Paternity in Taiwan

Legal General Legal Matters
1

Hello! I am a long time ex-pat in Taiwan and I have an interesting situation I would like to tell you about. I am not really sure where it fits, but I am looking for some legal advice so I’ll post here.

A while back I broke up with my Taiwanese girlfriend. It was my decision and she did not take this well. I knew all along that she wanted me back and was trying very hard to get my attention to get back with me. She broke into my e-mail account and sent e-mails to everybody I know telling about our problems. She also went through my cell-phone bill (the number is in her name) and called all the people that I had called in the last month looking for information about me. :loco:

Now she is saying that she is two months pregnant with my baby. She originally said she is going to have an abortion to make me feel guilty for breaking up with her. Now she is saying maybe she will carry the child to full term and will disappear from my life with a child- of whom I am the father- and never contact me again.

What I am worried about is that she will have the baby and then come after me for child support. I want to know what legal rights I have if she does this. What rights will I have for visitation? Finally, I saw her smoking and drinking and the next day she told me she was pregnant :fume: . I want to know how can I protect myself from having to pay more money because the baby has handicaps due to her behavior. That is assuming she is even telling me the truth about all of this.

2

Basically, I believe that when there is a doubt, either party (father or mother) can obtain a court order to do DNA testing to determine the paternity of the child.

Hence, if it is YOUR CHILD, then you could be expected to be involved in child support payments.

However, the statement that she is pregnant may be without any medical basis . . . . . . and unless you are now on good terms with the woman it is unlikely she would agree to your casual suggestion that she get a “valid medical report” to prove her pregnancy one way or the other . . . . .

More likely, she will attempt to use the contention of being pregnant to try to extort money from you at this juncture. So, you should be aware of that ploy.

Note: If the wife is living in a building that has been found by the Taiwan governing authorities to have radioactive building materials, it might be a good idea to end the pregancy early lest the baby have birth defects.

If you can document the fact that she has been seeing other men during this period, it might add credence to your “casual claims” that you are not the father. (However, you are best advised to do such detective work yourself, as detective agencies in Taiwan are quite unreliable and will always try to screw you out of much more money than was agreed to in the original contract … additionally they will try to extort money from the other party as well.)

If you suspect the child will have disabilities due to her BEHAVIOR, you will want to document it. For example …

STEP 1: You should meet with her and discuss the situation of her “pregnancy.” Make note of the day and time. Make note of how much she drinks and smokes. Try to get her into a conversation regarding her other “habits,” and make note of which are potentially harmful to the fetus.

STEP 2: After the meeting, send her an English-Chinese bilingual letter by double registered mail informing her to stop all these bad habits immediately.

After some period of time elapses, repeat Steps 1 and 2.

In this way you can build up documentation.

3

Hi ,

I think Hartzell gave you very god advices. I really doubt about her pregancy. I have a friend who had experienced similar problem after decided to break up with his GF. What I am quiet sure that this girl is lying to you. Pease make sure do not support other people’s baby. Request medical examination and go with her to the hospital to check thing clear.

4

Does paternity even apply? He said this was a girlfriend, not his wife.

5

I would assume that it wouldn’t make any difference (mind you, it’s not exactly something I’ve investigated).

6

[quote=“irishstu”]
I would assume that it wouldn’t make any difference (mind you, it’s not exactly something I’ve investigated).[/quote]

Well, I’m just wondering what the letter of the law is, because Hartzell says that if tests prove that the child is his he could be expected to be involved in child support. Obviously, anyone fathering a child would be expected to be involved in child support, my question is if it is required by law, especially in the case of two people who are not, nor have ever been married. (Sorry, Taiwan law is a bit of a hobby as of late… :blush: ) Thanks, Richard.

7

So, why did you kids break up? :smiley: :wink:

Get the DNA test done. Then, if she was lying, sue her. :smiling_imp:

8

imho, it is very unlikely that she is actually pregnant. You should buy a drugstore pregnancy test and get her to do it while you are there … (not necessarily IN the bathroom! :laughing: )

First things first. You would want to make sure she IS pregnant … THEN worry about paternity, etc. I have one friend whose ex-girlfriend told him she thought she might be pregnant and THEY HADN’T EVEN HAD SEX!!! :loco:

9

She’s probably not even pregnant. Just fucking with your head.

Were you having completely unprotected sex with her two months ago? If not then…it’s highly possible she’s just harassing you.

Maybe you can call her parents and talk to them about this. If they knew, I don’t think they’d want her to have the bastard child of some random foreigner.

If all fails, you can move and change your email/phone number/job.

And deny to give a DNA sample if somehow there really is a child…