Court Opinion

ID: 9697012
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:03:47.342813+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:28.534087
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
concurring.
In John M. v. Paula T., 524 Pa. 306, 571 A.2d 1380 (1990), we held that a child born to a married couple will be presumed to be the issue of the husband unless there is proof of facts establishing non-access or impotency. Non-access is defined by the majority in this case to mean “that it was physically impossible for the presumptive father and mother to have had sexual relations.” I find the majority’s definition of non-access unnecessarily restrictive for the reasons articulated by Madame Justice Newman in footnote eight of her concurring and dissenting opinion. The testimony of Lisa Brinkley that she and her former husband did not have sexual relations during the period of conception was sufficient to establish non-access and to overcome the presumption. As this analysis is consistent with our holding in John M. v. Paula T., I do not believe it is necessary to re-examine the policy considerations that underlie our decision in that case. I would reverse the order of the Superior Court and remand the matter to the common pleas court for further proceedings.