(((Okay, that won't happen this very week – but to judge by this upshot from the French genetics-testing ban, that sure looks *likely*
to happen. I don't doubt that some offshore huckster is cooking up a business plan right now.)))
Link: AFP: Paternity tests take off in Spain thanks to French ban.
"MADRID (AFP) — DNA has become big business in Spain, where private companies are cashing in on legal restrictions across the border and offering paternity tests to suspicious French fathers.
"Labgenetics is one such company. Set up in a Madrid suburb in 2003, it does almost 30 percent of its business with French customers.
"In France, the law bans a father from seeking a paternity test without a judge's authorization," said the firm's technical director, Jorge Puente. (((I'm sure that seemed like "bringing civilization to the wilderness of genetic technology.")))
Labgenetics offers "paternity kits" over the Internet to men who want to confirm they are the biological fathers of their child.
Sent in a plain envelope, the kit consists of an information sheet and a set of tubes containing cotton buds, one for the "presumed father" and the other for the child.
The "father" is asked to rub the cotton bud on the inside of his cheek to pick up cells from the mouth, and to do the same for the son or daughter.
The DNA from the two samples are then compared.The company promises a response, by letter or fax, within three days, for a fee of 395 euros (587 dollars).
It says that, in the case of a positive result, the test is "more than 99.9999 percent" accurate.
The procedure, often sought following a separation, is restricted by law in France.
"The identification of a person by their genetic fingerprint ... outside of a judicial procedure" is punishable by a year in prison and a 15,000-euro fine, according to French law. (((That's a pretty steep punishment.)))
But many French fathers seem willing to take the risk. (((Because it's not as steep as years of child-support, apparently.))) A growing number use the Internet to contact companies in other countries which allow it, such as in Spain.
In the southern city of Seville, the Spanish headquarters of DNA Solutions – a sort of multinational for the genetics industry with offices in about 30 countries – proudly announces that "80 percent of our customers are French."(...)
