Topic : 12/25 Parent Trap

In regards to the morality of the father leaving after 10 years of emotional investment  -

That's really up to him.  It's his conscience.  He's been played a fool for 10 years, his emotions have been severely toyed with.  Asking him to remain an active parent because of emotional bonds he had with child is like asking him to continue to play the fool.  

Emotional extortion rears its ugly head again.  And some of you dont understand why he's hesitant in falling for that again?  Really?

The resentment he may feel towards the mother may be too strong for him to be any sort of positive influence on the child.  Only he can determine that.  It's not for any of us to judge him on the decision he ultimately makes in that regard.

He should sue the mother, regardless of how he decides to involve himself with the child.  She finacially scammed an innocent person, she should be served with court papers as any scammer should.

I doubt the IRS or the Welfare system would continue to pay for children if the cases turned out to be fraudulant just because "Well, you've paid for 'em this long...you just should, or its immoral."

I really hope this man recognizes that his case could wake up America.

The older I get the more wisdom I find in idioms.  The one I find appropriate for this situation is the sins of the father/mother will be visited upon the head of the child.  Its more than apparent that both of these people hold responsibility for the pain, disillusionment, betrayal, and future issues this child will endure.  Is one more responsible than the other?  Does it really matter?  I could sit here and argue one point or the other, if I wanted to but I dont, and it would make no difference because the damage is done.  The cat is out of the bag, genie is out of the bottle, etc.  Its a done deal.  What concerns me is that it continues being done here as well as in many other similar situations that havent found the good fortune of Dr. Phil intervening on the childs behalf.  So instead of adding my bat to beating these people up over what already cannot be undone Ill instead send my most sincere hopes and wishes that better judgment will now rule and that life can be mended to all their benefit.

What I came for is propose a solution that seemed glaringly apparent to me.  It wont correct the current occurrences of like events but it can curtail it for future generations.  First of all a birth certificate is a legal and binding document so Im amazed that this hasnt become common practice before now.  Why a person can simply be named on a legal binding document without proof of that persons party to paternity is simply legally irresponsible on all sorts of levels.  At any rate my solution is to add paternity testing to the standard testing that they do on any infant when it is born.  Problem solved.  Perhaps such a solution might have further benefits of being a deterrent to behavior that would so negatively effect so many others outside themselves for so long after the fact.  Accountability what a concept!  For those who oppose this solution one would have to question their motivation and wonder if there may not be some duplicitous reasoning that would cause such opposition.  Its easy to rant over a problem, everyone does it.  Better to just resolve it and get on to the next issue.  Theres always going to be plenty more waiting in line

The older I get the more wisdom I find in idioms.  The one I find appropriate for this situation is the sins of the father/mother will be visited upon the head of the child.  Its more than apparent that both of these people hold responsibility for the pain, disillusionment, betrayal, and future issues this child will endure.  Is one more responsible than the other?  Does it really matter?  I could sit here and argue one point or the other, if I wanted to but I dont, and it would make no difference because the damage is done.  The cat is out of the bag, genie is out of the bottle, etc.  Its a done deal.  What concerns me is that it continues being done here as well as in many other similar situations that havent found the good fortune of Dr. Phil intervening on the childs behalf.  So instead of adding my bat to beating these people up over what already cannot be undone Ill instead send my most sincere hopes and wishes that better judgment will now rule and that life can be mended to all their benefit.

What I came for is propose a solution that seemed glaringly apparent to me.  It wont correct the current occurrences of like events but it can curtail it for future generations.  First of all a birth certificate is a legal and binding document so Im amazed that this hasnt become common practice before now.  Why a person can simply be named on a legal binding document without proof of that persons party to paternity is simply legally irresponsible on all sorts of levels.  At any rate my solution is to add paternity testing to the standard testing that they do on any infant when it is born.  Problem solved.  Perhaps such a solution might have further benefits of being a deterrent to behavior that would so negatively effect so many others outside themselves for so long after the fact.  Accountability what a concept!  For those who oppose this solution one would have to question their motivation and wonder if there may not be some duplicitous reasoning that would cause such opposition.  Its easy to rant over a problem, everyone does it.  Better to just resolve it and get on to the next issue.  Theres always going to be plenty more waiting in line