Baby daddy? Delivery room tales of dads who realise they aren’t the father
Before paternity tests were even a thing, it’s probably fair to say more than a few babies were raised by loving men who didn’t know they weren’t the biological father.
Today, it’s estimated that around nine percent of babies born have miss-attributed paternity (but really, how can we know for sure because wouldn’t a mother who wanted her child raised by another man she’s with, but who isn’t the father, refuse to take part in a paternity survey?!).
While paternity tests can clear up any doubt a new dad might have that he is indeed the biological father, sometimes the moment he first lays eyes on the squidgy newborn his partner has birthed reveals all.
In a few different Reddit threads, hospital delivery staff have been sharing their tales of when this happens, and the reactions in the room. They are both a little bit shocking and hilarious.
Have a read!
A sad story with a somewhat happy ending
Proving that parenting is about raising kids, not creating them, nurse and Reddit user, Idkjill, shared this story of a couple in the birthing suite.
“The father was black, and the mother was white. The father was so involved and so ecstatic about becoming a father for the second time with this woman,” she writes.
“Nothing really seemed off until she started pushing. The baby girl came out completely white, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Usually, black babies come out a little pale, but this was just straight-out white.”
“We had to escort the father out for fear of him becoming violent, but he just sat outside the room, on the ground with his face in his hands. That was one of the saddest moments I think I’ve ever seen.”
“Odd thing afterwards, though, the mum didn’t want the baby and wanted nothing to do with the ‘father,’ probably out of guilt. So she left the responsibility of this baby and their other two-year-old boy to this man – who didn’t even question taking on this child.”
What a man/dad, but also, how sad for those kids to be rejected by their mother.
Boyfriend and husband in the delivery suite
Not keen on having a prenatal paternity test, which can carry some risks to your unborn baby? Easy, just have your husband AND the guy you are having an affair with attend your prenatal visits with your obstetrician, oh and also the birth.
This is what Reddit user Racheltower said happened to her dad, who is the obstetrician in this story. She revealed the two men in question were “surprisingly cordial with each other.”
“But I’m betting they’ll run a paternity test before the umbilical cord is even cut,” she says.
More delivery room stories:
- Mums share: “Stupid things my partner did at the birth of our child”
- What to expect in the delivery room
- Jools Oliver shares emotional photo of herself after baby’s birth
Er, this is highly illegal!
Then there is this shocking story by Reddit user ThunderBird:
“My cousin was an obstetrics nurse in a central European country,” she writes.
“Two pregnant women entered the maternity ward, but unfortunately, one of the mothers lost her child during delivery,” she says revealing the grief stricken woman and her husband had been trying for a baby for “many years” and were overjoyed to have carried a baby to term. Her husband was not present for the birth.
“The other lady delivered a healthy baby, but she was also upset; she already had four children and was unable to financially support a fifth,” she says.
“She did not want to look after yet another baby. Her husband was very upset she was pregnant again – not that he was blameless, but that’s a different story. He was at work and was not at the hospital that day.”
“My cousin talked to the other nurses. No paperwork had been completed, so the staff put both women in the same room with the one healthy baby and suggested they may want to talk.”
“Forty minutes later, the lady without a child was holding the healthy baby. Both women looked happy and relieved. Few words were spoken, but the paperwork was written up by the staff to reverse the records of the two births … They were of the same ethnic background and had similar features, so the swap probably went undetected.”
Hmm, this one smells a little fishy!
Don’t jump to conclusions, dad
Reddit user Companionquandary is a maternity ward nurse and says when a baby’s paternity is in question, the mum-to-be usually arrives at the delivery suite with her friend, mum or sister and has the father come to the hospital after the baby is born – to give her a chance to see who bub looks like, of course!
“There are no guarantees because babies can change a lot over a couple weeks. Many African American babies have very light skin when they are born, which gets darker over time,” she writes.
“I have had a patient’s husband get upset about the baby being too light – they were both black -until his mom smacked him and told him that’s what he looked like when he was born!”
Blood types don’t lie, or can they?
NICU nurse, Mimimullen, shared the story of a healthy baby who was born with a genetic abnormality. The mother had an array of medical staff, including a paediatrician and a geneticist, in her room discussing the baby’s follow up.
“At some point in the conversation, the mother asked what the baby’s blood type was, to which the paediatrician responded ‘A+.’ The father of the baby insisted that was impossible, as he and his wife were both O – This was their third baby.”
“The paediatrician got totally flustered and came back to the nursery to verify the lab results. The baby really was A+. We even went so far as to redraw the baby’s blood and retest it. Nope, A+.”
“There is absolutely no chance that the baby belonged to that man. The husband left the hospital soon afterwards and didn’t show up again until it was time to pick up the mom and baby to bring them home. The mom spent the rest of the hospital stay lying alone, in the dark, mostly hiding under the covers.”
But genetics is a tricky thing. Very, very rarely two O – parents can have a baby with a different blood type. Here’s hoping this is just a case of a rare genetic mutation.
