Power of Exclusion
Power of Exclusion relates to paternity testing. It applies to a man who has been excluded from a paternity test, or has been proven not to be the father of a child which was previously suspected to be his.
Put simply, this exclusion usually occurs because the child has some genetic code which is not present in the mother or in the potential father, meaning that an unusual series of DNA molecules (nucleotides) must have been inherited by the child from someone other than him.
The power of exclusion can also apply to when a man is entirely excluded from genetic testing because he is feasibly unable to be the father of a given child. For example, he might be excluded because he never had sexual relations with the child’s mother.
Generally speaking, the power of exclusion (of any potential father) usually depends on the genetic make–up of both the mother and the child as compared to the potential father’s DNA. It also depends on the ethnic background of both the mother and father.
For example, if DNA which is common or exclusive to a particular ethnicity (such as a strip of exclusively Asian DNA code) is found in a baby who’s mother and prospective father are both not of that ethnicity (ie. Caucasian), that man would have power of exclusion as a result of him not having appropriate genetic attributes. In this example; as neither mother nor supposed father were Asian, the potential father would have power of exclusion because he could not have contributed that ethnic aspect.
