COMMENT: Behave responsibly to protect children

Children are made victims from many fronts where irresponsible adults decide to engage in liaisons that result in unplanned pregnancies.A� So many disputes arise due to these unplanned pregnancies and some of them are resolved by the families of the parties, the parties themselves, with the rest being handed over to the courts. A�

This is where the maintenance courts have been playing a crucial role in ensuring that the children do not get caught up in their parentsa�� disputes to an extent of lacking care as a result of unresolved issues.

Elsewhere in this issue we carry an article in which two men discovered after paying maintenance for eight years that the children they were maintaining were not theirs after DNA tests.A� The men feel they were tricked into paying maintenance by the women that knew that they were not the fathers of the children.

We feel there could be many other such cases where men are maintaining children that are not theirs, not only through maintenance orders but in family setups.A� In the case of maintenance cases it tends to be painful for the men since such payments come after much acrimony that culminates in the court processes and the eventual court order to pay for the childa��s upkeep.

There are so many males that claim to be men by virtue of biology but shirk their responsibility of fatherhood the moment they discover they have made a woman pregnant.A� Yes, it is quite painful to pay maintenance for somebody elsea��s child.

However, there is a reason why the woman would finger you as the father of the child.A� This is usually the result of a casual relationship, where people indulge in sex without protection and then fail to embrace the results.

What should be addressed is the sexual behaviour of the two parties, that has a bearing on the future of the children.

There is also an assumption that the women would have known who the father of the child is.A� This is not always the case, again depending on the sexual behaviour of the woman, though at times women would opt for a man with the means to look after the child.

While DNA tests are important in resolving paternity disputes, what should be addressed by many young men and women is to ensure that they behave responsibly and shun casual sex that usually leads to unwanted pregnancies.

The law is meant to protect the interests of the child.

We also feel that while negative paternity results free the a�?fathera�� from the financial responsibility of looking after the child, they could be a psychological nightmare for the child who would have been brought up to believe that the man was his/her father.A� This is a question for the parties involved in such liaisons.A� What do you tell the children?

How are they counselled and helped to deal with the new reality going forward?

If all of a sudden the a�?fathera�� withdraws financial support and there is no replacement, the childa��s lifestyle would change dramatically and affect them in many ways.A� And the man cannot claim to not have been responsible for the childa��s situation, because had he not had a sexual relationship with the mother, she would not have named him as the father of her child.

In cases where there is doubt over paternity, we believe the earlier the tests are done the better it would be, especially for the children since it would lessen the confusion over who they call father, even on their birth certificate.