top of page

Identical Twins Ordered To Pay Support For The Same Child

I just read an article and here’s the summary of it:

There was a pair of identical twin brothers in Brazil. One of the men had consensual sex with a woman who then became pregnant. But since the brothers are identical, she didn’t know which twin was the father. The twins refused to admit which one of them had sex with the woman.

Paternity testing was done but since they are identical twins, both of their paternity tests came back positive. What did the Judge decide to do since they would not admit paternity and the paternity testing couldn’t determine which one was actually the father?

ORDER BOTH OF THEM TO PAY SUPPORT!

Is this legal? It is in Brazil.

Could this happen in New Jersey? Yes!

In New Jersey, the statute governing paternity states paternity can be established by a Court order based on a blood test or genetic test that meets specific threshold criteria and creates a rebuttable presumption of paternity. That “specific threshold” is met if the blood test or genetic test results indicate a 95% or greater probability that the alleged father is the father of the child.

You may be wondering what does “rebuttable presumption” mean? That means that the alleged father has the burden to convince the Court that the results of the test are not reliable. That’s difficult to do.

One example of a rebuttable presumption may be if the laboratory that performed the testing has an unlicensed or uncertified lab technician.

You see those stories in the news sometimes that a lab technician’s license expired and as a result, all of the testing done by that person has to be rested. But that doesn’t happen often.

What’s the bottom line?

If paternity testing indicates that identical twin fathers are more than 95% the father of a child, although technically only one of them could be, they could both find themselves paying child support.

What should you do if you find yourself in this strange situation?

Just fess up and move on, unless your brother doesn’t mind paying for your child.

Talk to you soon!

Featured Posts
Recent Posts
Archive
Search By Tags
Follow Us
  • Facebook Basic Square
  • Twitter Basic Square
  • Google+ Basic Square
bottom of page