The thrilling story behind the DNA results

DNA testing to determine paternity is becoming increasingly popular. The decision to undergo a paternity test often stems from suspicion, and behind the DNA test results are many thrilling and dramatic stories.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Nhu - Director of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Tested 3 times still don't know who is the father of the child!

Mr. Nguyen Duc Nhu (Director of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine) said that on average, each year the National Institute of Forensic Medicine receives about 1,000 applications for DNA testing for civil purposes, most of which are to confirm the blood relationship between father and child. Each person has a different reaction when receiving the results, some collapse, helplessly looking at the results, others breathe a sigh of relief because their doubts have been cleared. And there are also many smiles and tears of happiness and satisfaction.

This expert said that there were fathers who came here 3 times to do DNA tests on their 3 children, but in the end, the heartbreaking thing was that all the children he had personally cared for and loved for so long were not his biological children. Or there was the case of a rich "tycoon" who left his wife and children who were living happily in his hometown to pamper and pamper his mistress and stepchildren, only to one day bitterly discover that he was raising a "cuckoo" child without knowing it.

Mr. Nhu remembers most a case about a year ago, a woman about 40 years old, but looking quite young compared to her real age, came to register for a DNA test. The woman introduced herself as T., wanting to conduct an assessment to determine the father of her son. Ms. T. said that she had left her husband but was currently in relationships with 3 men. The irony was that she herself was not sure whose child she gave birth to.

“Later, this woman had to undergo an assessment three times, with three different men, but still could not find out who the father of the child was. When she truly opened her heart, she confided that during that time she had had many casual relationships with many people. At that time, this woman herself did not remember the faces or have any information about the men she had relationships with,” the expert sadly recounted. Mr. Nhu said that cases like the woman above are not rare, it is the result of a loose lifestyle, living fast without anticipating the consequences.

Most recently, a DNA test helped exonerate a woman and change the life of a child. Mr. Nhu said that was the case of Ms. M. from Nam Dinh. After 1 year of marriage, Ms. M.'s husband went to work in Korea and has not returned since then. The family tried every way to contact him and was heartbroken to receive news that Ms. M.'s husband had escaped from the company to work in a processing factory but was unfortunately beaten to death. At the same time, Ms. M. discovered that she was 3 months pregnant and later gave birth to a very healthy baby boy.

Although the timing completely coincided with the time when her husband was still in Vietnam, her husband's relatives and especially her husband's aunts insisted that Ms. M. was having an affair and continuously insulted, cursed, and beat her and her child. Even more cruel, they sent her and her child back to her parents' house, forcing Ms. M.'s mother to return the wedding gifts.

Having no choice but to give birth and not knowing how to prove her innocence, Ms. Minh could only silently swallow her tears. When her son was nearly 3 years old, she learned about the DNA testing method to determine blood relations while watching TV and immediately took a bus to Hanoi to carry out the procedure.

Accompanying them that day was a man who claimed to be the child’s grandfather. At first, this person appeared very cold and treated the mother and child harshly. However, this attitude changed completely when the results sheet announced: “Blood relationship”: “The man then knelt down, tears streaming down his face, apologizing to Ms. M and her child. He said that because he listened to the gossip of the people around him, he could not distinguish between “true and false” to the point of rejecting the only grandson of the entire family. If there were no DNA results, Ms. M. would have had to live in gossip and bad rumors for the rest of her life…”, Mr. Nhu said.

Strange behavior

Mr. Ha Huu Hao (Head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences - National Institute of Forensic Medicine) said that besides the tragedies of families who came here to do DNA testing, there were still many touching and humane stories. There were reunions after nearly 30 years of losing loved ones; there was a father whose eyes were red with tears because he had found his biological child, but more than that, there were people who acted with great forgiveness and tolerance.

A typical example is the story of a couple in My Dinh (Hanoi). The couple fell in love with each other when they were students, had stable jobs and a decent income. Their life was fulfilling with two children, a boy and a girl as beautiful as angels. There would have been no disturbance if one day, the grandmother had not secretly taken hair samples from her granddaughter and her son for a DNA test and was shocked to discover: the granddaughter was not her son's biological child.

An urgent family meeting was called. The entire family did not spare insults and humiliation to the daughter-in-law and demanded that their son divorce as soon as possible. Surprisingly, instead of following his parents' advice, the son stood up to protect his wife and firmly believed that he would love the "illegitimate" child as his own. Unable to convince his son, his parents declared that they would disown him to put pressure on him. Mr. Hao recalled that when he learned about the story, he was very surprised by that humane behavior: "When I asked him why, the man sadly replied: Simply because I still love her and vice versa, I know she still loves this family."

This expert said that the man later confided that he had actually known the truth for a long time. The wife, once angry with her husband, left home to meet her ex-lover and the two of them crossed the line. Even though he knew the child was not his, he still asked his wife to keep it and take care of and love it with all his heart. Mr. Hao said that most men, when they discover that their wives have cheated and have children, choose to divorce immediately without thinking. Very few people can be as forgiving and tolerant as the man in the story.

In most cases of requesting DNA testing, the request is to determine the blood relationship between father and child.

Expert influence to change appraisal results

According to Mr. Ha Huu Hao, after many years of working in DNA testing, he himself has encountered many cases of people deliberately trying to negotiate and exchange to change the results for personal purposes. However, according to Mr. Hao, that is impossible: "DNA never gives wrong results when the person doing it is honest, applies it correctly, and ensures the process is serious when performing the test. DNA is only wrong and causes bad consequences when there is negative influence from the person doing the test or the person requesting the test," Mr. Hao shared.

This expert thoughtfully concluded that each time they were forced to take each other to the DNA testing center, they doubted each other. The results could help relieve the frustrations in their hearts, but on the contrary, it could also bring hurt and brokenness to the people involved.

“Many people ask me, is it because of DNA that many families are broken? I affirm: No. DNA is a reflection of society. If in the family they truly love each other, trust is built firmly, both husband and wife have a healthy lifestyle, there are no secrets that need DNA to decode, then nothing can interfere. On the contrary, even if the DNA result is confirmed to be correct, but between people there is no love and trust, it will soon break up without anyone having to do anything,” Mr. Hao affirmed.

According to TPO