What is paternity fraud?
Paternity fraud is a term used when a woman falsely chooses a man knowingly and designates him as the biological father of her child. Even though he is not. Normally, when these situations occur it is financially motivated.
Is paternity fraud illegal?
Well, fraud is illegal. Unfortunately, when it comes to establishing paternity. Many, if not the majority of men who have proven they were misled and seek retribution have fallen short in the court. The problem for most of these men is finding enough evidence that the mother intentionally misled the alleged father into believing he is the biological father of her child. Another issue men have is waiting for years to perform a DNA test. It may be in a man’s best interest to perform a paternity test soon after the child is born.
Due to the lack of evidence presented in court by the alleged father. Most of the time, Mothers are seldom prosecuted for their fraudulent behavior. Hence the reason so many men are supporting children that are not biologically related to themselves.
Can I sue a mother for lying about paternity?
Yes. It is possible you can sue the mother but, you will have to have strong evidence she intentionally deceived you. In the event, you win your court case. Here is an Iowa case that ruled in favor of the alleged father. The Supreme Court stated that the mother committed fraud by misleading the alleged father into believing he was the father of the child. During their court case. The alleged father was fighting for custody and the mother requested genetic testing be performed. Read the full case here.
How common is paternity fraud? Here are the stats.
Paternity fraud is very common in the United States and around the world. According to the American Association of Blood Banks, a research report was submitted by accredited parentage laboratories. The results showed three out of every ten men tested were found not to be the biological father. There were about 300,000 DNA Paternity testing cases analyzed and roughly 100,000 men have deemed not the father. It is important to note, the DNA results submitted for this study were Legal DNA testing results. No peace of mind DNA tests as part of the study.
In another study by the International Journal of Epidemiology and Health. One out of every twenty-five men worldwide will raise another man’s child and not know it. These are some of the more recent statistics regarding paternity cases of men not being the biological father of a child.
Has anyone won paternity fraud cases?
Yes. There have been men who have won cases in court for paternity fraud. Below are a few references you can review.
– Department of Human Resources vs Browning
These are few cases that fraud was proven.