New proposed bill will protect Tennessee's parents from paternity fraud | Opinion
Recently I was approached by a young man who told me he had been in a long-term relationship. Together they had a son and he signed the voluntary acknowledgement of paternity (VAP). They were not married.
Five years later, he found out the mother had been unfaithful during the time they were together. He and the child took a DNA test. The results proved that he was not the father. Subsequently, the relationship ended. The woman then sued him for child support.
In Juvenile Court, he presented the DNA evidence to the magistrate and was basically told, “somebody’s got to feed him and it will be you.” He was ordered to pay child support and found in arrears. Eventually his license was suspended and he was pulled over and jailed for driving on a suspended license.
Sitting in jail, he lost his job.
Because he voluntarily signed and it had passed a 5-year period to rescind the voluntary acknowledgment, he was deemed the legal parent. Through this process, the actual, biological parent’s child was stolen from him.
Finally, under this scenario, the child's right to have their legal biological father listed on their birth certificate and in some cases, their lives, was stolen from them also.
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Biological parents need protection
Multiple reports state that one third of the signatures on birth certificates from unmarried couples do not reflect the biological fathers name. Under House Bill 2698/Senate Bill 1777 unwed fathers could still voluntarily sign, but in order for the birth certificate to be officially validated, the signer must provide the results of a DNA test to Vital Records.
This will insure that the actual biological father is listed on the birth certificate of the child. The Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS), who oversees the child support program, is fighting vigorously to kill the bill. Why? Because the department fears any changes in their enforcement rules could, possibly, jeopardize the $52 million in funding it receives from the Federal Government for its child support enforcement programs. In addition, DHS could also potentially receive millions more for reaching a quota of 90% acknowledged births, with yet another bonus out there for exceeding the quota.
So, there is possibly a huge financial motivation to turn a blind eye to individuals blindly signing the VAP form. The DHS program actually aids paternity fraud by allowing unsuspecting putative fathers to blindly sign a birth certificate without DNA proof of actual biological fatherhood.
In fairness to DHS, there is a 60-day grace period to remove your name from a birth certificate. Also, a father can contest paternity in court, where a DNA test will be ordered. There is a 5-year period where one could go through the expensive legal process to rescind the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity but they will have the burden of proving it was done fraudulently. It was after this 5-year period where the young man I was talking about was locked in legally for blindly signing the voluntary acknowledgement of paternity.
All of this can be remedied, by simply requiring a DNA test on the front end to alleviate any challenges and potential emotional scarring for the child, the wrongfully accused father, the mother and the rightful biological father.
We always hear the words, “do what’s best for the child.”
As a state, we should do just that, keep the child at the forefront and do what’s best on the front end to minimize the pain and hurt on the back end.
State Rep. Antonio Parkinson represents Memphis' 98 district.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: New proposed bill protects Tennessee's parents from paternity fraud
