From wedding bells to DNA tests - Husband not sure he fathered wife’s child

Five years after tying the knot, Steve and Jane's marriage has been anything but smooth sailing. Now, what began as a rocky union is unravelling further with a single question: Is the baby really his?

"From we get married, we never spend one anniversary together," Jane admitted, adding that three months after their wedding, they separated following an argument.

"Him love listen to people too much. Anything anybody tell him, him believe," Jane said, pointing to outside influence as one of the main reasons for their marital troubles.

They endured many break-ups and make-ups, as the couple kept trying for the sake of Jane's daughter, who was just two years old at the time of their marriage. Steve had embraced the little girl as his own and treated her like his daughter.

Despite the tumultuous relationship, they couldn't seem to let each other go. Even while living apart, they continued to have sexual relations. Jane is convinced that one of those encounters in 2023 led to her becoming pregnant.

Steve, however, is not too certain if he fathered the child.

"Mi and har have sex pan the 31st [December], and then we do it again the 1st and 2nd [of January]," Steve recalled.

"Two weeks later she tell mi she pregnant. But everybody a tell mi, dat too quick."

Despite his doubts, Steve was overjoyed by the news and was hopeful that the baby would bring them back together. Determined to rebuild their family, he took out a $500,000 loan to renovate his house so that the then pregnant Jane and his stepdaughter could move in.

"Mi did really excited enuh, even though mi kinda never sure if a mine. But she promise me seh di baby was mine, and mi did a work with it," he said.

But things took a drastic turn at Jane's first ultrasound appointment.

"She beg mi fi pick up the results and when mi open it and look, it seh she 13 weeks pregnant. But that never make sense, because dat mean she get pregnant before we even have sex," Steve said, his voice still tinged with disbelief.

Still, before confronting Jane, Steve consulted a trusted doctor.

"When mi explain di timeline, the doctor tell mi plain seh based on when we have sex, she shoulda only be about eight or nine weeks pregnant, not 13."

Armed with this information, Steve confronted Jane. But she insists that he has it all wrong.

"Him nuh remember," she said. "We did have sex before Christmas Eve. Mi nuh remember the exact date, but a him alone mi did a sleep with. Di baby a fi him," Jane said in an emotional tone.

"Him ever a mek people get inna him head, and a dat mash up wi marriage," she added.

Jane has since given birth to her baby girl, now one-year-old. While Steve still maintains a bond with her older daughter, now seven, he says he is rarely allowed to see the younger baby, and this only fuels his suspicion.

"If a my own, why she nah mek mi see di baby fi not even five minutes?" a frustrated Steve quizzed.

Jane, however, says the restriction is a result of how Steve treated her during the pregnancy.

"After how him treat mi when mi pregnant, him naah see mi pickney," she said firmly. "Him mash up mi name, too. Because when di baby did fi christen, him go tell the church people seh di baby a nuh fi him, and mek people come ask mi if a because mi nuh know mi baby fada why mi nuh christen di baby."

Now, with emotions still raw and trust in short supply, Steve has decided it's time to put the speculation to rest once and for all. He has turned to this newspaper's DNA Detective to help him uncover the truth.

Thanks to a partnership between THE STAR and DNA-testing company Polygenics Consulting, Steve and Jane will be the next in line for a free DNA test to settle the matter once and for all.

"Mi just want fi know di truth. If she's mine, mi wah fi be a part of her life; all if mi afi gah court fi see har," Steve said.

* Names changed to protect identity.