438
Opinion of Stevens, J.
tation, in turn, provides assurance that the formal act is based upon reliable evidence, and also deters fraud.15 Congress is of course free to revise its collective judgment and permit genetic proof of paternity rather than requiring some formal legal act by the father or a court,16 but the Constitution does not now require any such change.
Section 1409 also serves two other important purposes that are unrelated to the determination of paternity: the interest in encouraging the development of a healthy relationship between the citizen parent and the child while the child is a minor; and the related interest in fostering ties between the foreign-born child and the United States. When a child is born out of wedlock outside of the United States, the citizen mother, unlike the citizen father, certainly knows of her child's existence and typically will have custody of the child immediately after the birth. Such a child thus has the opportunity to develop ties with its citizen mother at an early age, and may even grow up in the United States if the mother returns. By contrast, due to the normal interval of nine months between conception and birth, the unmarried father may not even know that his child exists, and the child may not know the father's identity. Section 1409(a)(4) requires a relatively easy, formal step by either the citizen father or his child that shows beyond doubt that at least one of the two knows of their blood relationship, thus assuring at least the opportunity for them to develop a personal relationship.
The facts of this very case provide a ready example of the concern. Mr. Miller and petitioner both failed to take any steps to establish a legal relationship with each other before
15 Once a child reaches the legal age of majority, a male citizen could make a fraudulent claim of paternity on the person's behalf without any risk of liability for child support.
16 In a different context Congress has already recognized the value of genetic paternity testing. See 96 F. 3d 1467, 1474-1475 (CADC 1996) (discussing Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984).
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