In the meantime, maybe the solution is to accept that lives can be messy and relationships much more complicated than the law would like. Several judges in Pennsylvania, including David Wecht, who heard Mike’s case, have used their paternity rulings as a platform to urge the Legislature or top state court to grant them the discretion to consider DNA. It is evidence, they say, that should be neither exalted nor ignored, but rather weighed as one of many factors, along with the history of the relationship and the child’s age, in determining who should raise a child and who should pay for his or her upkeep. In other words, maybe a nonbiological father could be granted custody rights even if the biological father is charged with paying support. A small but growing number of courts in other states have gone this route, but such arrangements are still rare. “There shouldn’t be any reason why custody couldn’t be treated differently than paternity and support, each looked at on its own merits,” Wecht says. “But many states, including Pennsylvania, haven’t begun to grapple with these issues yet. They are exceedingly complex, intellectually and legally, and perhaps most significantly, the issues are hotly disputed politically.”
