On the road DNA daddy van, ethical implications?

Morality and therapy aren’t bed mates. Ethics and therapy are. I was interested  to read that for £2/300 you can flag down a man in a van and ask for a DNA test in nyc right now.

What are the moral and ethical implications for this? Could  counselling and therapy be involved as the potential fall out is catastrophic for some with huge emotional and financial implications. For the person asking, the other parent and especially the child.  If the test is the easy part, what then?

A ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ van is travelling around New York City, offering men the chance to find out whether they are the father of a child.

The owner and operator of the vehicle, Jared Rosenthal, is selling DNA tests, mostly to those who suspect youngsters may not actually be theirs.

Costing around £200-£300, men just have to give a cheek swab. Then there is a laboratory analysis and the paternity results are available in a couple of days.

Mr Rosenthal told CBS News: “They flag us down, they pull us over, they talk to us.

“Sometimes, because of the nature of the services, they want to be a little more discreet about it, but they do come or they’ll call the number.”

Mr Rosenthal said he deals with all kinds of strange situations in his line of work.

“We have people that want to get the specimen from their spouse without them knowing about it. We deal with a lot of drama. It’s constant drama,” he said.

One unidentified man, who was asked why he was taking the DNA test from the travelling truck, said: “I’m paying child support anyways and I would do it anyways. You just want to know.”

Mr Rosenthal went on: “There’s a lot of difficult situations and tough moments and heartbreak,” adding there are happy endings as well.

“There’s a lot of good news that we’re able to deliver and there’s a lot of happy moments.”

For example, the test helped a 44-year-old Harlem man find his long-lost 20-year-old daughter.

Mr Rosenthal maintained that his credentials are legitimate and that his business is legal.

He believes he is providing an essential service. “It’s not something people talk about, but there is a big need for it,” he said.