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Abstract: Once upon a time, the admissibility of blood tests and other scientific evidence of parentage was committed to common-law rules of evidence. In most jurisdictions, the evidence could be used to disprove, but not to prove, paternity, and the admissibility of newer tests – primarily HLA typing – was often in doubt, even as late as the end of the 1970’s. Very recently, however, the evidentiary picture has been turned upside down, and a wide range of genetic tests have come to be admissible – not merely to demonstrate that it is biologically impossible for a particular man to be the father, but also to show that it is highly probable that a specific man is the father – mostly by statute. This article collects information on the various state statutes authorizing this evidentiary use in a comprehensible manner.
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