A man in Oklahoma is being forced to pay the child support for his cheating wife’s love child. The man, who refrained from providing his last name and identified only as Thomas, says that the state is forcing him to keep paying child support for another man’s child, simply because he ordered the paternity test a year too late, Daily Mail reports.
Thomas married his ex-wife after she got pregnant when the two were in high school. He says that initially he had no reasons to suspect that the child was anybody else’s. But after the marriage fell apart, he suspected something wrong and ordered the paternity test of his 3-year old son. The results of the test clearly showed that the boy was not his biological son. Naturally, Thomas was shocked.
“It comes back zero percent. I was in my office and I saw that. I should’ve expected it but I didn’t and it hit me. I’m telling my co-worker how shocked I am that someone could do this to someone.”
But as it turns out, Thomas had ordered the paternity test a bit too late. The laws of the state of Oklahoma require a man to question paternity within two years, which wasn’t the case for Thomas. According to the law, the 3-year-old is now legally Thomas’s son and he has to continue paying child support to his cheating wife.
Initially, the judge had ordered Thomas to take a second test, which he did. The results came back the same. And the judge had decided to rule in his favor. But after further reviewing the laws of the state, the judge had a change of heart. He has now ordered Thomas to pay around $500 every month in child support and an extra $15,000 plus interest in back support. All this for a child that isn’t his own.
Thomas spoke with News On 6 about how he felt about the decision.
“I wish I was telling a lie. I wish it wasn’t the truth but it is. That’s what makes it so crazy. Everyone I talk to about this can’t believe where the court system is coming from.”
At this point, Thomas has come to terms with the fact that there’s no way he can get out of paying the back support and the child support. The law clearly stands against him.
“At this point, there’s really nothing I can do to get out of the $15,000 or get out of the child support, it’s done, it’s the law.”
The following is the summary of the law that has put Thomas on the spot.
“In conclusion, there is a presumption of paternity for a child born of a marriage. A biological father of a child born outside of marriage must take affirmative action to establish a legal presumption of paternity.
“Once established, the presumption is rebuttable until the child’s second birthday. After that time, the presumption is not rebuttable unless the presumed father, mother and biological father all agree to adjudicate the paternity of the child. If there is a doubt, the father should take legal action before the child’s second birthday and request genetic testing to prove the biological connection, otherwise it will be difficult if not impossible to overcome the presumption of paternity.”
There you have it. The phrase “presumption of paternity” says it all. But Thomas considers this to be an “unfair” law and wants lawmakers to change it. He believes that DNA has to be considered in these scenarios, especially in cases such as his, where he was clearly lied to and deceived by his former wife.
[Featured Image by Shawn Hempel/Shutterstock]