catholic bishop at the time of conception.

From a recent article on guardian.co.uk:
“The story broke two weeks ago when lawyers for Viviana Carrillo, 26, filed a paternity suit. On Monday lawyers for a second woman, Benigna Leguizamon, a 26-year-old soap seller, said Lugo was the father of her six-year-old boy, and on Wednesday Damiana Moran, a 39-year-old divorcee, said Lugo was the father of her 16-month-old son, Juan Pablo, named after the late pope.”

The paternity attorney representing Carrillo is asking for a DNA test to establish parentage. It is unclear at this point as to what type of child support she will be seeking.

DNA tests are an accepted scientific method of determining paternity. These laboratory tests examine the genetic material that a child inherited from his or her biological parents. The DNA test will compare the material and calculate the probability that a certain man fathered a certain child. DNA testing is believed to establish a father’s paternity with over 99 % accuracy and has been a major breakthrough in establishing paternity.

While not all of us have the bright light of the world media following our family law issues, establishing or challenging parentage is still of vital importance to the life of the would-be father and the child in question. The stakes are at their highest, especially when you consider that paternity governs such important matters as rights to visitation and child support. If you are seeking to establish paternity or challenge paternity tests, please call 888-749-7428 for a case evaluation with an experienced Southern California paternity attorney at Wallin & Klarich.