Pick a Dad

Hi guys,

I apologize for not posting, I was ill last week but that doesn't mean I haven't been researching.

Last week, I was watching a two part episode on one of the daytime talk shows which aired on WPIX out of New York. And they always have basically the same types of stories but the one's that touch me tend to be about older children or adults who find out that they have been duped and that their dad may not be their biological father. It has been heartbreaking at times to see the desperation that these people have because they desire their father so much. What is more heartbreaking is the reaction when the person that they have grown to love is not their father.

In the segment that I watched their was a girl named Kristina whose mother told her at the age of 10 that her dad might not be her father and then her mom left her family to be with another man named Mark. The mother, Mary, contended that Mark was Kristina's real father. Kristina stayed with the first man and the rest of her family. Now at the age of 18 Kristina wanted to know the truth so they took a paternity test. It turned out that Mark was NOT her father. So much for her mother's intuition. Kristina looked so betrayed and her mom could only ramble that "I've gotta go, I've gotta go". The pain on this girl's face and the tears running down her cheeks onl made you want to shake the mother and say "HOW COULD YOU BE SO IRRESPONSIBLE!"

One of my initial entries on this blog introduce a thought that maybe we should have madatory paternity testing to try and establish rights and responsibilities at the beginning and to avoid sorting these issues after these people have become so emotionally invested. At the time it was just an idea but the more I see of this situation the more I think it is not such a radical concept.

I hope that Kristina finds peace with her situation.

Talk to you again real soon!