Paternity tests reveal rude shock

ALMOST 30 per cent of men who take paternity tests discover they are raising someone else's child, a study has found.

The University of Oklahoma international study of 37,000 paternity tests revealed 29.8 per cent of men who ordered the tests learned the children were not theirs, The Australian newspaper reported today.

Men's Rights Agency spokeswoman Sue Price told the paper men often sought proof of paternity if they suspected their partners had cheated on them, or if they had had a one-night stand with a woman who insisted the child was theirs.

Study researcher Kermyt Anderson said men were less likely to support children whom they did not believe to be theirs.

"Men in marriages are likely to have higher paternity confidence than men who father children outside the marriage," he said.