According to this article, as many as one in twenty-five dads could be raising a child that is not theirs.
Here’s a snippet:
New genetic techniques have opened a “Pandora’s box” of hidden aspects of sexual behaviour, a team from Liverpool John Moores University said.They said that the implications of so-called paternal discrepancy are huge, and more research is needed to determine how widespread the problem is.
The researchers, led by Professor Mark Bellis, examined a wide range of international studies looking at estimates of paternal discrepancy between 1950 and 2004.
They found that rates of cases where a father was not the biological father of his child ranged from 1% in some studies to as much as 30%.
I know it happens, but I can’t imagine the devastation of finding out that the child, whom you have loved since their birth, is not yours, and vice versa.
This is probably why I’m not so keen on secret baby plots. Shudder.
Rocio
August 15
4:55 pm
That’s a shame! Because on important matters like this nobody should be deceived.
Here in DR, it is kind of common mostly on rural places where guessing whose the father of these child can become like a game sometimes. I thought it was a matter of ignorance and the kind of life those people lead.
There’s even a famous merengue about a blonde couple that had ten babies and only one of them was very dark in color(which can happen here because we don’t have races)when the man is about to die he ask his wife about this, and aske her to confess if the dark one was also his kids…and she then honestly answer: That dark one is the only that’s yours!
Indida
August 15
6:03 pm
Isn’t that crazy? I heard about that study on the radio.
They should also do a study on how many of the women knew. I am betting that most of them did.
I stopped watching Maury Povich because I was tired of seeing fathers breaking down because they found out that the child or children they were raising wasn’t really theirs. Most of them stayed with the evil bitches because of the child/children.
Tammy
August 15
8:54 pm
This happened to my husband’s brother a few years ago. He found out that he wasn’t his son’s real dad. He was really devastated, and I still don’t think he’s quite over it now. His son was 15 at the time. It was just one big mess.
Maven
August 15
9:50 pm
What about the kids?? How would you feel to find out your Daddy wasn’t you father?
Of course, some people would be relieved, but others would be devistated. I think it’s better not to know.
Rosie
August 15
11:38 pm
I don’t want to minimize the pain of the deception for these fathers, but it isn’t biology that makes you a father. It’s walking the floor with a sick baby, going to little league games…teaching them to drive. I know because both of my children are adopted.
I’m not saying that our situation is the same as believing you are raising your biological child and then finding out you were deceived. I AM saying finding out you are not the biological sperm donor doesn’t mean you aren’t that child’s father.
Indida…I have only ever seen one of those shows where the father finds out the child isn’t his…that was enough for me. I couldn’t stop bawling. Horrid!
Sarah McCarty
August 16
10:17 am
Now see, I’m of the other end of the spectrum. I can see the pain from the betrayl of the partner, but I dont’ see where it has anything to do with the man’s releationship with the child? I just don’t think blood matters. If your heart names the child yours then that’s all that matters. Relationships are made through emotion, not genetics and a man will not be less of a father if his DNA is not there. Nor will he be more of a father if it is.
Sarah
Sarah