Christopher Sprowson's ex-wife had an affair that resulted in a baby.
Now the State of Kansas wants him to pay for a child genetic testing
proves isn't his because he's the "presumed father."
A bit presumptuous, aren't they?
Sprowson and his first wife divorced when the child, now thirteen,
was just a baby. He's never had a relationship with the child, nor has
the mother called for one. Why should she? He isn't the boy's father.
Kansas officials stepped in when the ex-wife filed for welfare.The
state automatically seeks child support for any parent receiving public
assistance to reduce the state's burden. Unable to provide a name for a
father of her boy, the state put the blame on Sprowson. When DNA proved
otherwise, a judge said it didn't matter – as her husband at the time
of the baby's birth, he had to pay some $10,000.
But Sprowson and wife Karey have three kids of their own to
support, and they have made a bid to the state legislature to change
the laws, allowing men to use DNA evidence to prove once and for all
that they aren't responsible for kids with whom they share no blood
relation.
Critics have said this will pave the way for stepfathers everywhere
to shirk their responsiblities to their stepkids. The way I see it,
stepkids are just that - "step" kids. Short of a marriage to the
child's biological parent, they aren't that child's parent. So why
should they be responsible for their care outside of the marriage? Their argument is the old
standby - it takes more than biology to make a parent, and I agree with
them. But that's a saying used to describe the non-biological parents
who nurture children, not one that can be supplied to defend thrusting
someone else's responsibilities on men like Christopher Sprowson. He
never nurtured the child because he had no reason to - he wasn't the
boy's father in any sense of the word, biological or emotional.
I don't fault the state for trying to reduce a burden on taxpayers
by requiring non-custodial parents to step in to care for a child
rather than the state. But you can't legislate family ties into
existence anymore than you can force an angry spouse to accept their
cheating partner's love child into their heart.
Give the guys their DNA test, Kansas. And let the real fathers stand up.
Image: NIH
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