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An bizarre story spotted at Lowering The Bar on a paternity case in New Jersey involving a set of twins where the judge ruled that the father of one twin was not the father of the other, following DNA evidence.
In what is said to be only the third such paternity case in the U.S., a New Jersey judge ruled that a man identified as "A.S." had to pay child support for one twin but not the other, because he was not that twin's father. How is that possible? I'm sure A.S. had the same question
[...] Basically, this can happen if, in the course of about a week, one blessed event occurs, the female ovulates again, and then she has a second romantic partner who also hits the target. Scientists refer to it as "heteropaternal superfecundation" but it is known informally as Have None of These People Ever Heard of Birth Control Syndrome.
Original story at NJ.com.
(Score: 1) by dexcheque on Sunday May 17 2015, @12:51PM
The judge would've been required to make a ruling about it before the law could take the truth of the science into account -- especially considering the particulars about the situation were so unusual. Years ago, when blood type was first discovered to possibly disprove paternity, a judge didn't quite buy the "hocus pocus" of it all and Charlie Chaplin was legally found to be the parent of a girl he couldn't have possibly been the father of (according to the the blood type test).