It is a process that legally establishes who the father of a child is if the child's parents are not married. The law assumes that the mother is the biological parent of the child, but even if the mother and father are living together, or even if the father's name is on the birth certificate, the law does not recognize him as the father until parentage has been legally established by a Family Court. This process is called parentage establishment. They may also want to know where they inherited certain physical characteristics, such as the color of their eyes.
Children supported by only one parent are often poor throughout their childhood.
They need and have the right to child support. In order to get this financial support, parentage must be legally established. Also, it might be possible to obtain medical insurance for a child through either the mother's or the father's employer, union, or military service. Children benefit emotionally from knowing that the parent they do not live with cares about them. Parents who pay child support when their children are very young are more likely to continue to pay support until the child becomes an adult.