Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics History Roundtable Whose kid is it, anyway?

A couple of things I found at https://www.findlaw.com/family/paternity/legal-significance-of-paternity.html

I was wrong about birth certificates, which I should have known if I was thinking. My apologies for that.


On the other hand, I was right about something else:

There are also paternal rights as well as responsibilities and I believe they’re included in the article.

Thanks for doing that research, Julia. From that same link...



My husband was listed as the father on our daughter's birthday certificate. In fact, she had a hyphenated last name. He was later advised by an attorney to go through the process of legitimating her though (adopt) for all the reasons listed above. He did.
He was already supporting her but he wanted to secure her future.

Every now and then a guy takes a kid under his wing and becomes the Dad for no apparent reason. Just because some stray kid needs help.

I'd take on another one if I could.

Gregor, fortunately you are one of the good ones. And paternity by the good ones is a Good Thing. Also a major factor in my opinion of you.

In the case of my (Possibly)real daughter, I might not have done my best. Her mother and I spoke the night she was born, I offered to marry her, she passed. We lost touch for 18 years. My name is on the birth certificate.

That kid believed I was her dad. Since she was able to read she knew her dad's name but not where he was. At 18 her mom told her. So it was a really big deal for her to find her "real dad". I never asked for any test, I took responsibility for what my dick did 18 years ago. Even if it might been somebody else's dick...

Some men do some men don't. Top of my head I'd guess that it's a 70/30 split. Lotta men have raised a lot of other men's kids as if they were their own, and a lotta men have owned up to their mistakes.

It doesn't raise my estimation of men in the slightest. That 30% contains some real assh*les.

Assholes in the 30%? Yes.
Raise my estimation of men in general? Nope.
Raise my estimation of parents in particular who are trying to do what’s best for their kid? Yes.

I do not believe that being a parent equates to being a hero. But a good effort has value.

The law in the US has a strong bias toward paternity, even if it does not fit the facts. One area I would like to see fixed is opt-out for paternity when both bio-parents agree in writing. I'm thinking of cases where two women in a marriage want to have a child, and there is a convenient sperm donor like one of their brothers. The only way you can donate sperm now with no legal strings attached is through a sperm bank. Seems silly to make those women go through that and pay all that money, when all they need is a turkey baster. Or some more natural thing shaped sort of like a turkey baster.

I think a lot of men would volunteer to help make their niece or nephew, if it could be done safely.

I know you didn’t intend it that way PIA, but there’s something a little creepy about men being eager to impregnate their sisters, no matter the technique or the kindness of heart!

There is a way to terminate parental rights but I’m not sure that it can be done before birth.

Q: How does a sperm bank differ from a regular bank?

A: With a sperm bank, after you make your deposit you lose interest.

Jumped right to incest, did you? The idea is that a man could impregnate his sister's partner, yielding a child highly related to both women. His sister would be the child's bio-aunt. Impregnating your own sister is not a good idea biologically, much less in our social and legal setting. I'm a big fan of genetic diversity. I go to great lengths so my AKC dog does not impregnate his sisters.