Guilty conscience - Amy can’t find courage to confess

Amy's* heart sinks every time her ex-boyfriend, who now lives in North America, calls and asks to speak with the little girl he believes is his daughter.

That man, Larry*, swept into Amy's life for a brief moment in 2022, shortly after the end of her five-month relationship with John*. Their time together resulted in the birth of a beautiful baby girl.

Amy believed the child to be Larry's. However, a paternity test, facilitated by this newspaper, and conducted by DNA testing company, Polygenics Consulting, proved that John is the child's father.

Larry does not know it, but has been given a 'jacket'.

"Mi wish God was like man because I would wish for him to turn it [the results] around," Amy told THE WEEKEND STAR on Wednesday. She has vowed to tell Larry the truth about the baby's paternity, but had concerns about how it would impact Larry's mother, who has been a constant in the child's life.

It's been two months since the DNA results came in, but Amy says the truth feels heavier than the uncertainty ever did.

"Mi did a guh tell them enuh, but because them have a good relationship I didn't want to break the bond," Amy said.

"Even now she call him daddy because she don't know any other father. The other day when him call and I hear her calling him 'daddy', tears come to my eyes. Suh I just move from the phone and leave the baby with the phone," Amy explained.

Amy said that she has been avoiding communication with Larry and his mother as a way to cope. Still Larry continues to offer financial help but Amy said she now refuses to accept anything from them, even though she is struggling.

"After mi find out mi did take some stuff from his mother weh she did already get fi di baby, but for now mi nuh call him and ask him fi money. Him even tell mi seh him a guh mek mi get a money weekend and I told him that I don't want any money. Now that I know, mi nuh feel right a duh it and it would a look a way fi mi know and still a tek money from them," she added.

But the weight of the truth about the child's paternity is just part of the burden Amy has had to bear. She hoped that John would begin playing an active role in their daughter's life, now that the DNA test has confirmed that he is her father. But she told THE WE EKEND STAR he has not spent "even a minute" with his daughter, and provided zero financial support since getting the test results.

"Breeding fi dis man a di worst thing mi could ever duh," Amy said.

"Mi call him up to last week Wednesday and him seh if him get any money him will mek mi get something, but all now, [nothing!]," she fumed.

"From wi find out [that he is the father] him nuh gi mi nothing, suh nothing nuh change at all," she added.

Amy believes that John may be unwilling to assist in taking care of his daughter because Larry is listed on the child's birth certificate as the father.

"I don't know if he is waiting for the baby to be in his name to start support, but really and truly, right now, to how him a behave, mi not even really interested fi change the baby name," she said.

Amy shared that she recently called John and beseeched him to get involved, but her appeal has fallen on deaf ears.

For his part, John said he has been rather busy and therefore has not been able to find time to spend with the child.

"... How my work set up, mi come in a night and mi work pan weekend, but she hear from mi and get things from mi," he told THE WEEKEND STAR.

But when pressed about Amy's claims that he hasn't been responsive or helpful, John became defensive.

"Weh she wah mi fi duh, come a har yard come sit dung and hug up pickney? he said in a terse response, adding that he has to work.

The father of 11 adult children, John promised he would support Amy's child, but was adamant that his name be placed on the child's birth certificate. Amy has committed that the child's documents reflect her biological father, however, they are yet to embark on that process.

Under Jamaican law, if another man is already listed on the child's birth record, a paternity change cannot be done by deed poll. Instead, Amy and John must go to the Family Court to obtain a paternity order.