There was a surprising twist in a New Jersey court case this week when the judge ruled that a man only owed child support for one of the twins initially believed to be his.
A DNA test proved that the man, identified only as 'AS', was the father of only one of the twin girls born to his ex-partner 'TM'.
Despite the fact she had also had sex with another man in the same week she became pregnant, TM had initially named AS as the father when she made an application for public assistance. When she admitted her relationship with the second man, social services ordered the DNA test, which proved the girls each had different fathers.
According to DNA expert Dr. Karl-Hanz Wurzinger, who testified in court, the two eggs were fertilised by different fathers during the same menstrual cycle. The odds of this happening are thought to be as high as a billion to one.
AS was ordered to pay $28 per week in child support for the daughter that was proven to be his.
