Posting here for traffic.
Would you contact your Father if you had never before?
For context, I am the earlier side of 30. My Mother had me young (late teens) and was due to get married to my Father. However, according to her he changed once she moved in with him and he beat her if the house wasn't tidy when he came home from work etc etc. So she called it off after a tragedy on my Mum's side of the family made her think twice about what she was getting into.
The part that's always been a bit off for me and I've heard multiple stories is that he never bothered with me but I've also on varying occasions been told that My mother told him I wasn't his because they didn't want him to have any custody. I've also heard that my Mum's brother threatened their side of the family to stay well away.
The thing is, thoughtout my childhood I wasn't really bothered. However, now I find myself more curious. He lives about 10 mins away from me (all still in the same town), I drive past his Mother's house every day