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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Fair for him to oppose paying for dc in this context? (Please be kind)

552 replies

biwncs · 28/12/2022 14:19

before I start I want to say I’ve NC as I am embarrassed by this and I know I do NOT smell of roses here. Please don’t post if it’s just to sling mud at me, i know I haven’t been perfect by a long way.

when I was 37 I panicked about wanting dc and my partner at the time was 40. He had pushed it back a year already but in fairness to him we hadn’t been together long, only two years. He would often make comments about wanting dc and where we would take them, what schools theyd go to etc. I came off the pill and didn’t say and although we also used condoms (we always have, we prefer it), I became pregnant. He was conflicted at the start but after a couple of weeks said it was up to me and he would support me either way. I asked if he wanted a termination a few times and he said no. So we carried on. Half way through the pregnancy I felt I had to tell him I had come off the pill. It was a horrible conversation understandably but we moved past it. A year or so later we broke up, since then my ex has refused to pay a penny and hasn’t spent any time with dc. He has no other kids and as far as I know not with anyone else. He tells me he shouldn’t have to pay as I made him have a dc. I now feel so conflicted about maintenance? I feel he was giving me all the signs he wanted us to have dc and I did openly discuss termination and he said no. But ultimately he’s right I came off the pill and didn’t say. I am so confused/sad as to what to do and what’s right. He doesn’t seem interested in dc either and i feel that’s on me, though I never ever had him down as someone who would abandon his child. I just don’t know what to do and feel he has a point regarding finance.

OP posts:
Pinkdelight3 · 28/12/2022 14:49

You feel messed about by him?

I get that its our tendency to see the good in ourselves and blame others, but I really think you need to stop kidding yourself. You heard what you wanted to hear and you know it wasn't right or you'd have had a proper discussion not 'panicked' and lied to 'speed it up'. As you say, it's ridiculous. You now have to make a choice between pursuing him for the money and making him resent you and the DC even more, or owning your decisions and going it alone, even if it means making more sacrifices so your DC won't go without material items at least.

Lally12 · 28/12/2022 14:49

biwncs · 28/12/2022 14:44

@Lally12 i would never stop him having a relationship with his dc?! When did I say that?

You said he isn't interested in a relationship with his child? I assume that's because you tricked him into having the child?Your child is disadvantaged because of your actions

LifeExperience · 28/12/2022 14:50

Every time a man ejaculates inside a woman he is consenting to possibly becoming a father. There is no 100% fail-proof birth control other than abstinence. Even sterilization can fail.

Regardless of the circumstances he is legally and morally obligated to provide for his child.

GoT1904 · 28/12/2022 14:52

Obviously you know the moral implications of your actions and are embarrassed by them, we've all done things we're not proud of. Don't give yourself a hard time about it as what is done is done.

Regardless of circumstances etc, there was a time he did want the baby. He told you this. If he doesn't want to see DC then I guess fair enough, although it's awful. Poor DC deserves to know their parent.

Maintenance tho.. this is his child. He ought to contribute. Do put a claim in.

bellac11 · 28/12/2022 14:53

Dacadactyl · 28/12/2022 14:43

And to all those saying he was tricked and shouldn't have to pay....it's more his responsibility to pay than the taxpayers'.

He had the sex, he should pay up.

Why bring taxpayers into it, the child has a mother who forced the situation, she is fully responsible

Legally he will have to pay, morally, she should be paying all costs.

LimeCheesecake · 28/12/2022 14:53

Actually @Lkydfju is right - I missed the bit about when you broke up, so it’s not just that during the pregnancy he was given the option to ask you to abort and said he wanted you to continue with the pregnancy, he was still with you for the birth, and the first 6-8 months, yet didn’t build a bond with his child he lived with and now doesn’t want to see them ?

basically he told you to go ahead- he had a chance to back out - but encouraged you to continue with the pregnancy and then lived as a family for a while then decided that it wasn’t for him after all and so shouldn’t have to support his child?

Pinkdelight3 · 28/12/2022 14:54

Would he have stopped having sex with you if you had told him? Doubtful.

The contortions to make out this guy deserved everything he got are quite something. Any guy who hasn't had a vasectomy is asking for it apparently!

Ponderingwindow · 28/12/2022 14:54

What you did was absolutely despicable. You know that. Telling him made the situation worse. The only value was to alleviate your own guilt.

that doesn’t change the fact that maintenance is for the child, not for the parent. You need to put in a claim with cms and make sure your child is properly supported.

orangegato · 28/12/2022 14:55

Imagine the kid finding out what you did? OP conveniently says you don’t want the hear the truth, but it’s some serious fatal attraction shit and you would not get a dime out of me 😀

DifferentYearSameShit · 28/12/2022 14:55

He justified in feeling hurt you betrayed him by coming off the pill and not discussing it with him and then you expected him to play happy families when he wasn't ready.
it's his child and he should pay but you can't expect him to change how he feels about the situation

MarshaMelrose · 28/12/2022 14:57

Why did you break up? Was it related to the baby, who presumably he had been paying for.

DuplicateUserName · 28/12/2022 15:00

Honestly, the amount of posters here being dismissive is sickening.

Yes he should have to reluctantly pay, because he fell in love with and trusted a manipulative, selfish woman who he believed was on the pill, and with whom he also wore a condom when having sex.

But that's on the OP. She chose to do that to him, so enough with the 'he should've abstained from sex or had a vasectomy'.

The OP was abusive to him in the extreme for her own selfish gain.

LimeCheesecake · 28/12/2022 15:00

But @Pinkdelight3 -she offered to have an abortion - he wanted to continue with the pregnancy, he wanted to continue their relationship for a year. He was tricked at the start, but did find out that before it was too late to end the pregnancy, and had an opportunity to make a decision with all the information. He chose to continue.

if might be very different if he begged her to abort, but if he was happy to go ahead with the pregnancy, then he’s changed his mind later, it’s tough- he should support his child financially.

5128gap · 28/12/2022 15:01

He had two chances not to be a father. The first at conception which you took away from him; had that been his only chance, I'd say morally you shouldn't take his money. However, you gave him a second chance with the option of termination, at which point he agreed he wanted a child. So given that I do think he has a moral as well as legal obligation.

DuplicateUserName · 28/12/2022 15:03

And bollocks did she offer to have an abortion, or if she did, it absolutely wouldn't have been a serious suggestion.

Just more manipulative behviour.

WalkingThroughTreacle · 28/12/2022 15:05

Child Maintenance is for the child, not for you. Regardless of the backstory to the pregnancy, your XP is the father and has both a moral and legal obligation to support his child. He doesn't get a free pass just because you came off the pill without telling him - two wrongs do not make a right.

Stand up for your child and insist on the father making a fair financial contribution towards their upkeep and welfare. If he plays silly beggars raise a cause with the CSA.

bellac11 · 28/12/2022 15:05

LimeCheesecake · 28/12/2022 15:00

But @Pinkdelight3 -she offered to have an abortion - he wanted to continue with the pregnancy, he wanted to continue their relationship for a year. He was tricked at the start, but did find out that before it was too late to end the pregnancy, and had an opportunity to make a decision with all the information. He chose to continue.

if might be very different if he begged her to abort, but if he was happy to go ahead with the pregnancy, then he’s changed his mind later, it’s tough- he should support his child financially.

Dont be so ridiculous, what sort of man agrees or persuades his partner to have an abortion, particularly where it would have been really clear that she wanted the child

He would hve been trying to play happy families and keep her happy. She controlled the situation and sounds like she was emotionally manipulative

Lally12 · 28/12/2022 15:05

To those saying he's at fault because he didn't force her to get an abortion, would you honestly say that about a woman? Maybe he doesn't agree with abortion, maybe he didn't want to put his partner through that knowing she wants kids.

None of that changes the fact that she lied and manipulated him and is now feeling 'confused'. Can you imagine how messed up he feels?!

It's always said on here, he should wear a condom or even double up on contraception if he doesn't want a kid. He did this and somehow he's still to blame? The gymnastics people on here go through to make the man the bad guy is getting ridiculous.

supercali77 · 28/12/2022 15:05

It was deceitful but if he really didn't want it left to chance then he had options for himself. It's irrelevant anyway, a child was born and that child needs raising and raising children takes money. Apply to CMS and let them do the rest

WomanhoodIsABirthright · 28/12/2022 15:06

You took the decision to create the baby alone, you should now raise it and pay for it alone.

This is on you.

QueSyrahSyrah · 28/12/2022 15:06

that he was giving the impression he couldn’t wait to be parents

Using condoms when he also believes his partner is on the pill is not the action of a man who 'can't wait' to be a parent FFS.

I feel sorry for the poor child in all this. A deceitful Mother and a Father who doesn't want them. What a start.

Unfortunately for him he is legally obliged to contribute, but unless it meant the difference between the child eating or starving you'd be a massive CF to go after him for it.

emptythelitterbox · 28/12/2022 15:07

I wouldn't feel too badly.

He wasn't being honest with you with his future faking marriage and children.

He lied to keep dipping his wick as if he told you the truth, you wouldn't have stuck around. He didn't care if you ended up childless because of his lies.

So don't feel bad.
He then lied again saying he wanted the pregnancy only to bail later and abandon his child.

It is the law he provides for the child he helped create so of course he should pay CM.

Pursue maintainance through CMS. It's your child's right by law.

MelchiorsMistress · 28/12/2022 15:07

When a man lies to a women to make her consent to sex that she might not have otherwise, we call it rape.

No one should be financially penalised because they were coerced into sex.

Women aren’t blamed for staying in abusive situations longer than they should because we acknowledge that the emotional stress doesn’t leave people in the best place to make big decisions. This is no different just because the sexes are reversed.

It is irrelevant that he was offered the chance to terminate, because at that point he was still being lied to so had no opportunity to make a decision based on facts.

LaLuz7 · 28/12/2022 15:08

@biwncs did you tamper with the condoms too? Yes or no?

FuntCase · 28/12/2022 15:08

Those preaching abstinence make me howl. We don’t teach abstinence being the only reliable method of contraception to teenagers because we know it doesn’t work and leads to sex and higher rates of teen pregnancy. But suddenly grown men are expected to abstain in a relationship instead? Sex is a need, a basic physiological need according to some psychologists so why are we pretending not fulfilling that need is something every man should be capable of? Of course it isn’t. Life isn’t black and white.

But you both sound as bad as each other and now have a beautiful little life to ruin because of both of your selfish attitudes.

You both need to grow up and you need to stay out of a relationship until you learn how to behave properly.

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