UPDATE 7/12/2012
Thank you everyone for your support in updating the MI paternity laws! What started when I filed for paternity in 2002 has been a long slow road but together we have made a meaningful difference for future generations. Here's an article to read more about the law changes.

Since the changes I have been contacted and told there's a window of opportunity to where I can establish paternity. However, after much thought I have come to a decision not to persue it. Why? In short, I have said from the begining of this journey if there became a point where I felt Caleb had gotten to a point in his life where persuing the case could cause harm I would back down, hence why I persued it so early. At the time of this writing he's 9, has 2 siblings and from all of the evidence I have seen, which is ample, is happy. I can't say for sure it's the right choice but he is happy and that's always in the end what it has been about. I also want to thank Heather & Derek for taking such good care of him. I do hope that someday he and I will get to be apart of eachothers lives but for now I take great comfort in knowing he is surrounded by people who love him.

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My Story

Thank you for taking the time to visit theloveofmylife.org. Perhaps you've just stumbled across this site by mistake, or perhaps you've been directed here by someone. In either case, I welcome you and ask you to read further. If you already know about the situation at hand or would just like to contact legislation, please click here.

I have put together this site to raise awareness about a Michigan Law, The Paternity Act MCL 722.710 et seq., a law which is having a significant impact on my life currently and could have a similar impact on someone close to you; possibly even you in the future.  Read on, below is my story...

December 09, 2024

To Whom It May Concern,

I've got an interesting story to tell and quite honestly I'm not exactly sure how to go about telling it. I'm going to give it my best shot though. So here we go with the very simplified version.

My now, ex-girlfriend of 2 years and I have a son together. He was born May 6th, 2003 and as of today I'm yet to lay eyes on him. Not by my choice, in spite of all my efforts in preparing for his arrival into this wonderful world my rights as a father no longer matter as it stands because of the current laws in Michigan . November 1st 2002 would be the last time I'd say that my ex and I were together. After that point she told me she didn't feel the same way about me anymore. I took that as it came the one thing on my mind was what she had decided she wanted to do with our son. Up until this point "we" were undecided on whether we wanted to do an open adoption or raise him ourselves. At first when we talked about it she said she thought she wanted to keep him and when asked I happily said so do I, I had known that for months but waited until I was asked to actually say what my thoughts on it were, I didn't want to influence her decision on this. That quickly turned (a few days later) into something totally different. At this point she decided that giving him up for adoption was what she wanted to do and the fact that I wanted to raise him was a threat to that so she broke all ties with me. I continued to try and stay involved with the pregnancy calling every 2-3 weeks to see how it was going but my messages fell on deaf ears. I had learned in Late January that she was now dating someone new and trying to protect my rights I filed a suit to establish paternity February 21, 2003 . She received that on March 6, and then had 28 days to respond to the suit. She recently got married on March 28th (filed for marriage license on March 25th ) and sent her response to that suit to my attorneys and was received on April 3rd. The response in a nutshell was the plaintiff has no case because the defendant is a married woman so the child will not be born out of wedlock. I contested it but could not get a trial before Caleb (my son) was born and now my rights have been disbanded because under law the husband acts as father of the child, even if he was conceived before they wed if there was no prior ruling on the case. So here I am now in the eyes of the state "a deadbeat dad" that as I've been told has gone way above and beyond the normal call of duty for a father that is completely in love with his son that I've never seen. The amazing thing is that they actually say they're "thinking" I can see him "probably" once every 6 weeks supervised if I stop the fight and give up my rights. They can say I'm the father and keep me away at least until the court of appeals decides what to do. I know this might sound like a sad story but I assure you Caleb, even though I've yet to bear witness to him, has brought about many wonderful changes in my life. I thank God everyday for him and how much growth and joy he's brought to my life in the last 268 months. How blessed I am.

Sincerely,

Bill Numerick

 

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