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replaced by the broader term "alleged father." According to | | Webster's, "putative" means "commonly accepted or supposed." | | Clearly, many "alleged fathers" do not fit that definition. | | Further, UPUFA chose the term "biological father" over more | | ambiguous "natural father." Because one woman may be the genetic | | mother of a child while another woman is the gestational mother, | | for consistency the term "genetic father" was substituted for | | "biological." Definitions are not supplied for such terms as | | "unknown father, legal father, real father, and the like," either | | because the term is self-defining or because it is ambiguous. |
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| | | Subsection (8) was amended in 2002 to clarify that an | | individual who becomes a parent through assisted reproduction as | | provided in Article 7 is not a "donor." Similarly, if bracketed | | Article 8, Gestational Agreement, is enacted, an individual who | | is an intended parent through the procedure implemented in that | | article is not a "donor." No substantive change is intended by | | this clarification. |
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| | | Subsection (9), "ethnic or racial group," relates to an | | individual only for purposes of genetic testing. The genetic | | tests themselves do not determine the race or ethnic group of the | | individual. Rather, if a tested individual is not excluded, his | | race or ethnic group provided is used in the paternity | | calculations because those calculations give the most | | conservative result, that is, those most favoring non-paternity. |
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| | | Subsection (10), "genetic testing," contemplates that | | paternity testing must be broadly defined to include all of the | | traditional genetic tests, such as blood types and HLA (Human | | Leukocyte Antigen), as well as newer DNA technologies. In the | | past the term "blood test" was commonly applied to paternity | | testing. However, this usage actually referred to the sample | | collected; in fact, the tests were genetic tests performed on | | blood samples. The Act uses the scientific term "deoxyribonucleic | | acid." This is to accommodate the changes in technology used to | | evaluate the DNA. Early DNA testing involved RFLP technology | | (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism), followed by PCR | | techniques (Polymerase Chain Reaction); these may be replaced by | | newer technology, such as SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms). | | The type of DNA technology to be employed is best left to | | scientific bodies, such as accreditation agencies, see § 503(a), | | infra. |
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| | | Subsection (11), "gestational mother," is derived from USCACA | | (1988) § 1(4), which employed the now-discarded term "surrogate | | mother" to define the same factual circumstances dealt with in | | bracketed Article 8, Gestational Agreement, infra. For purposes | | of this Act, a woman giving birth to her own genetic child, | | a.k.a. "birth mother," is distinguished from a |
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