While what she did was despicable he's not exactly covered himself in glory either!
Even when he believed the children WERE his
"Even though I always complied with the child support agency demands" - he's a millionaire! That suggests to me that even if they were his kids he had to be MADE to pay child support.
Also, he wants the money back because as far as he's concerned - even though he raised and supposedly loved them - they're not in any way his kids. He can't deny them his love and care and then bitch they won't speak to him!
"And now that he is upset at the estrangement how does he think giving interviews to the papers along with pictures of them will help?" Exactly! Hardly the mature, calm and reasoned response that might help matters.
I get the distinct feeling he was a deadbeat arse anyway and for the sons this has been the final straw proving he never really gave a shit anyway!
"It used to be normal to be faithful" no it just used to be easier to hide it! Let's face it if we didn't have DNA testing he'd likely be none the wiser necessarily - complete infertility is incredibly rare and even in cf it's possible the condition that leads to infertility isn't always present and if it was I believe he'd have noticed! I dated someone with cf years ago (dx as a baby and had it quite bad, we lost touch and sadly he's likely passed now) and the ejaculate was different to most people's (sorry tmi I know but pertinent to the discussion I think)
Also 7 years of no contraception in the late 80's and 90's and they never thought to investigate? That sounds off too.
If you think infidelity was less common in the past go look at the ancestry DNA thread! Or watch a few episodes of "who do you think you are?" Or "heir hunters" or similar. Was just as common way back when as now. Ditto illegitimate babies. It's just more known about now.
Nobody is saying he shouldn't mind, I'm just not buying he had no idea whatsoever and I'm also not convinced he's done this purely because of that, I think he's pissed off she got the settlement she did. I think it likely he thought he'd get much more back.
From an emotional perspective, albeit unwittingly, he's effectively an adoptive father and yet he seems to care little for how the people he raised feel.
"what I found most staggering was that after 21 years of being their father he could so quickly turn to they aren't mine." I suspect he's had little to do with them since the divorce - reading between the lines.
They married in 1987, the eldest was apparently born in 1994 and the twins in 1998. They divorced in 2007, though when they separated isn't mentioned. So the boys were 13 and 9 when they divorced.
Also it seems to me she may well have genuinely believed he was the father based on unprotected frequent sex with him vs infrequent protected sex with other guy (whatever he says about the supposed Jewish stuff).
"in favour of a refund" exactly! He's treating them like they're a defective product he's purchased!
"Sometimes you can't put the feelings of grown DC first when something so terrible has been done to you." Completely disagree! INNOCENT (even if adult) Peoples feelings matter more than money ALWAYS!
Those poor kids have had appalling luck in ending up with 2 shitty parents!
One who's lied to them all their lives about their true paternity and seemingly STILL won't reveal this? And one who values money over love (I hope wife 2 is taking note of that fact!)
He doesn't need the money, he didn't even really need the legal recognition because they're no longer young enough he was still paying maintenance! He lives in Wales and so could disinherit even legal children if he so wished.
It takes a long time for such a case to reach court and the article says it's very rare that people in his position take such action - probably because other men in his position aren't such twats towards the kids they raised! And they want to maintain a good relationship with them regardless of the mothers actions.
This guy seems to regard money and punishing his ex wife as more important than a continuing relationship with young men he claims to love!
Stuffedpeppers - he didn't need to sue her to get DNA testing done!
Winnie2019 - did you even read the article properly? My understanding is they met and married when they were both of a similar financial background. Also the marriage was 20 years not the affair.
"why didn't he go for a divorce sooner if it was so bad." I thought this too. Rather smacks of rewriting history/cheaters script doesn't it? I'm not convinced he was blameless in the end of the marriage.
He could have still enjoyed that future he says has been stolen from him if he'd not gone down this route.
"I’m just a guy who was there when they were being brought up." That's a vile thing to say and I wonder exactly how close they were even when he thought they were biologically his.
And to say his ex's deception has robbed him of a child with 2nd wife is bolllocks! She didn't MAKE him infertile and she didn't make him or his 2nd wife ill. That's too much.