I Am Not the Father

Book excerpt: When M.L. Matthews was a teenager, he found himself falsely accused of paternity; a DNA test proved he was not the father of the child in question. Even so, this false accusation had a tremendous impact on his life. In I Am Not the Father, he presents his own tale, as well as the stories of four other men falsely accused of paternity, in hopes of providing a better understanding of the consequences of such claims. Each man dated the women making false claimscared about them and had sex with them. Still, DNA tests proved that none of the men in this book were the biological fathers of the children birthed by the women who named them as the fathers of their children. In-depth narrative interviews reveal how the couples met, how their relationships developed, why the men doubted the paternity of the children in question, and ultimately how the men reacted to finding out they were not fathers. Matthews then explores the shared qualities of the mens relationships and suggestions on avoiding similar situations.