Costa Rica single mothers get a reason to smile

The man is asked to submit to a DNA test; if he does not agree, he is automatically assumed to be the father, with the duty to pay child support. The test is legally binding, though the man can appeal the results in court. The entire process is free.

This procedure contrasts dramatically with the nation’s former paternity system, which was similar to the one in effect in most of the US and nearly every other Western country. In those systems, paternity is determined through court hearings that can take years and cost thousands of dollars in lawyers’ fees.

Since its inception last year, more than 8,000 Costa Rican women have taken advantage of the new law. A preliminary study shows that the number of newborns with no father declared in the country’s civil registry has dropped from 30 per cent to about 10 per cent. ‘‘We think it’s revolutionary,’’ said Maria San Roman, director of the clinical laboratory at the country’s largest public hospital, which performs the DNA tests.

The law had plenty of detractors. Many legislators feared it would prove too costly because the state pays for the tests. This year, the lab will spend about $700,000 — a significant amount in a country with an annual budget of just under $2 billion. Others feared it would allow poor women to take advantage of rich men by naming them as fathers. There were worries that notorious lotharios would be hit with dozens of requests for DNA tests.

And some lawmakers had philosophical objections. Only women can force DNA tests under the law. A man has no right to force a woman to submit to a DNA test if he suspects she has borne another man’s child. If a man denies he is the father, he automatically sacrifices paternal rights, such as visitation with the child.

But in absence of DNA exoneration, he still has a duty to pay child support, and if he wants his full paternal rights restored, he must petition the court.

‘‘The law is not proportional. The father is left out,’’ said Federico Malavassi, the vice-president of the legislature who opposed the law. ‘‘It’s vindictive.’’ But the legislation’s supporters — a coalition of women’s groups — say the law has many safeguards built in to discourage abuse. For instance, women who falsely accuse men of fathering children can face civil prosecution.

Women’s groups said the new law was needed because the old paternity system was open to abuse. First, few women used it, because it took an average of three years to process a case, resulting in lawyer’s fees that few could afford. Second, men, knowing they had nothing to lose, often fiercely fought the paternity suits.

‘‘The thought of child support is like a boogeyman for men here,’’ said Montserrat Sagot, a sociologist who specializes in gender studies at the University of Costa Rica. ‘‘They have no vision of being committed to a woman or to the children they father.’’ (LATWP)