4x a father, never a dad

by Ashely Smith
(Thayer, KS 66776)

Brylea Rae Anne- Christmas 07

The father of my biological daughter is also the father to 3 other children. Two reside in Tennessee with their mother, his first wife, two in Kansas, one with his second wife and one with me. The oldest child is 10 and the youngest, mine, turned two in January 2008. He has paid a total of 3 months of child support to me since our daughter was born and I know that he is tens of thousands of dollars arrears in child support to his ex-wives also. He doesn't file income taxes and hasn't for at least five years because he knows that the government will take it anyway to pay his back child support. During the 3 months I did receive child support, I got $47 every two weeks. Not enough to even provide my daughter with diapers, let alone any other necessities. He has seen our daughter only three times in her life (at 6 months of age). The last I heard, he had left the state and I haven't heard from him since. Please explain to me why this man who has three child support orders in two states, and a medical support order here in Kansas, that he has never fulfilled, and yet he continues to get away with this. When the child support enforcement catches up with him, he just switches jobs or works under the table. However, a good friend of mine who is an awesome father, was in a car accident a few years ago and was unable to pay child support for 3 months during his recovery due to this 3 month gap in his payments, he was hauled into court, treated like deadbeat trash & was put in jail for 6 months. I have seen both sides of the system and how unfair it can be. I sympathize with those fathers who are honestly doing their best to support their children, but shame on those who don't, and shame on the system for not recognizing the difference.