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Man takes paternity test, learns twins have two different fathers

On Behalf of | Oct 4, 2013 | Paternity

In the animal kingdom, puppies, kittens and other baby animals can have different fathers, especially if the female animal was bred by multiple partners while ovulating. What many people might not now is that this is true for humans, too. A 20-year-old Texas woman found this out after she had sex with two different men just days apart and ended up having twins with different fathers.

You may want to know how this is possible. Women release at least one egg from their ovaries every month, hence the monthly cycle. In the case of this particular woman, she released two eggs. Sperm can live inside a woman for up to five days after intercourse. So when the woman had intercourse with her boyfriend and then with the other man, their sperm attached to the eggs.

The woman’s 44-year-old boyfriend got suspicious when the noticed the twins looked nothing alike. He demanded a paternity test, and the results were shocking. He found out he was the father of one of the twin boys, but not the other. When his girlfriend admitted sleeping with another man, he was devastated. However, he is now raising both boys.

This is not the first time a situation like this has happened. Technically called heteropaternal superfecundation, this phenomenon was first discovered in 1810. It now occurs in up to 2 percent of births involving fraternal twins, but largely goes unnoticed.

It is important that women become aware of this paternity issue because it may have happened to their children, and they might not have ever known. Paternity tests are 99.9 percent reliable and can determine whether or not a man is the father of a child. These tests can be of vital importance in paternity, child custody, child support and divorce proceedings.

Source: 
Madame Noire, “Huh? Texas Mother Gives Birth To Twins With Different Fathers” Lauren R.D. Fox, Sep. 27, 2013

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