Woman sues real dad
for child support
Woman involved with two men at same time gets pregnant
One of the men believes child is his and marries woman
Marriage collapses when hubby learns he's not child's dad
SHE was seeing two men when she became pregnant.
By Karen Wong
27 July 2008
SHE was seeing two men when she became pregnant.
One of the men, thinking the child was his, proposed to her and
married her.
But when he found out the baby was not his, he annulled the
marriage.
Jane (not her real name) then sued her other lover for child
maintenance.
The parties involved cannot be named under the law to protect her
child's identity.
The case went before the Family Court earlier this year, where the
details of Jane's relationships came under the spotlight.
The defendant, John (not his real name), 28, chose not to take the
stand, but his case was that he did not sleep with Jane, 29, and
that the child was not his.
In her judgment published this week, District Judge Jocelyn Ong
said she did not condone Jane's past behaviour in sleeping with two
men during the same period.
But she found that Jane was honest and sincere in court, having
observed her on the stand.
Therefore, she ordered John to pay maintenance to Jane for the
baby.
The amount of maintenance is to be fixed in another court
hearing.
During the two-day trial, the court was told that Jane had a
boyfriend, Bob, 33, in 2001.
A few months later, she got to know John and they started having
sex.
In February 2002, Jane went to Brisbane, Australia, further her
studies.
She kept in touch with Bob and John through regular phone calls,
text messages and e-mails.
When she returned at the end of 2003, she continued her
relationships with the two men.
It is not known if they knew of eachother.
She said she was closer to John as Bob, a pilot, was often not in
Singapore.
HOLIDAY WITH JOHN
Jane went with John on holiday to Sydney in May 2005.
The following month, she discovered that she was pregnant.
The baby was born about eight months later.
Bob was with her during the pregnancy test. Thinking the child was
his, he immediately proposed to her.
Jane said she went ahead with the wedding as it seemed the 'only
solution' for her at the time.
John had told her earlier that he was not ready for marriage.
Cross-examined in court, Jane said: 'I married (Bob) because he was
the one who was with me when the doctor did atest.
'The test was positive and (Bob) immediately proposed. And at that
time, probably it was out of convenience... and it seemed the
easiest way out.'
MARRIED BOB FOR SECURITY
When asked if she had married Bob for financial security, she
replied: 'Partly'.
When the baby girl was born in January 2006, her blood type aroused
Bob's suspicions about her paternity.
The following month, he did a DNA test and found that the baby was
not his. So he took steps to annul the marriage.
They went their separate ways in June 2006.
The following year, Jane, represented by lawyer Krishnan Nadarajan,
went to the Family Court, seeking child maintenance from
John.
She said it was not easy to be a single parent and she wasn't able
to support the child.
'So all I ask is for her biological father to help me with just a
few hundred dollars a month. That's all... so that my child can
have a more secure future,' she said.
Besides, she added, she wants the child to know who her father
is.
She submitted photos of her and John on holiday, which indicated
that they had an intimate relationship.
APPEAL
John, represented by lawyer Irving Choh, argued that under the law,
the child is presumed to be Bob's, as Jane had been married to him
at the time of the birth.
He also argued that there was no way to rule out the possibility
that Jane had more than two sex partners at thetime.
But Judge Ong dismissed his arguments and allowed Jane's
claim.
John is appealing against the judgment.
Most men only want the sex. When it's time to choose a bride,
one would choose a prim and proper girl. A man may not choose a
bride with loose morals even though his own morals are
questionable. It's a pity the child ended up without a father.
