Paternity issues can be tricky to handle especially when the child involved is old enough to understand the consequences of the results. For a Connecticut man, the suspicions about whether he was really the father of his youngest daughter got the best of him and he secretly had her DNA tested along with his own. The results proved that he was not the biological father.

While the man may have felt some comfort knowing that his suspicions were confirmed, there must have been some despair that his wife had been unfaithful to him and that the daughter he raised was not his biological child.

In an unprecedented case, the State Supreme Court has ruled that the father can proceed with a lawsuit demanding that the child's biological father pay him $190,000, which is half the cost of raising her. The girl is now 19-years-old.

Five years ago in the original lawsuit, it stated that the man's wife worked with the biological father and that this man attended the birth of the child, childhood recitals, and a summer camp musical. The father grew suspicious of his daughter's paternity because she didn't look like her sister. So, the man decided to test the paternity.

The man then divorced his wife and filed the lawsuit against the biological father. A subsequent court-ordered DNA test showed a nearly 100 percent probability that the man his wife worked with was the biological father. Both the wife and biological father admitted to an affair around the time of conception.

This case is unusual in that the child in question is now an adult. But if you are in a situation where your child custody and visitation rights are being ignored, you should contact a family law attorney that specializes in paternity rights. They can put an end to the paternity disputes that may threaten your child's best interests. An attorney will also work hard to resolve the situation and meet the needs of everyone involved.

While the father has won this case, it is unclear how the daughter feels about the revelations and how this will affect their relationship going forward.

Source: Associated Press, "Conn. Man can seek payment from child's real dad," Dave Collins, Feb. 2, 2012