I feel sorry for some of those "deadbeat dads" that the government pursues for child support a bit of slack. After all, many of them aren't really the fathers of those children. I know, because the man everyone thought was my father was not really my father and I know this because a DNA test confirmed this fact.
According to an article by By CAROLYN ABRAHAM, Saturday, December 14, 2002 of Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, in an article entitled "Mommy's little secret":
...a spicy fact that mothers might be loath to dish out at the holiday table: It's now widely accepted among those who work in genetics that roughly 10 per cent of us are not fathered by the man we believe to be dad.
Geneticists have stumbled upon this phenomenon in the course of conducting large population studies and hunting for genes that cause diseases such as cystic fibrosis. They find full siblings to be half-siblings, fathers who are genetic strangers to more than one of their children and uncles who are much closer to their nieces and nephews than anyone might guess. Lumped under the heading of "pedigree errors," these so-called mis-paternities, false paternities and non-paternities are all science jargon for the unwitting number of us who are chips off someone else's block.
When there is a question of paternity, the questioning 'father' -- the one who would dare doubt the woman saying that he is the father -- is right 30% of the time! A group called "Men's Rights " claims that:
DNA paternity testing has proven that at least 30% of men who are paying child support are NOT the biological father of the child that the Government forces them to support. At present around 300,000 DNA paternity tests are performed on an annual basis, which means that 90,000 males are being forced to pay child support for a child they are NOT the biological father of.
In the US, the government extracts about $40,000,000,000 annually from 'fathers'. If the conservative estimate, 10% of these cases, are in doubt, then four billion dollars is taken from the wrong men; if the higher estimate is closer to the truth, then that amount is over $10,000,000,000!
Seeing that a DNA test only costs $150, shouldn't we require the government abstain from garnishing wages and tax returns until they either have obtained a test result? Even though this isn't specifically listed as a 'Civil Liberty' shouldn't our sense of social justice demand that we recognize that in a democratic society we need this to safegard our freedoms and rights?
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Comments: 13
If a couple has been living together, or was at the time of the birth, and the man has acted as a father, than I have no problem witht that decision. If the man has not had a relationship with the child, then I think he should be off the hook based on DNA.
Without going into details that would embarass to an extreme various people I have known, I do know that it is sometimes true that some mothers don't tell their husbands or boyfriends about the other men who might be the father, and that sometimes a woman will tell multiple men that they are the father of a given child. This is too sad for words!
But my main point here is that lots of men who don't want to have anything to do with a child, who aren't really the father whether they know it or not, are forced by the government to pay BILLIONS of dollars every year, whether they have it or not.
Marilyn, with gentle hugs, because you probably need them.
Elita, facts like those you bring to us are why many people think that people should have to have a license to be able to have children!
There are too many immature people in government for that bunch to get their act together over issues like this, but I envision a day when every high school graduate will know a lot more about how to be a good person, how to be a good parent and how to be a good friend!
Too right! One could even argue that 'innocent til Proven guilty' should apply! It's sad for me to say this, but there are just So Many issues that need to be addressed in our governmental system that it is difficult to know where to start! Nor am I sure that this should be first on the list of priorities, although it should figure high on that list! I believe that our first hurdle is to gather as concerned and active citizens and demand that all of these issues be addressed in a satisfactory manner. I commend you for bringing an important issue to the foreground though, and look forward to hearing more of your opinons. Wishing You Laughter
But consider the prevalence of extra-marital affairs!
(50% of the time that is an issue!)
Quinn, you bring up a good point!
What if aggrieved 'innocent men' filed a class action lawsuit and won punitive damages as well as actual?