But that, in essence, is what happened to the woman's Cambridge boyfriend. In a loony-tune ruling reported this week by the Globe's Kathleen Burge, the state's Supreme Judicial Court decided that a man must continue paying child support and potentially college expenses for a child he was hoodwinked into believing was his own. Make no mistake. It happens all the time. A child is born out of wedlock, into poverty.
Someone has to take responsibility.
The mother can't pay. The state doesn't want to pay. So the hunt begins for a father who can pay. And as it turns out, any dad will do - even if it's not the right dad. Here's what happened.