A court has ruled that it cannot be determined who the biological father of a woman’s child is after she slept with identical twin brothers in short succession of one another.
The woman and one of the brothers brought the matter before the courts after the other twin was recorded as the child’s father on the birth certificate.
The child’s age has not been made public, and the youngster is identified only as ‘P’ in the legal papers.
In their application, the mother and the twin who filed the petition asked for the birth record to be amended so that they are listed as the child’s parents. They also sought to have the currently named brother removed from the certificate.
However, the Court of Appeal in London rejected that request, with judges concluding it was “not possible” to determine which twin is the biological father at this time.
The court was told that standard DNA testing cannot distinguish between identical twins in a way that conclusively identifies paternity, according to Sky News. The judges also heard there may be scientific methods capable of doing so in the future.
Judge Madeleine Reardon said evidence showed both brothers had sex with the mother “within four days of each other in the month when P was conceived”, meaning “equally likely that each of the brothers is P’s father”.
Although one twin remains named on the birth certificate for now, the court found he should not continue to hold parental responsibility while the legal process continues and further submissions are considered.
In the judgement handed down earlier this month, Sir Andrew McFarlane said: “Currently, the truth of P’s paternity is that their father is one or other of these two identical twins, but it is not possible to say which.
“It is possible, indeed likely, that by the time P reaches maturity, it may be possible for science to identify one father and exclude the other twin, but, for the coming time, that cannot be done without very significant cost, and so her ‘truth’ is binary and not a single man.”
He went on to say that because paternity cannot currently be established, the first twin is “not entitled” to be recorded as the child’s father — but the same applies to the second twin as well.
While the family is seeking further testing that could clarify the child’s biological relationship, results from genetic kits can sometimes upend lives in unexpected ways.
In one example, a woman who received a DNA test as a gift learned the man who raised her was not her biological father. She later discovered her biological father had been a sperm donor — and that she had 10 half-siblings.