A man in China demanded that his wife agree to a paternity test in order to determine if their son was his own.
According to the Beijing Youth News reported on March 12, the now ex-wife, last name Feng, agreed to the test on the condition that her then-husband, Zhang, bet $45,000.
Feng said that if Zhang was the father, he would have to pay her $45,000. If he wasn’t the father, she would instead pay Zhang that same amount.
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Zhang’s family lived in the outskirts suburbs of Hunan province, China. Their house was set to be demolished. They were one of the millions of families in China who would have their house forcefully demolished by the Chinese Communist Party and only receive minor compensation for it.Since the compensation was supposed to be for them, Zhang’s parents felt it was a good time for their son to get married. They set out to ask friends and relatives to see if there was a suitable lady available for their son.
Zhang was described as being lively and full of ambition. He was also an established chef.
In October 2014, Zhang met Feng. At the time, Zhang had reportedly been taken by Feng’s gentle character and beauty. Zhang’s stable income also met Feng’s standards of a prospective husband.
By December 2014, the two were married after only two months of knowing each other.
But not long after the wedding, conflict began arising between the two. According to the Youth News, they had very different world views and often had arguments. Adding to the issues was that the government still had not repayed Zhang’s parents for their demolished house.
As the arguments intensified, Feng decided that she would begin working away from home. In China, some people are offered dormitories at certain workplaces because of the travel distance and transportation limitations.
Paternity Test Demand
One night, Zhang received a phone call from Feng from her dormitory.“There’s a drunk man crawling onto my balcony,” Feng had told him, according to the Youth News. “I’m afraid.”
After Zhang comforted his wife, the conversation developed. Feng said that all of her workmates were local to that area, so she was the only person on the second floor of the dormitory.
After hanging up, Zhang could not fall back asleep. The Youth News suggested that he had doubts about his wife’s faithfulness.
Then, a month later, Feng discovered she was pregnant. Zhang suggested that go back home so that he could take care of her. After Feng went back to Zhang’s house where he was living with his parents, as is traditionally done in Chinese culture, problems still remained. Feng could not get along with Zhang’s family. She ended up moving back to her parent’s house.
Then in February 2016, Zhang began having physical pains. Upon diagnosis at the hospital, he was diagnosed with prostate inflammation.
Zhang was told that this would decrease his ability to bear children. That same month, his wife gave birth to their son.
While Feng was in the hospital, she called Zhang to tell him the news about their baby. She told Zhang that he should bring documentation to register their son.
Zhang, however, had decided that the boy was not his own and refused to give the boy registration.
Over two years later, Zhang decided in May 2018 that the two should divorce because he did not believe that the child was his. Zhang’s family told Feng that without a paternity test, they would not provide any child support.
That’s when Feng told them that she would agree to a paternity test on the condition that Zhang pay her if he turned out to be the father. Feng said at the court hearing, “I'll do the paternity test, but we both have to offer $45,000 as insurance,” according to the Youth News.
Feng said that if Zhang was the father, she would request $45,000 for psychological damages. She agreed that if the boy is not Zhang’s then she would pay $45,000 without question.
Zhang’s family remained silent through Feng’s proposal and, in the end, did not agree to Feng’s terms for the paternity test.
Since the paternity test could not be compelled, as both sides were not willing to take part, and prostate inflammation was not enough evidence to prove that Feng had a relationship with someone else, the court allowed the couple to divorce but ordered that the boy to stay with the mother, saying that she had already raised him for two years. The court also rules that Zhang would have to pay child support.
