Debbie Schlussel: Who's Your Daddy?: Studies Reveals Details About Mormons, British Paternity/Fidelity
A frequent Montel, Maury, and Jerry Springer topic is now under an academic microscope.
Atlantic Monthly's July/August issue (I guess in this case it's Atlantic Bi-Monthly) reveals that 5% to 15% of the men listed as fathers on birth certificates aren't the biological fathers of their children. More and more fathers and children are learning this, as genetic testing becomes more common.
Writer Steve Olson reports that in Salt Lake City--where the Mormon Chruch is dominant--a sample of father-son pairs among 100,000 volunteers revealed that only 2% of those listed as fathers are not the real fathers of their sons.
On the other hand, a British town found that around 30% of the towns husbands were not the fathers of those whom thought were their children and were born to their wives or girlfriends.
Why is this important? Well, for one thing, child support. Paternity fraud happens more than people realizes. And men who are not the fathers of children end up paying support through the nose. In many states, if you begin paying child support and later find out you are not the father, you are stuck until the child is 18--and in some cases, until the child is 21 or for total college expenses.
That's quite a reward for infidelity on the part of a spouse.
Posted by Debbie on June 25, 2007 12:33 PM to Debbie Schlussel