By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A man, Stephen Moses, has raised concerns after paternity tests revealed that he is not the biological father of his two-year-old son (names withheld).
Moses said he had not been able to get over the revelation of his supposed child having a sickle cell genotype when he has an AA genotype while his wife is AS.
The man said that he felt the need to confirm the boy’s paternity following the child’s several battles with sickle cell.
He revealed this while appearing on a popular television programme, The Justice Court, saying two different tests confirmed that he is not the biological father of Teri-Oluwa
In a series of tweets on his X handle on Monday where he tagged a now-viral video of the court session, Moses wrote, “I am still in awe of how we got here. We got married precisely May 21, 2016. A year down the line she got pregnant and gave birth on her birthday November 8, 2018. The first crisis the baby had, we spent thousands in hospital and that’s when we first discovered he was SS.
“At this point, I was confused. She first told me it was the enemy that was doing us through the boy. I didn’t believe and at the same time, I didn’t argue with her. I started doing my research if it was possible for AA + AS to produce SS.
“I saw some rare occasions of extreme weather conditions but it wasn’t possible in Nigeria as a result of good weather. I spoke to a few counselors and midwives in Ifako General Hospital and Lagos State Teaching Hospital.
“We kept on living together and we kept praying and fasting and nothing changed. The boy kept on going through crisis. At this point, we were already out of cash and could not afford a DNA test because I was already uncomfortable having confirmed from many sources that it was impossible.
“For me to produce SS even when I marry SS as an AA. So I started voicing my displeasure out to my friends and one of them pointed me to Justice Court that they will do the DNA test for free. So I contacted them and arranged a sample for me and the boy for the paternity test.
“Paternity test results came out in December and we had a court session where it was unveiled as seen in the video. Since December, she has been dodging and refusing to pick up calls from the Justice Court to carry out the Judge’s verdict to run a maternity test.”
He stated further that before the paternity was proven, his in-laws arrested him claiming he had not been providing upkeep for the child, adding that the story changed when the result of the test came out negative as his wife had been unreachable.
“So, as I write this story, Justice Court has not been able to reach her over the phone. She is not picking up calls. One funny thing in all this is, in November last year, her family got me arrested at Ajuwon Police Station because I was not dropping upkeep for the said child.
“It took the intervention of our family lawyer to get the case out of the police station. I remember the police were supporting her. In December, DNA results came out and it was negative. The need to clear herself arose and she went into isolation,” he stated.
On the possibility of the child being swapped at birth, Moses said it was slim as he was present in the labour during the birth.
He noted, “The above video shows the last part that says ‘Is the child swapped in the hospital?’ It may be possible but the chances are slim. I was present in the labour room and there were only two women in labour that day. It wasn’t a hospital, it was Ojodu Health Centre at Gbadamosi, Ojodu.
“The other woman already gave birth while she was in labour. I remember following the nurse to clean him up and collect him back, dropping him beside her on the bed and waiting for her sister to come and then I left to cook something for her. Honestly, this marriage wrecked me.”
The wife, while reacting in the video, said Moses’ story was true but disagreed with the results.
In her defence, she said that Moses did not discuss it with her before carrying out the DNA test.
She said, “All that is said is true but when we were first diagnosed, why couldn’t he tell me that we should go for DNA? And meanwhile, he didn’t even come out straight that he wanted to do a DNA test. He started misbehaving in the house and sometimes he wouldn’t even come home until my brother said I should let him know whenever my husband was around.
“One he was around and my brother came and that was when he said what was happening because I didn’t know anything. So, he told me that his father dreamt that he was nursing another man’s child and that was the excuse he gave me that day and it went on like that.”
When asked who the father of the child was, the wife replied, “Nobody touched me. I’m very sure.”