Parental Responsibility and Consent for a DNA Test

Parental Responsibility refers to “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property”[1]. In real terms, this means having input into substantial matters affecting a child’s well-being, such as education, religion medical treatments, appointing a guardian, holidays and extended stays outside the family home. Importantly, this also relates to legal proceedings involving the child and registering/changing a child’s name. De facto, this applies to the non-medical matter of human identity testing using DNA technology, commonly known as for example, a paternity test, sibling test or indeed grand-parentage test.

Click here for more information.