WASHINGTON: Almost one in 10 mothers does not know for certain who is the father of their child, according to a new poll in the United Kingdom.
Topp Morning Casino surveyed 1,000 British moms, finding that eight per cent admitted they had doubts over a child’s paternity. The question about paternal identity was included in a broader survey about lying.
“We were shocked,” a rep for Topp Morning Casino said on their website of the poll results. “This means there are potentially 2.1 million couples in the UK where the father isn’t the biological one,” the report added.
The Topp Morning Casino survey revealed a relatively high percentage of British women may have lied about their baby’s paternal identity, it also uncovered that men lie more than women.
The survey found more than half of men (50.2%) admit to lying on a daily basis, while just only 36% of women admit to being untruthful every day.
Frequent polls about paternal identity have taken place over the years, with varying results. Australian documentary series “Who’s Your Daddy?,” released in 2014, referenced reports that up to 30% of paternities are misattributed.
Sociologist Michael Gilding said shocking statistics began circulating in the UK media during the 1970s, but were never backed up by adequate research.
Gilding said that the real percentage is likely to be far lower — both in Australia and the United States. After analyzing data, Gilding estimates that the number is less than 10%.
Meanwhile, a 2005 study by the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health estimated that 4 percent of American fathers were raising a child that they did not know was not biologically their own.
