Topic : 12/25 Parent Trap

Motives of the new wife? Who said she had a motive?

Her husband deserved to know the truth...the child deserves to know the truth.

How could Mia have known that the mother would show no remorse? How could Mia have known that the mother would not suggest him paying no child support and instead, encouraging visitation? How could Mia have known the outcome?

You are missing the real issue.....it's called Paternity FRAUD........

Mia never stuck a gun to the mother's head and made her cheat and get pregnant nor did she make the mother lie about the paternity.

You are right about one thing though.............IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY................to the MOTHER..........why would she go after the BIO dad for support when she can go after a MD??????

Congrats should go to the MOTHER.............no telling what all she got out of it all those years..........she WON for 10 years.....................AND BECAUSE OF THE MOTHER'S ACTIONS ALL THOSE YEARS AGO, YES, A CHILD WAS HURT OUT OF IT.

MAYBE YOU SWHOULD STOP AND THINK THAT THE MOTHER SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THE OUTCOME ALL THOSE YEARS AGO WHEN SHE MADE THE CHOICE TO KEEP QUIET ABOUT THE PATERNITY OF THE CHILD. NONE OF THIS WOULD BE HAPPENING IF SHE HAD DECIDED TO BE HONEST ABOUT THE PATERNITY.  MAYBE ENRIQUE WOULD HAVE WALKED AWAY FROM THE BEGINNING.

I do feel bad for the child, but she also deserves to know her bio dad and HER BIO DAD DESERVES TO KNOW HER.

   Yes, there is TWO victims here in todays show. The father and the daughter both. I was married to a woman of similar values and out of my 4 daughters,  I questioned my paternity with 2 of them. Today I feel 100% they are mine, but for years it was a viscious issue in our house. I even lost the friendships of 2 close friends over it. The 2 close friends were who I suspected her affair with because since those days, they have made no contact with me & that alone tells me guilt plays a part in this even tho she denies anything ever happened. But friends of me told me a lot more about some of her other indescretions. So I know that she was unfaithful.

   Anyway.....from a man's point of view on this issue....it is hard enough for a man who loves his wife to find out about hidden affairs, but to suspect that 2 (or any) of your children may not be yours is another hard thing to swallow. It is devastating. Then after the truth is out.....you are devastated - and to have the courts MAKE you pay for a child you did not father, is the ultimate punishment/slap in the face over the womans indescretions. She looks like a harlot, but outside of that.....nothing happens to her. The man is to pay. WRONG WRONG WRONG! I paid thru the teeth for 4 years to my ex in child support after we split & eventually as they aged, some came back home to live with me ...but when it was her turn to pay...she didn't for almost 2 years...and then when she did, took a waitress job & her garnishment to me is a joke. She's remarried & hides behind her husbands income.

   So if it were me in the man's shoes...I would have CONTINUED to be her father in every way possible. As in buying her clothes, her food, etc......but I sure wouldn't want th courts to TELL me I HAD to. I think the woman should be in the hotseat to come up with some names to whom she was intimate with & go after those who had the financial freedom of burden of rearing a child. Maybe the father in this case could have been repaid by the other man & that child support could have been used for father/child care and such.

    Gloria is one of those lawyers who may be book smart, but as far as common sense goes, her head covering is egg shell thin. I agree with the man who was wronged by paying for 11 years AND the audience. They were all on the right track as far as who was to blame & who started the whole mess. I HOPE the young girl & her "Dad" can repair some of the damage done & get back on track......even tho he's not the biological father...I know deep in his heart he is hurting & he still loves her. She needs to know this too. Maybe she will someday when she is old enuff to piece this together.

     Love Your Show Dr. Phil (some of them anyway),  :)

     Thanks & Take Care,

     TKK

Wow!

I agree with Gloria on some points. Since the child and "father" had a relationship, he should have continued that relationship as it were. And, there was definitely a better way to let the child know the real circumstances. The mother of the child should have let the "father" off the hook on the payments, but still let him have the ties he had when he was paying. BUT, shame on all of them, especially the "father's" significant other who kept bringing up blaming the mom for lying! It seems like the entire situation has been completely mishandled and the daughter is the one paying!!!! 

This was the first time I've ever seen Gloria Allred make a complete fool of herself.  It's not that I'm a fan of hers, but usually, I can see her point.  I thought she sounded ridiculous.  And did she ever answer a question or did she just answer every question WITH a question. 

I thought the guy who fought the law and won was AWESOME.  He had such great points.  I think Enrique should have continued his relationship with his daughter.  I don't know if he should have told her he's not the father or not...it seems like a hard thing to take, but maybe hiding it would have been worse.  But I don't think he's a bad guy.  I think he reacted to his own pain.  His ex wife, however, is a sociopath, in my opinion.  She doesn't seem to have any remorse or take any responsibility for what she has done.  I don't think any man should be FORCED to pay for a child that isn't theirs.  That should be their option.  I do not understand a law that punishes the man for basically being tricked.  Enrique should be allowed to sue his ex wife in civil court for fraud and get back every dime he's ever forked out for that kid.

That having been said, I would hope he would choose to maybe give HER the money...not the ex wife, but maybe set up a college fund or give the child money to spend as she saw fit.  I wouldn't want to give that old hag a dime.

And one more thing I'd like to say about Gloria Allred...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  What a joke today.

When are the courts going to wake up and realize how these attorneys and laws are hurting our children?

If this father wasn't concerned about having to pay support for a child that was not his biologically, I believe he would have continued visitation and he would still be her father today.  And, no, I'm not excusing his actions of walking away (ABSOLUTELY SHAME ON HIM!) -- I'm just saying the laws, attorneys and courts have to step up and take responsibility for the part they are playing in this insanity as well.

25 years ago, during the McMartin Preschool trial in California, my husband's ex walked into a California court, made false molestation accusations against my husband, and visitation was stopped instantly even though both the police and sheriff reports stated the allegations were unsubstantiated.

A few weeks later, my husband's ex took his daughter and moved away.  Over the next two years, she was held in contempt of court countless times, we never could locate her and after exhausting all our financial resources before ever getting in front of the judge, we had no choice but to let his daughter go.  We were NO MATCH for the free financial aid my husband's ex was receiving to fight us because she was on welfare.

His daughter was raised on welfare, the social worker told my husband "it's none of your business whether your daughter's dead or alive", and my husband was still ordered to pay support for the next 16 years -- even though he was told his daughter no longer any of his business!!!

He was never found to have done anything wrong.  He was never even interviewed by police, let alone arrested or found guilty of wrong-doing.  His ex got her way -- she got him out of his daughter's life so she could do what she wanted without having to deal with my husband.

I just don't get why the courts can't figure out the mothers in these case are underhanded and manipulative and don't deserve support from the fathers in these situations -- and they should be banned from receiving welfare also!!!

The children DO NOT have to suffer just because the father or previously alleged father isn't ordered to pay support.

If the underhanded manipulative mother can't afford to raise the child in an appropriate manner on her own without the help of the father/alleged father or the state, then let the father raise the child -- give the father a choice -- raise the child or pay support.  The child doesn't have to suffer!!!

When are the courts going to wake-up and acknowledge that this problem is simply going to continue to grow as long as they aid and assist these mothers in using their children as pawns in the games they are playing with their ex-partners?

Until the courts do something to detur these mothers instead of playing right into their hands in these sick games, we will continue to hurt our children.  If you don't believe me -- just ask the adult children who have grown up over the past 25 years in this mess.  They'll tell you and their stories won't be very pretty.  I know my stepdaughter's story is not pretty at all.  She is angry, VERY angry that she was cheated out of the opportunity to have a father in her life.

At 27 she is finally getting to know her dad and it is very, very sad to watch the two of them struggling to develop a relationship that should have always been!

Please Mr. Smith, please continue to speak-up.  Please don't think it's in vain.  Please continue -- eventually the courts just have to wake up.  They have to because these children will eventually be the courts and let me tell you -- they will change the world from the way it currently is.  So, for all the manipulated children and fathers out there -- please keep up your fight.  Please take it to the levels it needs to go until change happens -- until all the Gloria Allreds are out of the picture.  Until the children are no longer used as pawns by unreasonable inmature parents who can't figure out that in most instances it is in the child's best interest to have both parents in the picture!!!