Man Outraged After His One-Night Stand Has Cost Him Thousands of Dollars In Child Support

If a man goes out on a one-night stand and then the woman suddenly tells him, she’s pregnant with him, is he consenting to fatherhood?

This is what happened to Patrick (not his real name), who told news.com.au about the fateful day he met up with a girl after chatting with her for a few months, had a drink, and then one thing led to another. Since then, Patrick says, his life just turned haywire.

Patrick, who is from NSW, said he met a girl on Facebook in 2010, who lived 250 kms away from him. After chatting for a couple of months, he decided to meet up with her and drove to see her one weekend.

That Saturday night, they went to her friend’s place and had a few drinks, unaware that what would happen next will be something he said he would regret doing. “I’d consumed a lot of alcohol. I actually wish I’d been done for DUI. I know I shouldn’t have driven, I wish I’d been pulled over for that,” Patrick said.

The next day, he got up around lunchtime and left to head home.

Patrick said he tried messaging the girl but he didn’t hear anything. However, around 12 weeks later, while at work, he got a message that would change his life forever.

“‘We need to talk urgently,’ she wrote.

“I sat at my desk reading the words, my heart started fluttering and I just knew what she was going to say.

“I went out of the office at lunchtime to call her. She picked up straight away.

“‘I’m pregnant,’ she said.”

Patrick then asked her if it was his, to which the girl replied, “I don’t know it’s yours.” He then threw her a question that left the girl unable to answer.

“‘So, you didn’t know you were pregnant after four weeks or eight weeks but now at 12 weeks you decide to tell me?’

“I felt like she’d planned it.

“‘You need to have a serious think about what you’re doing,’ I said. ‘Think about the ramifications for both of us, long term.’

She hung up.

Patrick said he told his partner of almost two years about the phone call and she shrugged it off.

He thought he was off the hook, as the girl didn’t attempt to communicate with him. However, nine months later after his son was born, he heard a knock at the door of their home, and saw a man serving a court order for DNA for child support.

“This guy asked my name and said he was here to serve a court order.

“I couldn’t believe it. “This lady is a complete fool “¦” I started to say.

“He cut me off, “If you don’t sign, we’ll seize your assets.”

“I signed.”

Patrick said he did the DNA test, which cost him $2,000 plus a lawyer, which cost around $5,000. But, the Child Support Agency (CSA) then backdated the child support to the birth of his son.

“Just like that I was $12,000 out of pocket.

“I was left reeling, worried sick, thinking, ‘How am I going to pay my mortgage and bills plus this?’

“It was an absolute nightmare,” he said.

Patrick said he was left struggling at work and ended up resigning, and said his mental health is in a bad state, which left him with more questions.

“Sometimes I wonder if I might have PTSD.

“Why am I paying 100 per cent child support? I haven’t seen him once.

“I’m left going round in circles thinking, ‘Why would somebody do this? What do I owe her?’

“The government needs to recognise the impact this is having on men’s lives,” he said.

Without money and work, he and his partner eventually split. Now, he urges the government to take action to protect men with child support issues from previous relationships.

“The percentage of second relationships that fail because of child support issues dragging from previous relationships is huge.

“I’m not surprised so many men give up. There’s something seriously wrong with this outdated system. It doesn’t work in modern society where many relationships don’t last. Let alone my situation. How is this right?

He said that there are 20 men are committing suicide every week for this reason. “There are over 20 men every week suiciding “” and the government doesn’t think this is a national emergency? You’ve got to be kidding. The CSA is costing people their houses, their jobs, their lives. It’s a complete farce. I’ve given up,” he said.

However, Patrick says he will pay for child support and one day hoped his son comes looking for him.

At present, Australian law states that a biological father must pay child support until a child turns 18, although there are heated calls for reform.