5 Unforgettable Real-Life Paternity Test Stories with Unexpected Twists

The following stories illustrate how relationships can fall apart when doubts settle in as they did for these five men who wished for DNA tests. Sadly, some of their relationships buckled under the mistrust, and divorce was mentioned.

Five men doubted their partners when they found some issues with the paternities of their children. One man even questioned the paternity of his middle child, leaving his wife and their son miserable and distant.

A Baby Born with Different Colored Eyes and Hair

On December 20, 2023, an anonymous female contributor opened up about her experience in Reddit's "AITAH" forum. Having been married to her 28-year-old husband for two years, she detailed the birth of their daughter, which occurred just five weeks prior.

The 27-year-old original poster (OP) had given birth to a beautiful daughter with blonde hair and pale blue eyes, while she and her husband have brown hair and brown eyes.

The situation prompted OP to seek advice and insights from the online community. Her husband's unexpected, strong emotional reaction had left her grappling with questions about the child's paternity, while he refused to entertain anything she had to say.

Despite her attempts to clarify that infants often have lighter hair and eye colors that may darken with time, the husband remained unconvinced. He escalated the situation by insisting on a paternity test, coupled with the ultimatum of divorce if she did not comply.

Faced with this demand, OP reluctantly underwent the paternity test to address her husband's concerns. Following her hospital discharge, she and her daughter returned home, and her husband opted to spend the initial three weeks at his parents' residence to create some distance while his wife recovered.

During this time, he informed his parents about the situation. Subsequently, OP's mother-in-law (MIL) contacted her conveying a disturbing message. She asserted that if the paternity test disproved the husband's biological connection to the child, she would use her influence to ensure OP faced significant consequences in the impending divorce, vowing to see her "taken to the cleaners."

While navigating that challenging period, the woman found support and assistance from her sister, who became a pillar of strength, helping her care for the newborn amid the tumultuous circumstances. A day before sharing her narrative online, OP and her husband received the paternity test results as she shared:

"They showed that he was the father and my husband had this shocked, kinda mortified look on his face with his eyes wide as he stared at it."

Unable to contain herself, OP couldn't resist uttering, "I told you so," and burst into laughter at her husband's stunned expression. Her reaction snapped him out of his initial shock, and he became angered by her amusement. A heated argument ensued, characterized chiefly by his raised voice, until OP's sister intervened by coming downstairs, causing the husband to fall silent.

Following the confrontation, the Redditor's husband retreated once again to his parents' house, citing the need to "clear his head." A few hours later, OP found herself on the receiving end of a scolding from her MIL, who expressed disapproval for her laughter, deeming it as kicking her husband while he was down.

That sentiment was reiterated in a couple of nasty texts she received the following morning from her MIL. Seeking someone else's perspective, OP couldn't help but wonder, if she was wrong for telling her husband "I told you so" before laughing at him when they received the test results. Luckily for her, Reddit users were on her side.

Man Discovers Middle Child Is His after Asking for a DNA Test, Now Faces Estrangement

A 37-year-old Reddit user took to the platform to explain why he suddenly questioned his relation to his middle son. His concern was so severe that he asked his wife for a DNA test, risking the ruin of their 12 years of marriage. They have three children but he'd always had a nagging feeling that their middle child wasn't his, explaining:

"Our oldest and youngest look just like me, but my middle child doesn't."

He was aware that cheating was a deal breaker for his wife, and that made him want to ask for a DNA test even more. However, that same reason offended his 35-year-old wife, and despite her feelings, OP insisted it should not be a problem if his spouse had nothing to hide.

His wife's anger raised his suspicions more leading him to go ahead with the test only to discover that the boy was his. After getting the results, he thought the matter was over, but things got worse. His wife questioned the future of their marriage. OP's request had left a dent in his marriage.

His wife remained very upset with him because she believed he didn't trust her. He also made their son question his place in the family for not having his father's features. The man tried getting his wife to understand his point of view, but she could not get over the fact that he thought she would cheat.

The man's spouse also couldn't fathom his willingness to jeopardize his family because of pride. OP's wife ended up mentioning a divorce, which was not how OP thought things would turn out for him. Since the incident, the couple stopped speaking, but OP hoped some Reddit users would help him come up with ways to get his wife to talk to him again.

A couple of months after sharing his story on Reddit, OP returned with an update and said his wife had finally agreed to sit down and speak to him. However, her opinion had not completely changed as she still could not get over her husband's mistrust and the hurt he'd caused their son.

OP's wife believed she couldn't trust him again and his son felt isolated and thought he hated him. The man's wife revealed that the boy had always been aware of how differently his father treated him, but OP did not realize it.

The cheating accusations also had his spouse thinking he might have secrets of his own. The husband admitted to cheating during his two previous relationships but said he had not done the same in his marriage.

The wife also said she had never cheated and the situation between them did not get better with time. Instead, OP's partner did not think she could ever forgive him. While OP hoped the paternity test would ease his mind, it resulted in his son and wife holding massive grudges against him.

However, not only his middle son was upset with him, but all his children were not speaking to him. To add salt to the wound, OP's wife wished for a divorce. Redditors felt no sympathy for him as they believed his wife deserved to leave because she knew her and her son's worth.

It was also not a shock to most readers that OP had cheated before. Moreover, his doubts about his wife of twelve years and cheating accusations left Redditors viewing his behavior as a betrayal worthy of a divorce.

Husband Shuns Newborn Daughter, Ends up Facing Ultimatum from Wife

A woman's three sons were her husband's spitting image. However, when their daughter was born, she looked nothing like him as she sported blonde hair, pale skin, and green eye color. Her husband couldn't even bear to hold their child after she was welcomed.

While pregnant with their daughter, she got close to an older male co-worker. The colleague was extra friendly not only to her but also to another female co-worker. He went out of his way to give them coffee each morning and sometimes left flowers on their desks.

The woman thought nothing of his behavior because the co-worker was happily married and always gushed about his family. The older man also never made advances. However, the man's behavior still didn't sit well with her husband. When he asked that she cut ties with her kind co-worker, she refused.

It led to a fight until OP's husband eventually forgot about it. When their daughter was born, his anger resurfaced. Their daughter had the same eye color and skin tone as his wife's older co-worker. OP's husband even demanded they undergo a paternity test but she refused.

The woman thought it was unnecessary and would be humiliating, and insisted that their daughter looked exactly like her great-grandparents, but he wouldn't budge. He was determined to discover whether his wife had cheated.

To make matters worse, OP's in-laws got involved. His parents cut her off, while her spouse refused to help with any of the baby's caretaking. His lack of assistance hurt her because he behaved differently when it came to their sons.

Finally, OP settled on doing the DNA test after everyone visited for her son's birthday but did not speak to her. Her husband's mother chose to seclude their daughter and not allow her to be in the grandchildren's photo.

To everyone's surprise except OP, the paternity test returned positive! Everybody immediately felt guilty and apologized to OP for how they treated her. Her husband finally carried their daughter for the first time and cried. He also apologized profusely and would always cry every time he held their daughter.

In an update, OP revealed that she forgave him because she felt he was sincere in his remorse. As for his family? The woman doesn't want to deal with them ever again because she doesn't want her children to be treated the way she was. In the end, she gave her husband an ultimatum: either move to her home country or divorce.

The determined parent told him she was already speaking to a divorce lawyer, and that was when he realized she was serious. He agreed to his wife's terms and said he'd do anything to earn her forgiveness.

The pair went to individual and couples therapy to work on their issues. OP assured readers that things were going well between her and her husband and hoped it remained that way. Internet users couldn't help but feel for the woman.

Man Doubts Child’s Paternity during Wife’s Pregnancy, Ends up Getting a DNA Test

A husband took to Reddit to open up about a big argument he had with his wife concerning their child, which posed a significant risk to their marriage of 10 years. He revealed that he met his wife in college; they had known each other for 14 years.

He admitted that the past year had been rocky, but they were slowly trying to rebuild their relationship. But throughout those ups and downs, the man only had good things to say about his wife, with him gushing:

"She is beautiful, supportive, kind, classy, and all-around amazing as a wife."

After surviving the rough patch, the wife discovered she was pregnant, and OP was overjoyed. But for some reason, he could not shake the feeling that the child may not be his, especially judging from the hurdles they had to overcome in the past months.

Nonetheless, his wife said she would only keep the baby if he were fully committed to their marriage, and the husband swore he was. Still, the lingering thought that he might not be the father plagued him throughout the entire pregnancy.

When the child was born, OP had been so fixated on the idea that he wasn't the father that he struggled to be happy or even hold the baby boy. For his peace of mind, he finally asked his wife for a paternity test. His wife was upset about his request but told him to do it if it would make him feel better.

So he did, and two weeks later, the results confirmed his suspicions — he is not the father! He felt an overwhelming amount of anger and stormed into the house, shouting, screaming, and asking how his wife could do this to him. But she gave him no reaction, with him adding:

"The whole time, she's just sitting on the couch, trying to comfort the baby. This made me even angrier for some reason, so I kicked her out right then and there."

The next day, OP's wife called and assured him the baby is his. She asked him to take a second test with a different company, which he did thinking he had nothing to lose. He felt a second test would help make his argument stronger in the divorce. OP not only got one additional test but two, and both confirmed that he is the father!

It was a huge relief, but when he called his wife to tell her the good news, she told him she was not moving back in. She could not get over how he treated her, from when he asked for a paternity test to when he kicked her out of their house.

OP's wife told him his reaction to the false paternity test "disgusted" her, so she was filing for divorce. However, she was willing to allow him to see his son. The Reddit user believed his reaction was valid, thinking of how shocked and angry he was about the false test, but said even in his anger, he never laid a hand on his wife.

However, he understood that some of his actions were uncalled for but blamed them on his emotions. OP was also aware of why his wife was angry, especially knowing he was the father the whole time, but felt she did not try to understand his side of the story.

He intended to speak to her to see if there was any hope for their marriage, but in the meantime, Reddit commenters had a few things to say. Many users found him in the wrong, claiming his wife was right to divorce him because he did not only present trust issues at a time when their relationship was vulnerable but when his wife was pregnant, too.

Instead of focusing on the physical harm he did not cause, Reddit users made him aware of the mental and emotional damage he put his wife through when she had to protect her child from her angry husband.

Husband Doubts Son’s Paternity Because of His Darker Skin Tone

On May 9, 2020, a 29-year-old White man took to Reddit, asking for advice about a touchy situation he'd gotten himself into. OP explained how he was married to a 30-year-old Black woman whom he had two young children with.

His son was five, while their daughter was three when he wrote his query. The man explained that he questioned his son's paternity because the boy looked nothing like him. After listening to those close to him about the child not being his, he decided to get a paternity test behind his wife's back, only for that to backfire.

The man started his Reddit post by revealing that his Black wife became pregnant with their son early in their one-year relationship, and they tied the knot because of that. Luckily, the couple was quite happy in the marriage, and although he accepted their son as his when he was born, the man noticed how the boy hardly resembled him, adding:

"He is noticeably darker than my wife."

OP complained that his son didn't look half-White and that his friends and family had asked if he was sure the boy was his. The father admitted to having doubts but initially chose to trust his wife, and he loved his son.

However, when the boy was two, the couple welcomed their daughter, and the man did not doubt her paternity. He noted how she looked like him, and has the same blue eyes as him, and he and his family bonded with her faster, further stating:

"I never realized how powerful it is to know a child is yours."

Without the question of his paternity, the man found it easier to connect with his daughter, and seeing her resemblance to him, he became convinced his son wasn't his. OP said he tried to treat his children as equals because he saw them as his offspring.

However, soon enough, resentment started setting in against his son, with the man saying: "It felt unfair that I had to care for someone else's child." He also started resenting his wife because he felt she'd betrayed him, before confessing:

"I finally got a paternity test in secret."

OP was relieved when he discovered the boy was indeed his, and in the few months that followed, the relationship between him, his wife, and his son improved drastically, and now feels closer to the boy, knowing he is his. He and his wife were so happy they started discussing having a third child.

However, he eventually confessed to the DNA test because he hated keeping secrets and thought his wife would understand since their son didn't look like him. Instead of understanding, his wife lost it and asked him if he'd doubted their daughter too; he said he didn't, but she called him a racist.

The father of two denied being racist and shared how he didn't prefer his daughter because of her "whiter features" but because he knew she was his child. His wife accused him of having made their son feel unloved for no reason for years, but he disagreed, saying he'd treated the boy like his own despite his doubts.

OP's wife told him she wished to move out with their children after the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine, and a week and a half after the fallout, her husband was still sleeping on their couch. He'd hoped she would've calmed down, but she was still furious with him for failing to trust her and denying their son because he was darker.

His wife barely spoke to him unless it pertained to the children, leaving the man asking Reddit if he was a bad person for having had doubts. He said he cared for the boy and didn't understand why the paternity issue was messing up his marriage due to his wife's overreaction.

Click here to discover what happened after a man had a DNA test done on his son whom he felt didn't look like him. His wife later humiliated him by gathering their family upon receiving the test results.