Dad seeks truth after 10 years of doubt

For nearly a decade, Mike* has lived with the uncertainty of whether the young girl he occasionally supports is truly his daughter. Now, after years of doubt, he's finally ready to confront his fears and get the truth by getting a DNA test.

When Stacey* gave birth, Mike didn't believe he was the father. She was living with another man at the time, and the child wasn't registered in that man's name. Stacey never told him he was the father--until he left Jamaica for another Caribbean country for work, just before the child turned two.

"Back then mi never think is mine, and she never say it either," Mike told THE WEEKEND STAR.

"But after mi leave, she start tell mi say a me, and mi need fi help."

Though still uncertain, Mike, now in his late 30s, has periodically sent money to help with the child's needs. However, the only time he spent any significant time with her was when she was just a year old. She is now 10 years old, and they don't share much of a relationship.

"We don't really talk. Whenever I talking to she, she don't really pay mi any mind, because she don't know me like that," he said, adding that he feels no real connection to her.

Although some family members believe the child resembles him, Mike remains unconvinced.

"Mi nuh see it, to me she don't favour mi. But mi family keep say she have mi look," he said.

Stacey, however, is confident Mike is the father. She told THE WEEKEND STAR that while she was living with another man at the time, they were not intimate.

"Is only Mike mi did a deal with. But mi stress out and just put the next man name pon the birth paper," she explained.

"Is me alone a mine har right through though and although Mike give something now and then, nobody else nuh help mi."

The DNA test that will finally provide Mike with the answers he's been seeking has been made possible through a special arrangement between THE STAR and Polygenics Consulting. This is part of an ongoing commitment to help families resolve long-standing questions of paternity, offer clarity and peace of mind to families.

Since Mike lives overseas, the DNA test will involve his mother, Pauline*, who has kept a relationship with the child over the years.

Pauline says the child often spends holidays at her home and she has no doubts about the love they share.

"No matter what the results say, nothing will change," she said.

"I will still love her and we will still be there for her. She can come here any time because she is my granddaughter, even if him not the father," she said.

Still, Mike believes it is important to know the truth, especially if this might be his only child.

"Mi just want fi know, once and for all. If a mi, then mi need fi step up more. If a nuh mi, mi still will help out her mother when mi can but mi need to know," he said.

* Not the real names of the persons