Basic Trope: A DNA test to confirm (or find out) who a child's biological father is.
- Straight: Alice is not sure who fathered her son, Billy, so she has the three possible candidates send samples in to a lab for testing, along with a sample of Billy's DNA. The results show that Bob is the father.
- Exaggerated: Alice doesn't know who fathered any of her children. And rather than going quietly to a lab, she appears on a Point-and-Laugh Show, along with 8 different potential fathers for each of her kids.
- Downplayed: Alice takes one of those ancestry DNA tests, to find out where her family is really from.
- Justified:
- Alice needs to know who her child's father is, so she can sue him for child support, or trap him into a Shotgun Wedding.
- Billy was adopted, and Alice needs to know his biological background, so she is aware of any potential health issues.
- Alice was Mistaken for Cheating by her jealous partner, and needs to clear her name by proving that the children do, in fact, belong to him. Or perhaps Bob drags her into the lab or onto the Talk Show to prove the kid isn't his.
- Billy is seeking this information, to find a part of him that he feels is missing (and perhaps try to have a relationship with his father), or to stay ahead of any medical issues. Billy could be raised by Alice alone, raised by Alice and a stepdad, or adopted.
- Alice is trying to prove who raped her which caused her to become pregnant as a result.
- There is some question as to whether Billy is fully human, or a Half-Human Hybrid.
- Extra Parent Conception and/or Polyamory are widely practiced in this setting, which can make family matters complicated.
- Alice cheated on Bob and regretted it, got pregnant as a result, and she wants to know who the child belongs to. If it's Bob's, she'll keep it. If it's not Bob's, she'll abort it.
- Inverted: Bob has Billy's DNA tested, because he wants to find out who Billy's mother is, either believing that she had acted as a surrogate behind his back or he just plain does not understand pregnancy.
- Subverted: Alice considers testing Billy, but then decides Bob's word is enough.
- Double Subverted: Bob deceives Alice in some other area, so Alice decides not to trust him and get Billy tested.
- Parodied:
- Alice, despite having carried Billy for 9 months, given birth to him, and raised him, isn't sure who his mother is, so she has his DNA tested to find out.
- Alice tries to sue a tentacle monster from outer space/the demon realm/etc. for child support.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- Alice is certain of her children's parentage; she never had unprotected sex (or, perhaps, any sex) before she married Bob, and has been faithful to him all this time.
- Although Alice has children from a previous marriage, the time between the end of that marriage and when she started seeing Bob was such a long time, that there's no question as to which children belong to Bob, and which ones belong to Charles.
- DNA testing does not exist in this setting.
- Alice has no children, either by chance or by choice.
- Alice does not have her children's DNA tested, even if the technology 'does exist in this setting, and even if there's a question as to whether those kids are biologically Bob's or not.
- Alice and Bob already know that the kids are not Bob's biological kids. (e.g. They're her kids from a previous marriage, or she had an obvious Chocolate Baby, or they're Happily Adopted, or they were conceived with donor sperm and/or eggs.)
- Enforced:
- Rule of Drama
- Point-and-Laugh Show
- "We need to show that Alice is such a slut, she doesn't even know who her kid's father is!"
- The Baby Trap
- Lampshaded: "Bob, you are the father!"
- Invoked: Alice and Bob begin to question Billy's parentage.
- Exploited: The host of a trashy daytime Talk Show brings up people (usually Lower Class Louts) seeking to know their child's paternity, just to create some drama to boost Ratings.
- Defied: Alice and Bob decide that it's better not to know, and that they love Billy all the same.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
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