Suspicious spouses who use ‘catch a cheat’ DNA services could face jail time
By Sara Dorn, New York Post, February 1, 2020
Spouses asleep, iStockphoto
Imagine finding out your spouse is cheating — and that you’re facing jail time — all in one blow.
That’s the potential fate of customers who use “catch a cheat” services that could violate British privacy laws by testing DNA without the suspected cheater’s consent, according to a new report by the Sunday Times of London.
The companies, which operate out of the UK, Ireland and America, encourage customers to send in soiled underwear, bed sheets, condoms and any other evidence that could contain bodily fluids.
One East Sussex-based company, AffinityDNA, advertises the tests as a “powerful tool for those wishing to have a scientific indication of whether cheating has taken place” and urges users to send in “any suspicious sample you believe might have human biological material.”
For $118, AffinityDNA will perform a “semen detection test.” A “gender” test costs $302, and the most comprehensive option — which compares the DNA samples of spying spouses with their lovers’ suspected paramours — goes for $660.
Another UK-based service, HomeDNADirect, explicitly advertises “DNA testing without consent,” and offers analysis of condoms, cigarette butts, fingernails, strands of hair and chewing gum. Its website states: “The most important benefit of discreet DNA testing it that it can be done in secret of the intended person.”
The company claims it ships the samples to a US laboratory for testing.
Other companies, such as Spy Equipment UK and the Garden Pharmacy, offer DIY testing.
The Checkmate “sperm detection kit” is described as “perfect for catching a cheating spouse or sexually active teenager.”
The practice could be a violation of the UK’s Human Tissues Act of 2004, a crime that carries a three-year jail sentence, according to the Sunday Times.
In New York, genetic testing requires consent of the person being tested.
But there are some circumstances when the service could be legal.
“People might be doing it with consent. A couple could have a row and she says, ‘If you don’t believe me, let’s get [the suspicious article] tested’, which would be legal,” according to Newcastle University researcher Pauline McCormack.
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