Couple investigated over paternity report on 'daughter'
A photo from the paternity test shows the couple, their "son" dressed as their daughter, and the paternity tester.
A couple in Henan Province are said to have used their 4-year-old son to impersonate their 3-year-old daughter during a parental test, raising questions about loopholes and the possibility of fraud in judicial identification procedures.
The couple from Zhumadian, Henan Province, successfully got a paternity report showing a biological tie to the "daughter" from Henan Huanghuai Judicial Identification Center in September, 2023, which they used to register her for hukou.
Shangguan Zhengyi, a volunteer fighting child abductions, exposed the incident on Weibo on Tuesday.
The paternity report shows the couple are the biological parents of their "daughter."
The couple admitted to substituting their son for the test to Shangguan. They claimed their actual daughter was in Zhengzhou and thus unavailable.
The couple stressed that the absent daughter was truly theirs, noting she was born while they worked away from home.
"Due to many children in the family at the time, they sent her away. However, the other party rejected her, so she was taken in by relatives," they said.
However, an investigation by Chengdu Economic Daily on March 11 found that there was no birth certificate for the "daughter" in the couple's name.
The identification center manager responded: "We just follow what's provided." The birth certificate showed the child as "female." If the "girl" was swapped, it suggests the couple gave false information.
However, the relevant local administration explicitly requires the judicial authentication institution to demand that parties personally visit the institution and make a written commitment to the authenticity of their identity information.
The local justice bureau said they have been monitoring the situation and are currently investigating. They may issue an official notice later.
The Shanghai Dabang Law Firm lawyer warned that swapping genders during identification and providing false documents can lead to serious consequences. If the client and appraiser collude, they could be suspected of fraud.
Additionally, if the appraiser fails to detect fraudulent information, they may also face scrutiny for neglecting their duty.
