Montreal — The good news for the Montreal man claiming paternity of his former girlfriend's five-year-old child is that the woman acknowledged having an affair with him.
The bad news is that she said paternity is uncertain because she also had sex with the man's identical twin at the time of conception.
”They weren't expecting that,” said Myriam Pamphile, a lawyer representing the twin brothers.
So which twin is the father?
The quandary is spelled out in a Montreal court case that blends family-law issues with questions about the limits of DNA testing.
With identical twins having similar DNA, ”there's a high risk that it is impossible to determine who the father is,” Mr. Justice Paul Jolin noted in a recent ruling.
Judge Jolin, of Quebec Superior Court, has so far asked only that the man seeking paternity rights undergo by Dec. 1 a DNA test to see if he could even claim possible paternity.
Ms. Pamphile said she could not find any legal precedents for the extraordinary court case.
The man and his twin brother initially refused to be tested. The man is not obliged to give a DNA sample, but that would weaken his claim. His lawyer said he didn't want to pay for the test. His brother is refusing as a matter of principle because he supports his twin and doesn't consider himself involved in the dispute.
The man wants his paternity recognized so he can have visits with the child, Ms. Pamphile said.
At one point, the woman was alternately intimate with both men in what Ms. Pamphile called a ”tripartite relationship.”
However, she said her clients contend that this three-way situation did not last and was no longer in effect at the time of the child's conception.
By then, Ms. Pamphile said, the woman was on intimate terms with just one of the brothers, the one now seeking paternity rights.
She said that the man was always known as the child's father, that he was present at the birth and that the child calls him ”Papa.”
”He contributed to the child's needs. He was giving money,” Ms. Pamphile said. ”The facts are that he was assuming the role of a father.”
After relations soured and he no longer had access, he filed for parental rights this summer. The mother responded that first there should be DNA tests to see if the brothers are identical twins.
The brothers consider themselves identical twins even though they have never been formally tested.
The other twin is now a married father. A person who has met the brother who is seeking paternity described him as a charming, good-looking young man.
Neither the woman nor her lawyer could be contacted. The identities of the parties cannot be revealed under Quebec law.
If the courts cannot sort out the child's parentage, it is unlikely that science could help.
Genetics researchers consulted Thursday say it is possible for identical twins to have slightly different DNA, owing to genetic mutations while the embryos are duplicating in the mother's womb at an early pregnancy stage.
However, such differences are not detected with standard testing and devising a special analysis would be prohibitively expensive.
The Montreal lab mandated by the court, PRO-ADN Diagnostic, says on its website that it charges $645 for legal paternity testing. It also charges $195 to establish if siblings are identical or fraternal twins.
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”tripartite relationship”
We crazy Canucks.....
Just when you think DNA testing is infallable, along comes a situation caused by humans that can still fuck it up. 
