When some marriages fall apart, the question of who gets custody of the children is an issue that needs to be dealt with carefully and sensitively. No matter who the couple is, they don’t want their children to be affected by their divorce. The following story is about a man who, only after divorcing his ex-wife, found out that he was never their child’s father to begin with. Despite this, he had still been paying child support for the good part of a decade. While there have been many crazy stories surrounding children’s parentage on The Maury Povich Show, this is one story that might trump them all…
Now He’s Fighting Back
Chris from Colorado used to have a pretty simple life. He had a wife and a kid, and everything seemed to be in order. However, after his marriage broke down, Chris felt like he’s been fighting an upward battle ever since.
Despite being told by his ex-wife Lori that he is in fact, not the father of her daughter, it turns out that he’s still legally obligated to provide child support, while still being denied visitation rights. Now though, he’s fighting back…
How it All Began
Chris and Lori’s complicated story began over a decade ago when they first started seeing each other. Early into their relationship, Lori informed Chris that she was pregnant.
While he was not intending on proposing to Lori any time soon, Chris felt like it was only right for the two to tie the knot and give their child a family. Soon enough, the couple from Colorado got married. However, the cracks started to show instantly…
This Is the End?
For a couple of years, Chris and Lori’s marriage seemed to be OK and they enjoyed raising their daughter together. However, when she was two-and-a-half years old, the couple decided that it wasn’t right for them to have tied the knot to begin with.
Soon enough, they finalized their divorce and the daughter stayed with Lori. Although the arrangements suited both parties, Chris was determined to have a vital role in his daughter’s life…
He Carried On Providing for Her
While Chris was granted visitation rights to be with his daughter, he would also have to pay $730 a month in child support. For the next decade, Chris was an integral part of his daughter’s life.
He would drive her to school, have plenty of opportunities to bond with her and would sit down with her to help her with homework. Despite not being together, Chris and Lori made it work as co-parents. However, things started to get messy…
Visitation Rights Denied
As the years went on, Lori began to get stricter when it came to how much Chris would be involved in their daughter’s life. It got to a point where she started to prevent him from exercising his visitation rights, which was a huge red flag for Chris.
However, eight years after they had divorced, Lori dropped a huge bombshell on Chris that at the time, made no sense to him. However, it was just a matter of time before it did…
She Wanted to Change Her Last Name
One day, when their child was 11 years old, Lori called up Chris and told him about something she was planning on doing. According to Chris, Lori wanted to change their daughter’s last name because she was getting remarried.
While Lori’s love life was none of Chris’s business, he felt like it was unnecessary for his daughter to change her name. However, when he wouldn’t back down from the argument, Lori finally explained to him her reasons…
You’re Not the Dad
During that heated conversation, Lori finally revealed why she was so determined to have their daughter’s name changed. It turns out that she had been keeping a big secret from Chris ever since they had known each other.
She revealed to Chris that he was, in fact, not the father of her child. Naturally, Chris was bewildered by the news and at first, he wouldn’t believe it. In order to get to the bottom of this mystery, Chris did what was necessary…
Time for a DNA Test
The only sensible thing for Chris to do at this moment in the story was to take a DNA paternity test. He was desperate to find out if he was actually the father or not.
On the one hand, he still wanted to provide for this little girl who he looked at as his own. On the other hand, though, it didn’t feel right for him to be legally responsible if he wasn’t actually the biological father. Chris soon got the results…
His Worst Wish Confirmed
Desperately wanting the DNA test to prove that he was the father, Chris was in for a truly rude awakening. In an interview with FOX31 Denver, Chris admitted that the test confirmed the very worst.
“So the alarms went off and we had a DNA test done and she’s not my biological daughter that I raised for 11 years,” he said. It was as if the last decade of his life had been a lie. Chris needed to take action…
Seeking Legal Help
Chris was left with no other alternative but to seek legal advice for this situation. How could he still provide child support for a child who wasn’t his own? He swiftly submitted the results of his DNA test to a county judge. However, the judge denied his request.
He told him that he was not allowed to see his daughter, but yet he was still paying child support. Then, the authorities explained to Chris why he was still obligated to pay child support…
His Name’s Still on Her Birth Certificate
Why would a man who is not the biological father have to pay child support? Chris ended up finding out that his name is on the child’s birth certificate. At first, he had no idea why this would factor into him having to pay child support.
Then, his lawyer broke something down for him. The fact that his name is on the birth certificate actually means that he is legally obligated to provide for the child, and here’s why…
The Law Is the Law?
In Colorado, if both parents establish who the father is, a VAP (Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity) agreement is signed. This cements who the legal parents are, regardless of whether they are biological parents or not. Then, the father’s name is added to the birth certificate.
If nothing has changed by the time 60 days have passed post-signing, neither party can change the conditions. As a result of this legal condition, this meant one thing for Chris…
He Still Needs to Pay
As a result of this complicated legal situation, Chris is still legally obligated to carry on paying $730 a month in child support fees. In fact, he will have to carry on doing this until his daughter turns 19 years old.
At the time that he found out about this, the child was still 15, meaning that he would have to pay a lot more money for her for the next four years. Naturally, Chris had his own thoughts on the matter…
“Doesn’t Make Any Sense to Me”
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Chris was bewildered by this news. And it wasn’t just the fact that he had to keep on paying child support.
The 48-year-old didn’t understand why he had to do this when he was being prevented from seeing his daughter. As far as he was concerned, it was the worst of both worlds. “It doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said in an interview with FOX31 Denver.
One Tough Condition
Despite this, Chris did find out that there was one way he’d be able to stop paying child support. However, it would require doing something that he was extremely hesitant to do. According to his lawyer, Chris would have to relinquish his paternal rights, which isn’t easy to do.
He also claimed that courts will rarely let someone do this, unless someone else is willing to take on the role of the child’s parent instead. This raises an important question…
Who’s the Real Father?
After Chris found out that he wasn’t his child’s biological father, he was determined to find out who was. It didn’t take long though for Lori to reveal who the mystery man was. According to her, she had their child with a man by the name of Logan.
However, probably the biggest surprise of this whole mystery is that Logan had no idea that he was the father, meaning it was just as much of a surprise to him as it was to Chris…
He Gets to Spend Time With Her
After Logan found out that he was the biological father, it is believed that Lori was more than happy to invite him into their child’s life. Since that parental reveal, he has been able to spend time with his daughter, much to Chris’s dismay.
“The biological father has been found and he gets to spend time with her. I don’t get nothing,” Chris said. Despite the double standards at play here, Lori seems to have her own unique side to the story…
Her Side of the Story
While it’s difficult not to feel sympathy for Chris during this confusing time, Lori also seems to have her own views on the matter. According to her, Chris completely severed ties with their daughter after he learned the truth that he wasn’t actually her father.
However, Chris vehemently denied such claims. As a result, it has become increasingly unclear who to side with in this convoluted story. Not to mention Logan’s thoughts on the matter…
Logan Doesn’t Want to Support Her
To make the story even more ironic, biological father Logan seems to have no intention of providing child support for his daughter. If he isn’t legally obligated to, then it seems like he won’t bother to change the status quo.
Despite this, Logan did comment that he felt sorry for Chris. “On the flip side, if I would have to pay child support that would be messed up too,” he said. Amazingly, Lori seems to side with Logan in this situation…
Lori’s Logic
Not only does Logan feel like he isn’t obligated to pay child support, but Lori also agrees. As far as she’s concerned, Logan shouldn’t have to, seeing that he has his own family.
“I don’t think that’s fair to come onto somebody when they didn’t know for 11 years that they didn’t have a kid,” she said. When you take into consideration this bizarre chain of events, you can’t help but feel that Chris has been hard done by over the last decade…
She Conned Him?
Infuriated by what was happening, Chris was convinced that Lori conned him over the last decade, allowing him to pay child support while withholding the vital detail that he wasn’t their child’s biological father.
Lori even went on record, claiming that she doesn’t feel bad about what has happened to Chris. It suggests that there must be other details at play here. Things must have happened between Lori and Chris that led to so much bitterness in their lives.
Sharing His Story
As for Chris, he simply wants to get his story out there and share it with the world. However, he doesn’t want pity – he just wants people to know what happened. “I just want everybody to know this is happening. It’s not right, it’s not right,” he said.
If names on the birth certificate are more legally binding in some states than DNA evidence, then there is a chance that other people are dealing with this issue too. But there’s one more thing Chris wants…
He Misses His Daughter
At the end of the day, after all of the legal disputes, Chris simply wants his daughter back in his life. “I just want my daughter, but I can’t even see her, but yet I’m still paying child support,” he said.
It’s unclear if Chris, Lori, and Logan have managed to come to some sort of resolution, but one thing’s for sure: If Chris loves his daughter enough, he will fight tooth and nail to remain an important figure in her life.