PATERNITY TESTING: NOT JUST FOR THE RICH & FAMOUS  Friday, September 9, 2011

In the 1983, Michael Jackson released a song called "Billie Jean."  The chorus goes like this:   

Billie Jean is not my lover
She's just a girl who claims that I am the one
But the kid is not my son
She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son   

After the song's release, several paternity cases were filed against Jackson, with each woman claiming that she was the "Billie Jean" from the song.  

Unfortunately, it's a fairly common story: a single mom decides to name a famous or wealthy man as her child's father. Perhaps the paternity is a possibility, but perhaps she is hoping for a quick and quiet settlement from a prosperous man.

Do paternity suits happen only to the prominent, or do they also happen to average citizens?

The simple answer is this: paternity suits are brought against people of all socio-economic backgrounds. Paternity suits are important because they are used to establish legal responsibility-including custody, visitation rights, and child support. In the past, paternity was a question of possibility, hearsay, and physical resemblance, where often the side with the most money and the most powerful lawyers were likely to win. Today, however, a DNA paternity test can prove, or disprove, the actual parentage of a child, even before birth.

Are there cases in which men are found to be responsible for children who are, in fact, not theirs?
Absolutely-every day, in fact. The husband of a married woman is assumed to be the father of her children, and it can often be difficult to convince a court otherwise, even with the support of a negative DNA paternity test. When an unmarried woman bears a child, and a man signs the birth certificate, he is acknowledging paternity. It can be difficult in some states to refute that responsibility, even if the man was duped into a false acknowledgement. In the state of Texas, a man can be freed from false parental obligations only if he is up-to-date on his child support payments; proving that the child is not his does not erase his obligations for support payments that were ordered in a previous court decision. 

A quick internet search can lead to a wealth of websites and social causes devoted to rectifying paternity fraud. The most important piece of advice that any of them offer is this: when facing the prospect of being named as the father of a child, insist on a legal paternity testing. DNA testing for paternity is simple, painless, and relatively inexpensive-especially compared to years of support obligations.