We have long known that "money is the root of all evil." However, if you think about it and look at what has been happening with humanity over the past millennia, did money in itself push people to commit crimes, lie and break oaths? No, it was all done by people themselves, and not at all shiny coins or crispy pieces of paper!
Moreover, if we open the source - namely the Bible - to which this expression is attributed, then we will read that "the root of all evil is the love of money." And we will add from ourselves - an immoderate love for money, and also a complete human irresponsibility and unwillingness to pick up the pieces of what we have done.
However, let's move away from moralizing and move on to today's story, which, however, looks completely biblical in its structure. Except that in those days, there was no Tinder, child support or reputation at all, and it is precisely these three things that everything revolves around here. A little less than a week ago, the original post by user u/PhilosopherReady5992 appeared in the AITA Reddit community, and today it has over 11.6K upvotes and around 2.7K comments.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post met his girlfriend on Tinder, they started living together and she got pregnant some time later
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
So, the author of the post met his girlfriend on Tinder and they were not exclusive to begin with. As the original poster himself admits, they get along great, so he thought they had a future. After some time, the woman became pregnant, and the man was glad to start a family life with her. However, when the child was born, then, as the OP recalls, it was quite obvious, even at first glance, that the father was not him.
Image credits: PhilosopherReady5992
The man didn't sign the birth certificate as he was pretty obviously not the baby's dad. However they went on living together
However, this did not bother the man, although he did not sign the birth certificate. Nor was he going to break up with the mom - he simply stated that he was not going to be financially responsible for the child. As the OP himself clarifies, he is ready to fully help in raising a kid like feeding, putting to bed, changing diapers - but he is not going to pay for anything. The woman agreed to this arrangement.
Image credits: PhilosopherReady5992
The new mom took maternity leave for a year at work, but the OP strongly recommended that she go after the biological father for child support. The woman, however, did not want to do this, because she and the father of the child, as she herself said, were "friends". The question arose again six months later, when the mother's savings ran out, so she asked the original poster for help, but he again refused, referring to their agreement.
Image credits: PhilosopherReady5992
The author convinced the mom to go after child support, but the biological dad's fiancee discovered he had a baby and decided to part ways with him
Then the woman nevertheless reached out to the biological father of the child - he gave her several thousand dollars, but told her not to contact him again. "That is when she understood their 'friendship,'" remarks the original poster quite sarcastically. In general, it all ended with the fact that the mother nevertheless filed for child support. However, the guy's fiancee found out about this and is now thinking of breaking things off. At the same time, the amount of child support is quite enough, the OP admits, so that the child does not need anything, and this would not affect the couple's finances.
Image credits: PhilosopherReady5992
As a result, the guy simply blamed the author for not stepping up and 'ruining his life'
As a result, the baby's biological dad called the mother, accusing her and her boyfriend of practically ruining his life. According to that guy, the OP could easily afford to take care of them, but instead of just stepping up, he preferred to consider the woman as a single mom and "dragging his life through the mud". The original poster, in turn, claims that he loves his girlfriend and child, has no problem raising the baby, but does not think he should be held financially responsible when the father has resources and tried to evade responsibility.
Image credits: PhilosopherReady5992
People in the comments were curious on whether the author planned to be involved in parenting financially
The opinions of people in the comments about this story are partially divided. While fully sharing the original poster's thoughts that the child's biological father should be financially responsible for them, the commenters also wondered how the OP even sees a situation where he would still need to step up - for example, helping his girlfriend with medical bills.
Image credits: pasja1000 (not the actual photo)
After the child support was approved, the author just offered to put this money into a special account to secure the kid's future
To this, the man replied that now that they already have child support approved by the court, he offered to save this money to a special account for the child's future. For example, for education. In turn, the OP is going to support his family - especially since he really can easily afford it. The situation, apparently, was just a matter of principle for the author of the post.
Image credits: stux (not the actual photo)
As for the child support, the kid's biological father, in the OP's own words, was not going to have any visitation or be involved in parenting at all. Be that as it may, the original poster said that he paid for the lawyer in order to process all payments according to the law. Although, as the guy admits, if the biological dad wants to be involved in the future, they will, of course, allow it.
By the way, situations with paying child support can vary - just look at this post of ours about a father who has five children from two women, and who now complains that it is too difficult for him to pay child support. And besides, if you have anything to say about this story and its characters, please feel free to express your opinion below.
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