Why do genealogists bother to trace back the male line given that........?

Question

.....DNA testing has now proved that in many cases the mother's husband is not really the father?

Answer 1

Firstly, to answer your question. The reason genealogists trace the male line is simply because the surname remains the same down the male line and this makes tracing ancestors easier.

Secondly it is a myth that in many cases the husband is not the father. In reality it is only about 1% of cases where the husband/partner is not the father of the child.

Answer 2

Mainly because the males surname is the name you do not ever change like a womans does when she marries this makes tracing by name easier.
Maybe it's traced through the male genes because the male genes are more prominent or stronger that would make sense but I do not know if that is the reason why, maybe it's just done because it is traditionally done through the males

Answer 3

well lets just assume that for the majority of the world, the father is who the mother says it is. But I agree it should be by the mother since you always know who your momma is.