Once a man has been deemed a father, either because of marriage or because he has acknowledged paternity (by agreeing to be on the birth certificate, say, or paying child support), most state courts say he cannot then abandon that child — no matter what a DNA test subsequently reveals. In Pennsylvania and many other states, the only way a nonbiological father can rebut his legal status as father is if he can prove he was tricked into the role — a showing of fraud — and can demonstrate that upon learning the truth, he immediately stopped acting as the child’s father. In 2003, a Pennsylvania appellate court bluntly applauded William Doran — who had been by all accounts a loving father to his 11-year-old son — for cutting off ties with the boy once DNA showed they were not related. The judges found that Doran had been tricked by his former wife into believing he was the father of their son, and he was allowed to abandon all paternal obligations.So if you get tricked in Penn., you have to cut ties as soon as you find out, or else you may end up paying child support to both the biological mother and the biological father.
The article makes this more complicated than it is. We need better laws recognizing DNA tests.
5 comments:
That's so stupid. Being a parent is about unconditional love, not DNA. If you truly care for a child, it doesn't matter if the genes match yours or not.
If my 6-year-old son turned out to be "not mine", I couldn't care less, I love him for who he is.
We're not cavemen anymore - we can go beyond the selfish need to spread our own genetics.
Roberto is a truly evolved, kind, and thoughtful human. Roberto, would you mind raising (and paying for) a couple of my spawn?
Hey Roberto guess what..your 6-year-old son isn't yours, he's mine, how do you feel now?
Roberto is just trying to be noble. Roberto, you are a joke and missing the fact of the matter. The bottom line is that no one should have to be responsible for someone else's child. - money or otherwise. And they should not be forced to do anything by the courts. Even biological parents should not be forced to pay or have a relationship with an unwanted child. That's what abortions and adoption is for. The child won't suffer without a parent. -may be better off. If it was meant for a child to have both parents then parents should not be allowed to get cancer or hit by a bus and die. I would like to see the courts forbid that.
Roberto, You are a great man. I need men like you in great numbers so that I can spread my own genes and you can raise them. And I can happily enjoy my time going around vacationing and finding married women to spawn my children...he..he...he...
How do you feel??????? Unjust.
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