Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

If you are married at the time of the child's birth, regardless of what the birth certificate says, your husband is presumed to be the father. If your husband now signs the affidavit of paternity, that really changes nothing, and only reinforces the legal presumption that he is the child's father.

The complication that can arise occurs if the other man, who fathered the child, discovers that he has a child and now wants to see the child. That's when things get sticky. If your husband currently knows that he is not the child's father and signs that affidavit of paternity, he would be committing perjury, which is a felony, punishable by time in prison.

Worse yet, you would need to be prepared for what happens if the biological father comes forward to claim his parental rights. You do not indicate if he knows he has a child, but if does not know now, and discovers so later on, when your child is older, and the biological father files a paternity action, and DNA testing is done, that's going to pose a lot of other problems, in particular for your child who's entire reality will be turned upside down.

There are of course moral questions involved, which are not for me to even suggest how to answer, but most importantly, you should consider whether it is right to keep this information from your child, even if you think it is "the right thing to do" and whether to keep this information from the biological father, assuming he does not know he has a child. If you need help answering these questions, I would recommend that you see a counselor to help you through the thicket and come to a decision that you are at peace with, and then pursue your legal avenues.

Included in the "moral" debate is the fact that you probably have very little information about the biological father's genetic history and family history of illnesses. So, if you child ever needed a bone marrow transplant, people on his biological father's side would be likely donors. Or if your child developed a condition and the doctors wanted to know the family medical history of both parents, you would not be able to provide it. If your child were young when this happens, that's one thing, if the child is an adult, and something happens, by your withholding the truth, you may cause your child to give inaccurate medical histories which lead to inaccurate diagnosis, and possible harm to your child. In the world of genetic based medicine that will be the 21st century, accurate information is very important.

Although I have barely scratched the surface here, what I have written above gives you a glimpse into the future of the consequences of your potential decision.