As a 17-year-old high school senior, Marcus Matthews was falsely accused of fathering a child. Though it was fairly easy to take a DNA paternity test and resolve the matter quickly, Marcus never forgot the emotional significance of the moment.
In an interview with The Daily Helmsman, Marcus laments how daytime talk and other media often turn these serious situations into a sensationalized circus.
“There’s not a lot of talk about these kind of situations in an intellectual capacity,” he said. “You see people laugh and joke about it on TV shows and on the radio, but you don’t get a lot of serious conversation about false paternity claims.”
We agree. While some paternity test cases receive tabloid treatment and focus on lying mothers or cheating fathers, our experience suggests that most parents with paternity questions are honestly trying to do what’s best for the child. After a paternity test, most biological fathers seem anxious to provide financially and emotionally for their child, even if they no longer have a relationship with the child’s mother. And many non-biological fathers willingly embrace, and often legally adopt, children whom they have come to love and cherish regardless of their biological status.
Certainly there are those who, like some media channels, treat paternity questions all too lightly. But, as men like Marcus recognize, questions about paternity testing get at ‘one of the most important aspects of life - family.’
You can find Marcus’ story, along with several others, in his book, I Am Not The Father: Narratives of Men Falsely Accused of Paternity.
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