F&F: Family courts and underage boys in paternity cases

F&F article here. Excerpt:

"One of the most pernicious injustices in the family court system is the way child support enforcement agencies manhandle underage boys, often manipulating them into signing paternity declarations as minors without parental consent or legal counsel. Thomas Rodriguez (pictured) is one of these young men.

Fathers and Families has helped introduce two paternity fraud bills in the the California legislature this year, one of which (SB 377) will address the injustices faced young men like Thomas. In Thomas’ support letter to Senator Rod Wright (D-Los Angeles), the bill’s author, he explains:

'I am writing to you in support of SB 377, because when I was 17-years-old I was victimized by the problem which the bill addresses.

The hospital manipulated me into signing a paternity declaration when my former girlfriend gave birth to a son she said was mine. There was no parental consent nor did I have access to legal counsel or advice. I was never informed of the legal implications of what I was being asked to sign and I did not fully understand them. I thought that because I was a minor, there couldn’t be serious legal implications. I have since learned differently.'"