While DNA and paternity testing was once an awkward affair requiring trips to a medical office and long embarrassing explanations of why it might be required It is now available in simple do at home kits by mail with fast and absolutely accurate and reliable results. It is simple to change an “I think” to an “I know” and it can be done very discreetly and without the need of long explanations.
The absolute truth is that it may not really matter often. While bringing up the topic of paternity may be offensive from the male and embarrassing to the female, sometimes it is more than curiosity or desire to be sure that needs to be considered. The most obvious situation involves meeting legal needs for proof of paternity in regards to visitations and child support questions. That is not the only good reason to know, however.
Many times paternity testing is needed as proof of eligibility of citizenship or immigration. If working overseas for extended periods of time involves starting a new family then when returning to your native country genetic DNA testing will make issuance of passports and granting rights of citizenship much easier. Most countries allow that if the father of the child is a citizen than the child is automatically granted citizenship status and rights. In addition this many times shortens the process for the mother to be afforded legal immigration status. To avoid fraud DNA testing is the gold standard that supersedes birth certificates that simply say whatever is told to the attending physician.
For health reasons, genetic testing and paternity testing is also a good idea. If a real question exists to paternity than it is far better to get that answered than have a medical condition overlooked or ruled out based on a lack of true family history available. It is much preferable in terms of quality medical care and diagnosis to say unknown if the facts are not available for any reason than for the physician to make conclusions on erroneous information. Many hereditary conditions are never even looked at or tested for unless a reason exists too. It is not worth compromising the health of a child to maintain a secret or to not even investigate the possibility based on shame and embarrassment.