Uncertainty about the existence of blood ties between a grandfather and grandmother and a grandson or granddaughter may be caused by a rumor, the behavior of the child's parents or his appearance. The need to examine kinship sometimes arises in connection with a claim for alimony or plans to dispose of the property - during life or in a will. The point of support in all these matters are discrete tests that allow you to remove doubts once and for all.

"Mater semper certa est, pater est, quem nuptiae demonstrant" - "mother is always sure, the father is indicated by marriage"? This well-known Roman paradise indicates that already in ancient times the issue of actual or alleged kinship must have raised significant doubts so often that the matter had to be settled in some way.

Today, in the era of in vitro fertilization, the biological relationship between a woman and a child she gave birth to is as alleged as in ancient Rome paternity. On the other hand, however, we have at our disposal previously unknown tools that allow us to verify (confirm or undermine) the essential part of the premises that make it possible to doubt about blood ties between loved ones.

And probably it is the access to new, more reliable methods of confirming kinship or denying it that determines the growing popularity of paternity tests. Moral freedom has undoubtedly increased in the last century, but human nature has likely remained the same since the dawn of time. It means, therefore, a broader social acceptance for various types of interpersonal relationships and sexual behavior, rather than a diametrically different nature of these relationships and behaviors.

Simply what prudishness once ordered to hide, today is done more openly. At the same time, paternity tests allow to remove doubts when the mother or father of the child - not necessarily acting in bad, also in good faith! - incorrectly addresses feelings, financial outlays or … alimony application.

Study of kinship between grandparents and grandchildren. Why and for what?

Similar doubts may also appear with grandfather or grandmother. What can arouse them? There are many factors, but the most common premises include the assurances of the alleged father (right or wrong; expressed in bad or good faith) that the childit is the fruit of even a mother's fleeting relationship with someone else. Then the appearance of the child - when it clearly distinguishes them from close relatives from the family of both the father and the mother (e.g. with a characteristic, unusual for the population skin tone, hair color, facial features, etc.).

Doubts can also be raised by rumors, or in fact all types of reports indicating the fatherhood of another person, similarly - the behavior or statements of the child's mother herself, which may suggest that her goal was to bond with a well-to-do man or, more broadly, to enter a we althy or influential family. All these premises take on special importance when (e.g. due to the premature death of the alleged father of the child) it is not possible to conduct a judicial declaration of paternity or ordinary extrajudicial paternity tests.

And for what reasons can the issue of kinship between a grandson or granddaughter and grandfather or grandmother be relevant at all? It is said, however, that it does not matter who fathered, it is important who raised - not all of them follow this assumption. For many people, the issue of blood ties is an obligatory foundation of the family relationship. After all, it is something else, for example, the warmest and most committed "grandfathering" or "granting" to the children of neighbors or friends or to friends and girlfriends of their own grandchildren, and building an authentic, deep bond.

The important context of the matter is undoubtedly the atavistic desire to pass on one's genes, especially in the male line. However, there may be much more subtle issues at stake. Doubts as to the intentions of the son-in-law or the son's partner may, for example, be accompanied by the feeling that both he and his parents have been cynically harmed, humiliated, cheated, robbed not only of money allocated for the maintenance and upbringing of the child, also of time spent, and of exposed emotions , from shed feelings.

The topic may become particularly sensitive in the event of a separation between the mother and the alleged father of the child. On such an occasion, various words can be uttered, not always true, but deeply hurtful or irritating.

On the other hand, there are purely life issues. What? First of all, related to the transfer or inheritance of property (transferring a flat, testamentary bequests), as well as possible alimony benefits, which (e.g. as a result of the alleged father's low resourcefulness, his disappearance or premature death) may be charged to grandparents.

Study of kinship between grandparents and grandchildren. Is this a good idea?

In general - yes. And not just because it's true, even if onlydifficult is always better than even the most beautiful lie. By learning the truth, you will have peace of mind for the rest of your life. This will be the certainty of the existence of the most natural basis for the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren (or maybe they will gain a new family member?) - or the awareness that there is no such base, which does not destroy the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, but allows it to be built on an authentic foundation. A separate range of issues is related to alimony, disposing of property, bequests and inheritance. Someone might call them mundane or low-level matters. However, there is no reason (also in legal terms) to subsidize non-family members with alimony.

A person who disposes of their own assets has a moral right to make all decisions based on reliable knowledge about the people they intend to donate.

In fact, it is worth checking the relationship in case of any type of premises and reasons. Uncertainty in a matter as important as kinship causes a lot of stress, and as a result, it casts a shadow on family relationships and the functioning of a person who has such doubts. It is he althier for the body, spirit and mutual bonding is to dispel any anxiety at the earliest possible stage.

However, be careful, tactful and discreet. In a situation where all concerns are actually groundless, the child's mother may feel deeply offended by doubts as to her truthfulness, loy alty, intentions, etc. parents or a tool of revenge from the hand of a person from the closest environment (even a teenage brother or sister in typical sibling scuffles).

For the reasons outlined here, before bringing any cannons (e.g. applying in court for tests that exclude kinship for the purposes of the alimony trial), it is worth ordering unofficial, private genetic testing while maintaining the anonymity of your grandson or granddaughter. The results of these analyzes will facilitate the adoption of an appropriate strategy in official activities.

How to check if it is really my grandson or my granddaughter?

Certainly not just in terms of physical similarity. The color of the eyes, the color of the eyes, facial features, the type of figure - all this changes a lot over time, also to some extent as a result of external factors. As a person develops, he may also seem more like his mother or father, or completely unlike any of them, but for example resemble one of thegrandparents or grandmothers when they were of a similar age. It also happens that the family resemblance turns out to be difficult to grasp even in biological children, parents, grandparents.

Read also: Eye color - statistics, inheritance, eye color tables

All because the phenotype (external appearance) is determined by a combination of maternal and paternal genes (i.e. genotype), in which individual traits are encoded by two genes - one from each of the biological parents. Each of these genes may be dominant or recessive, e.g. the dark color of the eyes is dominant over the light one, so when a child, for example, receives the gene for brown irises from the father, and blue ones from the mother, they will have brown eyes.

The matter seems simple - but it gets more complicated when we realize that the same pair of genes ("brown-blue") could have had a dark-eyed father, in whom the dominant gene for brown irises had "won", but nothing happened preventing the child from passing on the recessive blue iris gene.

Every tiniest feature of the structure and appearance of the human body is conditioned in a similar way. And that is why in case of doubts as to the existence of blood ties between relatives, it is not worth playing an anthropologist, it is better to contact specialists.

Unfortunately, the initial method used in determining paternity, i.e. blood group analysis, cannot be used here. There are too many possible combinations of inheriting them between each of the grandparents and a grandson for this kind of study to predict any relevant knowledge. In addition, grandparents generally do not know about their son's blood type or their son's partner, let alone her parents.

So what remains? Genetic tests, which - depending on the sex of the people taking part in them, i.e. grandson, granddaughter, grandfather, grandmother - allow in a simple or slightly more complicated way to gain either complete certainty or knowledge about the almost 100% probability of the existence of blood ties.

Genetic tests for the relationship of grandfather and grandmother with grandson or granddaughter

The basis of all comparative genetic tests, including those related to the determination of kinship, are, of course, samples of the genetic material of the people covered by the analysis. In the case of official examinations (e.g. conducted at the request of a court), a swab taken from the inside of the cheek is usually used for this purpose. Obviously, such a procedure is preceded by the verification of identity. In the case of private research - conducted for personal use, or intended to be used in court not as hard evidence, but as a basis for the appropriate expertise - for genetic tests forkinship of a grandfather and grandmother with a grandson or granddaughter suffice the so-called microtraces.

Microtraces are all kinds of fragments of human tissues containing his DNA. They include, among others traces of blood, saliva or semen, or pieces or particles of skin. DNA microtraces can be isolated from many everyday objects, e.g., a used tissue, sanitary napkin, tampon or dressing, toothbrush, razor (face or body). In addition, they can be taken from a living gum or from a cigarette butt. The microtraces also remain on glasses, cups or beverage cans, forks, spoons and spoons (especially knives). Contrary to popular belief, a cut nail or hair is not itself a microtrace of DNA; nail - only with a bit of cuticle, and the hair - with a root.

Genetic relationship test: grandfather - grandson

Studying the relationship between a grandfather and a grandson (boy) is relatively the simplest thing. All because in the male line (the grandson of the father, the father of the child after the child's grandfather), the Y chromosome is inherited, which determines, above all, the male sex. And since this chromosome, even if inherited over many generations, does not change, the analyzes discussed here can also be successfully carried out in relation to (alleged) relatives who are tens or even hundreds of years apart.

Therefore, it is enough to check whether the Y chromosome present in the genetic material of a male child is identical to that of his alleged grandfather - possibly a father, great-grandfather, uncle (father's brother), or even a distant male relative, o how many surely he has the same relatives after the sword (i.e. in the male line) as the alleged father. If the Y chromosomes in both samples look the same, the analysts will say with almost 100% certainty whether the two men are blood related or not.

Genetic relationship test: grandfather - granddaughter

The relationship between grandfather and granddaughter is a bit more difficult to investigate - you cannot, as in the case of a grandson (boy), use the Y chromosome analysis, because the girl simply does not have one. In order to obtain a satisfactory level of probability in the test results, genetic material should be collected from both the grandfather and grandmother of the child, and of course the granddaughter herself. Based on this, analysts will create individual genetic profiles for all three people - as unique as fingerprints. By comparing them with each other, they will indicate the existence of a thread of kinship between grandfather and granddaughter or the lack of a biological relationship.

Genetic relationship test: grandmother - grandson

To affirm or disprovealleged kinship between the grandmother and the grandson, you need to enlist the help of … the child's grandfather, possibly - the father, great-grandfather, uncle (father's brother), and even a distant male relative, provided that he has the same relatives after the sword (i.e. in the line of male) as the alleged father.

A comparative study of Y chromosomes from two men belonging to a common sword lineage will decide whether or not they are related. Details above - in the section "Genetic relationship test: grandfather - grandson".

The analysis of grandmother's chromosomes (XX) is unfortunately out of the question, because every boy receives the X chromosome from his mother. The second method of genetic testing (which consists in taking genetic material from a grandmother, grandfather and child, and then creating and comparing their individual genetic profiles) does not apply here, as in the case of a grandson (boy) it turns out to be the easiest and surest strategy to confirm or undermining kinship.

Genetic relationship test: grandmother - granddaughter

Genetic confirmation of kinship between a grandmother and a granddaughter is similar to the research on grandfather and grandson. In a girl's XX chromosome pair, one always comes from her mother (XX) and the other from her father (XY). The child's father inherits his X chromosome from his mother, i.e. the child's grandmother. So it is enough to compare the chromosomes of the girl and her alleged grandmother to indicate their maternal relationship or lack of it.

Worth knowing

The institution of adoption has been known since ancient times, and the so-called patchwork families, i.e. those with a non-standard mesh of kinship and affinity threads, are undoubtedly more common today than ever before.

It is worth remembering this and approach the tests mentioned in this article with rational calm - do not treat their results as "to be or not to be" for a relationship between two people, but only as an element that organizes this relationship.

On the other hand, you should give yourself the right to emotions that will arise in the event of a result other than assessed as successful. If the burden of the case turns out to be too heavy, you should not hesitate to seek help from a psychotherapist - in private practice or clinic, or (free of charge) at the Crisis Intervention Center.

About the authorPaweł DombrowskiPolitical scientist, graduate of interdisciplinary political science and sociology studies in the field of social policy (Faculty of Journalism and Political Science, University of Warsaw). In journalism, he deals mainly with the broadly understood subject of gerontology.

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Category:

Geriatrics