How To Handle Being Forced to Pay Child Support For Children That Are Not Yours
“Eighteen years. eighteen years. And on the 18th birthday, he found out it wasn’t his?”
– Kanye West,
from the song ‘Gold Digger‘
The ‘pregnancy trap’ as it’s called, is very real and a broken condom can land you in a world of hurt.
But what if you are absolutely sure you are not the father?
That this person claiming you are is simply lying?
You absolutely have the option of a paternity test to prove that the child is not yours.
Unfortunately for some unknown god-forsaken reason, legislation has begun to be put into place in numerous regions to make men financially responsible for children that are not even theirs.
In the United States, while you have the option of having a private doctor perform a paternity test it is not admissible in court, in order to have your paternity test used in court it has to be done through the approved labs of the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), and to make matters more difficult you will need permission from the Court to have one of these labs perform a paternity test.
Having a paternity test done through that system can be time-consuming, and you unfortunately face the dead-line of four-years to disprove paternity. Also, even if you manage to have one done through the official means it is only used as a ‘recommendation’ and the judge could still order that you pay child support.
I know what you’re thinking; being court-ordered to financially support someone else’s child at near-random seems absolutely ridiculous, it still happens though. Consider this story from Montreal, wherein a DNA test proved that all three children were NOT his, that each of them had come from three separate men. Despite this, he was still ordered to pay child support to his ex-wife who had repeatedly cheated on him (creating the three kids that were not his), he’ll be supporting her and her children financially for the next decade unless he goes full OJ on this situation.
A poll on the Toronto Sun website asking if people felt the decision was fair currently stands at 43950 votes for ‘No’, and 2047 people for ‘yes’ (1669 are unsure), while that is a huge win for ‘No’, it’s unlikely to change the court’s decision in this matter. It’s also frightening to think that over two-thousand people think he should have to pay child support for children that aren’t even his just because hey, may as well kick someone while they’re down, I guess.
Throughout Canada and the U.S. this type of situation happens more routinely than you may expect, there is also legislation in Germany and France that require BOTH parents to consent to a paternity test for it to hold any value in court. Ignoring this law and having a paternity test done without your spouse’s explicit consent can result in a fine (currently between 5000 and 15,000 Euros) or possible jail time.
This makes it difficult to deal with someone that is claiming a child is yours, consult your attorney on the best course of action in your area. The important thing is to take action, whatever you can. Being passive here will do more damage down the road, especially if you’re in the U.S. and have an explicit timeline in which you have to disprove paternity. You need to as readily as possible prove the child is not yours and look to be legally dissolved of any parental obligation. Good luck.
