As of late I heard of a campaign that apparently is an effort to change state laws so that men can contest paternity at any time. Recently I heard, that the laws in many states say that if a married couple is living together the husband is the father of any children born to the wife regardless of DNA evidence. In addition in the case of a married couple living apart or an unmarried couple, the father has only a short time to contest paternity if the mother names him as the father.

Whether all of this is true or just a portion of it I am not exactly sure. If this is the case I can only imagine that these laws have resulted in situations where men have been ordered to pay money for children who they did not father. I have to wonder if the laws that exist have been created mostly for the government’s convenience of stability and clarity.

It is my understanding that there is a bill pending on Oregon. Apparently in Oregon under current law the paternity of a child can be established in several ways. The new bill removes the presumption that a child born to a married couple is the child of the husband, gives a court discretion to require genetic testing even though legal paternity has been previously determined, and if enacted would enable the obligor to terminate a child support obligation by proving that paternity was not accurately established. The bill number is OR HB 2382 and a copy of the bill can be read at http://e2ma.net/go/513782023/412675/13324162/goto:http://www.leg.state.or.us

With DNA testing on the scene I would think that this would of and have changed or does the system still have the mind set of not disrupting a child’s life to find out that the man they thought was their father was not really there father. Is it in the best interest of the child to not allow a man to prove or disprove his paternity?