Hair-raising concerns for dad - Doubts paternity of son due to ‘pretty’ locs

Margaret* says her four-year-old son's father has rejected the child because of his hair texture and complexion, a dispute she believes stems from a misunderstanding of family genetics.

Her former partner, Andrew*, ceased being affectionate to the child soon after he was born.

"When him was like one or two months, him used to hold him and dem something deh," she told THE WEEKEND STAR. "But then him start act strange."

"Him say him (the son) have a pretty type a hair deh, coolie, and him nuh have dah type a hair deh, so how the baby have dah type a hair deh?" she said. Mary opined that the boy's features come from her side of the family.

"My side a family mix because my grandfather is a Indian," she explained. "Mi nuh think him understand how DNA works." Though Andrew provides for their eight-year-old daughter.

"So when him give me money I spend on both of them, but him does not keep them, so there's a little disconnection there. Him start seh mi need to get a DNA test from dem born. Him never keep dem fi a day. Never."

The rift deepened, she said, after neighbours began repeating what he told them about the child. Survival, she explained, has become her full-time job since the fathers stopped helping.

"If I had the money, I would have done it already. But I have five kids as a single mother. The fathers don't help either. From 2019 a just me alone."

She said the hardest part is watching her son grow up without a father's presence.

"Mi sure know say is his child. Sometimes tears come a him eye because the likkle boy will say, 'Mommy, mi wah go a mi father.' Mi seh, when yuh get older I explain to you." She said the relationship ended after Andrew was abusive on one occasion. However, they still live close to each other.

"Even our daughter wants to see her dad, but him never take them. Him was also the one to tell people that he's not her dad," she said.

When contacted, Andrew told THE WEEKEND STAR that he remains confused about the boy's resemblance.

"My daughter has all of the attributes of the family, but this one, there are so many different features and it's so confusing," he said. "He does not have any looks or resemblance with no one here. All of my kids, from yuh see dem yuh see me."

Andrew, a father of six, said the issue has worn him down.

"She has five children for different persons. A lot of things said, but I don't want to go down in details. She create shades over her kids and that's not good. I don't want to constantly be going back and forth with this any more." He said he has no objection to a DNA test.

"It will be no problem if he turns out to be my son. It's just a constant thing and I want to square off there. In every argument it is brought up," he said. Andrew maintained that he treats both children fairly.

"Our relationship is good with both kids. It's always what she says to make whatever look bad and whatever look good. But I treat them both equally," he said, adding that he only wants peace.

"She always wants to blow things out of proportion. We talk, we play in some scenarios. The child doesn't do anything at all. He can't make himself. It's two-person effort, and he is innocent to this."

After months of tension, both parties have agreed to settle the matter through Polygenics Consulting, a DNA agency that will determine whether Andrew is the biological father of both children.

"Mi just want the truth," Margaret said firmly. "Mi tired a the talk. Once the result come, everything can done."

*Names changed to protect identity