Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Media Misses Mark in "Sperm Donor" Paternity Case

Just as I recently post on my Facebook page, Ari Ezra Waldman and others got it wrong in the recent paternity case between Karen B and Daniel H. As Daniele's attorney David Pisarra clears up the misconceptions in his article, Media Misses Mark on Story:

This case turned on one issue, whether or not she knew what she was doing when she signed a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity (VDP). The VDP is a simple, one-page form that is prepared by the hospital when a child is born to unmarried parents. It is written in language a sixth grader can understand. Primarily it is used to lock fathers down to paternity for child support. In California, if you don't contest the document within 60 days, it is considered a judgment for all purposes.

But evidently, if you are a woman, you can wait two years, all the while collecting child support from the presumed father, and then you can change your mind. You can claim that when you signed it, three days after giving birth, that you were too drugged and tired to know what you were signing. Not one woman I have asked about this believes she didn't know what she was doing three days after birth. Categorically their response is, "she knew."

As this case so clearly illustrates, anyone can sue anyone for anything in this country. It doesn't it make it accurate or true. There was a time when the media checked their facts and attempted to get the story straight. It looks like this time was not one of them.

Comments?

Friday, September 17, 2010

USA Today's Who's a family? Study finds shifting views of unmarried, gay couples

This article was posted on Thursday afternoon and while strides have been made in the acceptance of non-traditional families, it is disheartening to see that Americans give more status to families with pets than to gay couples.

It reminds me of a book that I'm currently reading, The Help, which is set in the 1960s during the civil rights era and focuses on African American maids. Needless to say, some of the events in the book were heinous, but is was the daily discrimination, the hurts, the slights, that devastated these women.

It strikes me as odd that anyone would say that being homosexual is a choice. Why would anyone choose to be discriminated in this world? It's hard enough without adding that to your life. My 2 cents.

Feel free to comment below!