Sunday, August 21, 2005

Falsely accused fathers

KGO radio just broadcast a segment on men who are forced to pay child support, even tho DNA tests prove that they are not fathers. In most cases, the fathers are not even served properly and have no opportunity to contest the court order.

A couple of women called in at the end of the show, and argued that the men should have to pay anyway. One strenuously argued that even tho a man might be proved to be not the father, he could have been the father. She said that most men can avoid these problems by refusing to have sex with unfaithful women.

Apparently the most common situation is when a women is secretly having sex with several boyfriends, gets pregnant, goes on welfare, and names the man with the fattest wallet. In some cases the man gets tricked into believing that he is the father until the statute of limitations has expired. In others, his wages are garnished or his licenses are suspended without him ever even receiving notice.

Sometimes the alleged father has never even met the woman. Sometimes he is the husband, and the wife is secretly committing adultery. The wife eventually runs off with the true father or some other man, and punishes her ex-husband by making him pay child support. (I shouldn't really call it child support, because the money does not goto the child.)

In no case is any woman punished for falsely and vindictively naming the wrong father. In my opinion, a woman who names the wrong father should be jailed, and she should permanently lose custody of the child. It is just not possible for a woman to make an innocent mistake.

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