WOW!
By: Tommy “Tj” Sotomayor

https://youtu.be/HDLCnlBRuzc

Bill could make it mandatory for unmarried fathers to take DNA test to sign birth certificate

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A bill proposed in the state legislature could make it mandatory for fathers out of wedlock to take a DNA test before signing the birth certificate.

House Bill 2698 is sponsored by state Representative Antonio Parkinson, who represents Memphis.

“This is a big deal, this is an issue that needs to be fixed,” he said.

Parkinson said the concept of this bill came from a haircut trip.

“I was in the barbershop and this man stopped me. He said he was in a long term relationship, they had a child, they were living together at the time,” he said.

He said that the man went on to say that after the kid turned 5, he found out his partner had an affair and a DNA test later revealed the man was not the child’s father.

“When they went to court over the child support, he presented the DNA evidence. The magistrate basically banged the gavel down and said ‘Somebody’s gotta feed him and it’s gonna be you until he ages out of child support,’” said Parkinson.

He said the man ended up having to pay up to five years in child support as a result and ended up losing his license, job, and going to jail temporarily as a result.

House Bill 2698 will make it so that if a prospective father wants to voluntarily sign a birth certificate, he has to provide DNA test results first.

Parkinson said this doesn’t only impact Memphis.

“The rural district attorneys were looking for somebody to carry legislation to start reforming our child support system because it’s rural guys getting hit with these same laws and it’s hurting them,” said Parkinson.

Parkinson said this bill will next be heard by the civil justice house committee next week.

And, it will be on the senate floor Thursday morning.

Advancements in DNA testing and tracking have generated radical changes in today’s society. We are learning a great deal about our heritage and from where we come from.

With the developing technology, a growing number of men are learning they are not the father of the child(ren) they raised and cared for during long marriages. Further, many paying child support, while being denied access to their children, are learning they are supporting a child that is not theirs.

Over 30% of Clinical Paternity Tests performed come out negative, meaning the man being tested is NOT the father of the child(ren).

In January of 2009, the Kansas Legislature turned down the passage of a law to allow challenges to paternity even in cases where the man has never had contact with the child. The issue rose from a case involving a man who had a claim filed against him while on Active Military Duty when he was unable to return to the US to challenge the claim. Child support claims not limited by the Soldiers & Sailors Civil Relief Act of 1990 (SScRA).

In June of 2009, Missouri became the 30th state to pass the law. Signed by Governor Jay Nixon, it followed the pattern of the other states with the law of having a 24-month limit on a man to learn he’s not the father of the child, whether or not he’s had contact. Further, he must be current in his child support, which is not refundable in the event the order is set aside due to a negative paternity result.

Many wonder why they do did not request a paternity test at the time they were ordered to pay support, but as so often happens, the mother was a girlfriend or wife. When a man does this, in the view of society, he is just trying to get out of supporting his child. It is a part of the perpetuation of the view that men are either deadbeat dads or possible deadbeat dads.

Of interest, the courts do not equally apply these restrictions to the mothers in a defense of a challenge for custody. They are often allowed to introduce evidence that a man is not the father, to prevent him getting custody, regardless of the circumstances under which the mother should lose it. In some states, it can also be used to deny access rights, without stopping the requirement to pay child support.

Further, after a divorce, in which the husband believed he was the father, a custodial mother can file for up to 18 years of retroactive child support on the bio dad. in a 1997 Michigan case, after the divorce, the mother filed for, and was awarded, 14 years of retroactive child support from the bio dad. Of significance, he was 12 years old when she was sexually abusing him, and got pregnant. He never told anyone about it, and by the time to she file for the retroactive child support, the statutes of limitations to be charged with a crime had run out.

Brave Politicians

In 2008, and again in 2009, Tennessee State Rep. G. A. Hardaway, introduced Tenn. HB25 for mandatory paternity testing on all new births, whether from an unmarried, or a married woman. It was set up that the test had to be performed before a birth certificate could be issued. The bill received steep opposition, resulting in it not reaching the State House Floor even to be debated.

In February of 2011, Kansas State Rep. Melody McCray-Miller introduced HB2246 – Mandatory Paternity Testing For Every Child Born In The State. Other than being referred to the House Standing Committee on Judiciary, there has been no other movement on the legislation.

There should be Mandatory Paternity Testing laws, not only as regards new Child Support Claims, but as regards also addressing all new births.

This is not likely to reduce the number of sexual encounters, outside a stable relationship, but it may increase the proper use of reproductive technology to prevent conception, by turning a bright light on those who intent was to commit paternity fraud on a husband, and/or boyfriend.

Children deserve the right to know from whom they came, outside a legitimate adoption, and that their mother is not carrying on a deception of who their paternal father is. And even those cases involving adoptions, once they have reached the age of understanding.

Certainly, it is improper for the woman to deceive a man into believing he is the father of the child. If he then chooses to continue the relationship with the woman, and fulfill the role as a father to the child, it will be a fully informed decision, though there will still be related legal issues to be addressed.
For now, paternity kits are readily available, and every man should consider making use of one to guarantee the children they are support, and are being the father image for, are really theirs. This is not to encourage them to retract their support, financial or emotional, from the child, but rather to be fully informed should legal issues of custody and access rights should arise.