You Are Not The Father, Collect $40k

We've heard it so many times on Maury - "You are the father." But what about a time when it comes to hearing "You are NOT the father"?

One man pondered that question in concerns of "his kids" when he divorced his wife. After taking a DNA test, some things definitely came to light.

Richard Rodwell had the nagging question in his head if, in fact, he was the father of the son and daughter he had raised as his own. After his marriage began to deteriorate due to his wife leaving for days on end and never letting anyone know where she was, who she was with, or anything. When his wife, Helen, would return she would simply pass it off to Richard as "it has nothing to do with you."

That's enough to make a man think right? Even worse, rumors started that Laura, his daughter, wasn't even his own. Well, after 4 years of paying child support Richard decided to have a DNA test done.

When the test results came back, Richard was heated. He called up Helen and argued with her on the phone. According to Richard, Helen never even said she was sorry for the deception. "She turned the kids against", Richard claims, "I would have been happy to have a close relationship with them as a stepfather."

On the up side to all the pain, he was recently awarded $40,000 after suing Helen for deceit. Also in the case, Richard forced Helen to move out of their marital home.

Even through all this, Richard still feels pain: "It’s like a bereavement because I have lost the children that I believed were mine. I treated them both as if they were my own. I was there at their births, went to their nativity plays and helped them with school homework."

I can't even begin to imagine how this guy must have felt upon hearing the news and the fact he ex-wife wouldn't even fess up or let alone say "sorry" would have killed me. I watch Maury from time to time if I am home on a sick day or an off holiday where the office is closed and find amusement from the show about DNA testing - After reading this, I will take a different stance on watching those shows. They exploit something so painful for many and make it to a Springer Circus-like show.

Glad that Richard was able to get some money back but it will never replace the whole in his heart where the children he once raised as his own were.