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A recent Fathers' Association of TT (TFATT) survey found that almost one-third of paternity tests run in the last five years at a judiciary-approved laboratory revealed the purported father was not that of the child.

This has led the organisation to renew its call for DNA tests to be mandatory before the courts issue maintenance orders. The figures were revealed at a TFATT media conference at Computer Tech and Services, Couva, on November 3.

The figures showed that of the 440 tests run by the lab between January 2020 and September 2025, 143 (32.5 per cent) indicated the child was not the father's. Of these tests, 82 were done as part of legal proceedings, of which 24 (29.27 per cent) showed the child was not the father's. The remaining 358 tests were performed voluntarily by fathers, of whom 119 (33.24 per cent) discovered the child was not theirs.