{"id":57945,"date":"2023-10-21T18:59:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T18:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling"},"modified":"2023-10-21T19:53:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T19:53:15","slug":"dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling","title":{"rendered":"\u2018DNA test impact on mental health telling\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>I had just come out of a relationship with my childhood boyfriend whom my parents did not approve of,\u201d a woman who has been married for 17 years told.<\/b><\/p>\n

She asked us for anonymity to speak freely about her predicament that compelled her to\u2014for nearly two decades\u2014lead her husband into thinking her firstborn child was his.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn my wedding day, I found out I was already pregnant and yet my future husband had not yet come in contact with me. I had visited my ex-boyfriend who lived within the neighbourhood a month before,\u201d the woman, who entered an arranged marriage in the name of tightening the bond between two families, revealed.<\/p>\n

When the baby, a boy, arrived a tad too early, there was relief that he was the spitting image of his mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave birth earlier than expected but my family imagined that was entirely because it was my first pregnancy and in unison, it was welcomed with great joy,\u201d the lady recalls her experience as a first-time mother.<\/p>\n

Three other children later, there was nothing to indicate that the woman\u2019s marriage would run into headwinds. The mother of four was determined to take her secret to the grave. But then, shortly after toasting to a 17th wedding anniversary, Uganda was caught up in a Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test craze.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne evening, my husband returned home totally disturbed, he was in deep thoughts and grave silence. It was scary,\u201d the mother of four told, adding that her heart skipped a beat when she later discovered that her husband had taken DNA samples from all her children.<\/p>\n

During the DNA testing craze, Mr Simon Mundeyi, the spokesperson at the Internal Affairs ministry, which is entrusted with running the rule over such tests, revealed that demand for such services soared by 70 percent.<\/p>\n

Mr Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, used a plenary session to warn that \u201cinnocent children\u201d risked being caught up in the crosshairs.<\/p>\n

Issue<\/b><\/p>\n

Indeed, in between a 17-year marriage hitting the rocks, thanks to a secret, is a teenage boy who\u2014together with his mother\u2014was banished from a place he once called home. But it is not just innocent children who are scarred for life. Male partners too are impacted.<\/p>\n

Mr Onesmus Onyango, 35, nowadays grapples with manic and depressive episodes after discovering that he is not the biological father of three of the four children he raised. Mr Onyango told that he opted \u201cto carry out paternity testing on all the children\u201d because \u201cmy wife would on several occasions desert the home after serious disputes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Onyango discovered that he was not the biological father of three boys at the time debt defaults were tightening the noose around his neck.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe times were tough. I had accumulated big debts in order to finance my children\u2019s education. In return, I was served with betrayal,\u201d he confided.<\/p>\n

Experts say DNA testing is linked to a number of possible triggers for psychological distress among victims. These include breakage of family structures; child rejection and neglect; domestic violence; depression; and eventually suicidal ideations.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor women, they tend to lose self-esteem [thanks to] stigma in society [and] economic burden when left with the responsibility to fend for the children after spousal separation,\u201d Ms Immaculate Agedo, an advocacy manager at Strong Minds-Uganda, told, adding that this leaves children destabilised and leads to unhealthy lifestyles such as early pregnancies and alcohol or substance abuse drugs.<\/p>\n

Ms Agedo says, family counselling sessions should precede any attempt at paternity testing. In fact, Mr Seth Nimwesiga, a lawyer at the Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) strongly believes the government should consider enacting a law governing paternity testing services.<\/p>\n

\u201cParliament should come up with clear regulations on the scope of testing, accreditation and licensing of service providers as well as ethical guidelines to be followed,\u201d he opines, adding that the laws tabled \u201cshould prescribe for issues of informed consent, data protection and privacy, child protection, and rules on pre- and post-test counselling to ensure individuals understand the potential emotional and psychological impact of the test results.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. I had just come out of a relationship with my childhood boyfriend whom my parents did not approve of,\u201d a woman who has been married for 17 years told. She asked us for anonymity to speak freely about her predicament that compelled her to\u2014for nearly two decades\u2014lead her husband into thinking her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":57943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-57945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018DNA test impact on mental health telling\u2019 - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I had just come out of a relationship with my childhood boyfriend whom my parents did not approve of,\u201d a woman who ha ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018DNA test impact on mental health telling\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had just come out of a relationship with my childhood boyfriend whom my parents did not approve of,\u201d a woman who ha ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-21T18:59:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-21T19:53:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/10\/sm_1697905311.283262.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"902\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"585\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018DNA test impact on mental health telling\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-21T18:59:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-21T19:53:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling\"},\"wordCount\":704,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/10\/sm_1697905311.283262.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/dna-test-impact-on-mental-health-telling\",\"name\":\"\u2018DNA test impact on mental health telling\u2019 - 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