Jacket Rate High in Jamaica, 33% not the father in tests

[Hortical]

'JACKET'doesn't fit - Paternity test requests up, fathers suspicious
published: Sunday | October 7, 2007
Lovelette Brooks, News Editor


Beecher

Men in a matter of days, are learning through sophisticated DNA tests that the children they have been faithfully 'fathering' for years are actually not theirs. The "rate of exclusion is pretty high," reveals Dr. Compton Beecher, lead scientist at Caribbean Genetics (CARIGEN), based at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.


While declining to give figures, pending the results of a study being done by CARIGEN, Beecher tells The Sunday Gleaner an increasing number of men are turning up for DNA proof of biological paternity, the results of which are sometimes psychologically devastating, he says.
"On average, we handle over 65 cases per month. Many fathers make these requests out of curiosity or suspicion, others might be locked in legal battles relating to child maintenance, and others for immigration purposes," he discloses.


Preliminary analysis of all samples tested over the past two years at CARIGEN, reveals a higher-than-normal rate of exclusion. Data from a study conducted in early 2002 by Dr. Sonia King in the Pathology Department at UWI, reveals a rate of one in three. In other words, 33 per cent of all men tested were not the biological father of the child or children in their family.
study


"We strongly suspect that the figure is now higher than that, but we will not be sure until our study is completed by the end of October," Beecher reports. "We are at present tallying and analysing the number of cases we receive on a monthly basis, looking at cases of inclusion and exclusion, to arrive at some general, as well as specific conclusions," he adds.


While CARIGEN is an independent facility, DNA paternity tests ordered through the Family Court, usually for legal purposes, are done at the Government Forensics Laboratory. Head of the facility, Dr. Judith Mowatt, and her team, also bear a heavy burden conducting DNA tests.


high number of cases
"We are extremely busy here. The number of cases are high, as the Family Court orders paternity tests for a number of reasons we do the tests, we are unable to give actual figures, because the certificates are handed to police officers who forward these to the court," Mowatt discloses.


Commenting on the phenomenon of misattributed fatherhood, Dr. Barry Chevannes of Fathers Incorporated, says the practice is not new, and the seemingly high rate of exclusion does not come as a surprise.


"The fact is, when a man has an outside child, it is usually known, and, more often than not, accepted by the family, but the scenario is different when a women gives a man a 'jacket'," Chevannes states. "He suffers public shame and is often ridiculed. It is something we as a society do not take seriously; we take it as a joke. In many of the cases though, the man continues to care for the child because the bond is already there," Chevannes adds.


Jamaica, University of the West Indies 2002 study

20%

United States2000 survey

4%

United Kingdom 2005 survey




lovellette.brooks@gleanerjm.com

Disclosures could harm families
Despite the pervasiveness of the 'jacket' culture in Jamaica, very little consideration has been given to the public-health consequences of letting the 'puss' out of the bag.
According to one study conducted in Britain, the potential it poses to family break-up and paternal violence is high.

The study, conducted by Professor Mark Bellis, published in 2005, found a 1:25 paternal discrepancy in paternal tests conducted in Britain compared to Jamaica, which has a much higher ratio of 1:3.

According to the study, even with one in 25 families being affected, with two children per family, more families could be affected within just a single generation.

relationships
"The proportion of families affected will increase further when other relationships (for example between parents and grandparents) are also considered," the study states.

In addition, for every so-called 'jacket', there is a biological father elsewhere, who is often part of another long-term relationship or marriage, the study adds.

The discovery of paternal discrepancy also affects marriages or unions because of the apparent act of infidelity committed. This can increase the possibility of mental-health problems for both partners, the study states, as well as affect children who are affected by the break-up of the relationship.

But, while not all discoveries of paternal discrepancies will lead to the break-up of parents, children are forced to cope with the fact that they are related to only one parent.

"Despite many mixed family structures working well, fathers spend more time and resources on their biological children and at worst, children in families where the father is not their own, may be at greater risk of paternal violence," Bellis and his team state.

gareth.manning@gleanerjm.com

[Karl]

Ooooops!
One degree of separation just got closer!

[Pepsi]

*

Cho dem rates deh low,look in the Muslim world.

[Exile]

Interesting results...that's why it's so important to collect and collate data...problem is the data integrity and security...next thing you hear Jamaicans say 'fly the results' and people name start to call. I hope this is a wake-up call for all the macho men in Jamaica who love beat their chest etc., etc. ....
The thing is the result sshould not be surprising as similar occurs in nature.

[Exile]

For example...

Study To Determine If Infidelity Among Birds An Attempt To Avoid Inbreeding, Diversify Genes

Science Daily — MANHATTAN, KAN. -- Humans do it. Birds do it. Cheat on their mates, that is. Molecular studies of socially monogamous birds have shown that broods often contain offspring resulting from extra-pair matings by one of the parents tending the nest. But while human infidelity may be more for self-centered gratification, a cheating heart among birds tells a different story and may be for less egotistical reasons

Research has indicated that reproductive success among birds and mammals is negatively related to genetic similarity of parents. As such, some species of birds are simply trying to avoid inbreeding and provide diversity to the genes they pass on to their offspring.
A collaborative study by a team of international biologists examines how the mating tactics of females of three species of socially monogamous shore birds -- western sandpipers, Kentish plovers and common sandpipers -- that are paired to genetically similar partners. Their findings appear in the current issue of the journal Nature.
Brett Sandercock, a Kansas State University assistant professor of avian ecology in the Division of Biology, and a member of the research team that conducted the study, said in recent years there has been a lot of interest in looking at the differences between social mating systems of birds and what scientist can learn by looking at the genetics of those social systems. Sandercock's contribution to the research included studying the social mating systems of sandpipers in western Alaska.
"There's been a revolution with new molecular methods of being able to ask some of these questions," Sandercock said. "A lot of this work has been done on songbirds and some really interesting observations made."
Partners in all three species, according to Sandercock, share responsibilities for incubation of the eggs. Males also tend to the brood after the eggs are hatched.
Sandercock said that while a high rate of extra-pair paternity is common in songbirds, the occurrence in shorebirds, which have "incredible variation" in their mating systems occurs significantly less. Less than 8 percent of the broods in western sandpiper nests were not the offspring of both parents in the nest; 5 percent of Kentish plover nests and 20 percent among common sandpipers. Sandercock said the study provides some of the "first baseline estimates" of the rate of extra-pair fertilizations in monogamous shorebirds.
"What's really exciting about this work is that we're looking more closely at those pairs that do have extra-pair fertilizations and try to figure out what's going on with them.
Sandercock said what appears to be going on is that the infidelity is a direct result of avoiding inbreeding. Genetic studies indicate that the rate of genetic similarity among the mated pairs of birds with extra-pair fertilizations is more closely related than pairs without extra-pair fertilizations. How the species are able to recognize a genetically similar partner is still a mystery, he said,
"We don't have a good sense of how females are doing this; how they assess how similar they are genetically to a mate," Sandercock said. "It implies that there is some sort of recognition mechanism that we don't fully understand.
Another mystery scientists have yet to uncover is what are the consequences of inbreeding?
"We don't have a good measure of what would have been the fertility of the eggs or the growth and survival of the chicks after hatching if she had not selected a mate other than her partner," Sandercock said. "But in a number of other birds those sorts of costs of inbreeding are fairly well-documented."

Note: This story has been adapted from material provided by Kansas State University.