Article here. Excerpt:
'Let us examine the dynamics of having a child out of wedlock by beginning at birth. With all the medical professionals to witness the beautiful mess of birthing, pinpointing the mother is easy - she's the one lying on the table screaming for an epidural. Unless the old switcheroo is played at the hospital, that person goes on the birth certificate as "mother" and half of the parenting team is established.
There's also a place on the birth certificate for the father. Whoever signs up at the hospital is presumptively the father whether or not he knew the mother under Old Testament guidelines. A legal presumption is something that is assumed true but not considered firmly established. Legal presumptions can be subsequently disproven.
When a non-marital relationship goes bad, men are often surprised to find that, even after a few years of cohabitation and with their name on a birth certificate, they suddenly have no right whatsoever to see the child...
...
That's one right a father has without his paternity being legally established - the right to pay child support. The birth certificate is enough for the Child Support Enforcement Agency to establish a support order, although a presumptive father can immediately demand testing to unburden himself.
If the father does not want anything to do with the child, he better hope the mother finds a guy who does. An adoption terminates the previous father's rights, meaning, no more support. Only an adoption can so terminate a natural father's, or natural mother's, obligations.*'
* Not in Alabama anymore, anyway. See story just posted.
