Missing fathers: Paternity fraud among issues contributing to parenting challenges
MOTHERS having multiple sex partners, getting involved with married men, migration of the father before the child’s birth, underage fathers, the biological father being oblivious to the pregnancy, and fathers denying paternity — all these have been cited as some of the reasons for Jamaican women excluding the biological fathers’ names from their children’s birth certificates. This is a troubling issue for the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC) as it seeks to implement the National Parenting Policy, where all parents will be charged with ensuring that the rights of their children are protected.
The NPSC, in a submission to the Human Resources and Social Development Committee of Parliament last October, said the “perpetual issue” is one of the challenges to the full implementation of the policy, because if fathers are unnamed on birth certificates they cannot assume full economic or other responsibilities for their children.
The commission, which is an agency of the Ministry of Education, said there are three categories under which a father’s name is declared missing — where there’s no name, the mother’s surname is registered, and the wrong father’s name is declared.
This third category is a most troubling issue, the NPSC says, categorised as paternity fraud, and is sometimes perpetrated by women who have multiple sex partners and who may choose the father with the best economic standing, or mothers who have multiple sex partners and do not know who the real father is.
This situation presents numerous problems for such a child, who has the right to an identity, according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“When a child is born there are two parents, and it is crucial that the identities of both parents be recorded on each child’s birth record,” the NPSC said.
“Importantly, the birth record is another way in which a father can demonstrate his love and paternal responsibility to his child.”
Nevertheless, citing statistics from the Registrar General’s Department for the years 2012-2016, the NPSC said that 30 per cent of all live births out of wedlock — the category with the majority of births — were registered without the fathers’ names.
The NPSC speculated that there were other reasons for mothers to exclude fathers’ names, including where some career women almost at the end of their fertile years choose a donor to impregnate them, do not want a relationship with the fathers as they are only interested in having children, and as a result, the mother’s maiden name is registered as the child’s surname. Additionally, young girls are sometimes pawned off to area dons who cannot come forward to claim paternity out of fear of being charged with having illicit relations with a minor child.
“[But] the relationship between a boy and his father and a girl and her father sets the framework for what a boy should be like as a father, and what a girl should expect from a man who will father her child,” the NPSC said.
“The missing father’s name from the birth certificate is sometimes indicative of a missing father from the life of the child. Not only does the child not have the presence of a father, but the child also does not have a full identity. Children are often preoccupied with the idea of not having a father, and are prone to bouts of aggression, depression, low self-esteem and poor performance.
“Parents are also affected, as the missing name can cause strained family relationships, broken families, financial burdens, a cycle of repeated behaviour, ridicule and harsh criticism from the community, embarrassment and loss of respect from the child.”
Among recommendations, the NPSC said there needs to be an efficient system of “wrong father off and right father on” so fathers can take action; an urgent public education programme so fathers can be aware of their options regarding adding their names; and educating parents on their roles as parents, which includes the full registration process for their children.
