What makes a parental relationship?
Hi, an APA format paper with correctly cited references is needed answering each question clearly.
Paternity, Child Support, and Paternity Fraud: Balancing the Rights of Non-Fathers and Children
The purpose of this document is to examine issues regarding payment of child support by a father who is separated from a child’s mother and finds out that he is not really the child’s biological father.
A New York Times (2001) article described an interesting, yet disturbing case involving nonpaternity and child support. Morgan Wise sought genetic testing following one of his son’s diagnosis with cystic fibrosis. The doctor told him that he was not a carrier of cystic fibrosis. This statement in and of itself was a wake-up call because in order for a child to have this disorder, both biological parents must be carriers of the recessive allele. Mr. Wise’s doctor told him that he was not the biological father of three of the four children born during his marriage to Wanda Fryar. Mr. Wise had already divorced his wife before the paternity determination was discovered. Interestingly, the court that heard his divorce would not consider the genetic evidence and refused to allow him to stop paying child support for the three boys. Yet, the court did cut off visitation rights even with his biological daughter.
Under most state laws, children born to married people are presumed to be fathered by the husband, unless the father proves otherwise by DNA testing of putative father, mother, and child.
But many states require fathers to continue to support their children even after learning they are not the father. This has to do with the state’s interest in providing for children in spite of a mother’s mistake or fraud against the man. In 2002, ABC News reported the story of New Jersey resident Patrick McCarthy. McCarthy found out he was not the biological father of his 15-year-old daughter. Though divorced from her mother for well over a decade and not intimately involved in her life, McCarthy had paid child support for the girl. When he petitioned the courts for relief from his financial obligations, he discovered he had little recourse. As far as the state of New Jersey was concerned, McCarthy still bore financial obligations to a child who was not his.
Though in some cases mothers might be mistaken about the origins of paternity, all too often the men are victims of mothers’ paternity fraud. Some states are addressing these issues through laws that allow men to disavow paternity and cease supporting the children. But how far should these laws go in upsetting an established father-child relationship?
There are differing views regarding men’s rights. Some argue that men should not try to get out of paying child support regardless of paternity. Others argue that a man should not have to support a child who is not his biologically. Yet others argue that it would be acceptable to relieve the nonbiological father of financial responsibilities if the biological father assumed the responsibility.
But what about the child’s rights to be supported by the person he or she knows as the father? Is it fair to punish the child for the “sins” of the mother? Should the biological origins of a child who a man thought was his own and whom he raised as his own be the sole factor in ordering support to be paid? Aside from the loss of monetary support, what would be the effect of such rejection by a father based upon a lie told to the father by the mother?
Please consider each of these stated positions and answer the following questions.
What makes a parental relationship? Sperm donors don’t have to support their “children,” but they never raised the children. If a man raises a child as his own, isn’t he the “true” father, whether or not the child was born of his sperm? Should he continue to be the “legal” father? Or should he have the right to abandon that child when he finds out “the truth”? What if that father were the child’s sole support? What if the child lives with the father? Should the father be able to kick the child out of his home when he finds out he is not the biological father?
Some women may not know the truth about the paternity of their children. But what about those who do? What should happen to the mothers who lie?
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