Paying child support is one thing, but paying $1,200 a month for a child that isn’t even yours? That’s exactly what’s happening to one man in Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles man’s confession and cry for help became a viral post on Reddit after he claimed that the state of California kept him paying $1,200 per month in child support for nearly a decade despite the DNA test proving the child isn’t his and that his ex cheated.
The post came from a troubled Reddit user whose girlfriend got pregnant back when he was just 19. Apparently, the girl cheated, considering how the couple didn’t know who the father was, but for some reason, the Los Angeles Reddit user volunteered to commit to the relationship, supporting his girlfriend and the kid.
Eventually, the court-ordered paternity or DNA test results came in, and despite knowing that the child wasn’t his, the Los Angeles man still voluntarily committed to supporting both his girlfriend and the child. Sadly, it didn’t end well as the Reddit user’s girlfriend decided to cheat again after two years and this was the final straw for him; he decided to break up with her with the expectation that he doesn’t have to support the child anymore as it wasn’t his.
However, the state of California had already declared the Los Angeles man as the father for having taken care of the child for two years since birth, meaning he had to pay $1,200 per month in child support, with the money likely going to his girlfriend so she could take care of the baby. The Reddit user has been regretting this decision for nearly a decade and now wants out.
Not an Easy Deal to Abandon
For the record, the kid is now 11 years old, meaning the Los Angeles man has been supporting the his cheating ex-girlfriend’s child for nine years and has given more or less $129,600 though he apparently missed some months and this affected his credit score.
The good news for our troubled Los Angeles man is that he received plenty of advice from his thread on the subreddit. The bad news is that he might actually have to keep deferring to the state of California’s decision to declare him as the de facto father of the child, at least according to the top advice on the thread:
“Child support is not at all about what’s ‘fair.’ It’s about what’s in the best interests of the child, and especially the state. What’s good for the person paying the child support doesn’t factor much into it. Once you accept responsibility for a child, it is extremely (if not outright impossible) to get out of it. You have to begin by acknowledging that, unpleasant though it may be. Unlike what some people are saying, that’s not a California approach…it’s basically an everywhere in the United States approach,” advised quothe_the_maven
To make things more difficult, the Los Angeles man has declared that he has asked several lawyers for help but it appears no one wants to take on the case. California also has a two-year window to challenge paternity and the man unfortunately missed it. After all, he voluntarily supported the woman and the baby that wasn’t his, at least before she cheated again.
It appears the Los Angeles man only has one remaining hope to shed off the responsibility that he doesn’t want anymore, and that is if someone else who could stand in for a father adopted the child.
“The only way you will be free is if the child is adopted by another man. Child support is for the child and unless another man takes responsibility they will put the responsibility on you,” according to CakeisaDie
At the moment, the Los Angeles man is still stuck in his predicament, at least until his ex-girlfriend’s child turns 18 or if a new boyfriend comes along and decides to take on the responsibility.
