The Fathers Association of Trinidad and Tobago is calling for urgent legislation to address what it describes as an alarming trend of paternity fraud in the country.
At a Media Conference on Monday, President of the Association, Rhondall Feeles, revealed disturbing statistics highlighting the number of men proven not to be the biological fathers of children they were told were theirs.
He shared data collected from a local laboratory during the period January 2020 to September 2025 on 440 men, showing that nearly one in three paternity tests conducted over several years proved the man tested was not the biological father.
“Out of those 440 tests, we see paternity not being confirmed for as many as 143 men, giving you a percentage of approximately 33% which is, in other words saying, that out of those tested, one in every three men were not the biological parents of their children.”
He said the figures were not what he expected.
“I expected one out of 10, possibly even one out of seven, but to see one out of three means we have a critical problem in Trinidad and Tobago.”
According to Mr. Feeles, in the legal cases, 24 out of 82 men, or about 29%, were proven not to be the biological fathers.
He said the findings reveal troubling implications for men who could face imprisonment or financial hardship for children proven not to be theirs.
“If those 24 men did not get that test and decided to go to court and say, ‘well that’s my child, he toe look like mine, he eye look like mine,’ he would have been placed on a maintenance order. And let’s say he was working at ArcelorMittal, or let’s say he was working at Petrotrin, or let’s say he was working with one of these places and he was thrown out of his job and could no longer make his maintenance, his child maintenance payment, he would have been sent to jail for a child that was never his.”
He said the Association has since reached out to the Attorney General and the Chief Justice to push for both legislative and procedural reforms to protect men’s rights and mental health.
“The Attorney General would have, even up to yesterday, reached out to me and said that he’s appalled by the statistics and, most definitely, he would like to have us sit down with us in pertaining to crafting of laws, particularly when it comes to paternity fraud.”
The Fathers Association of Trinidad and Tobago is urging national dialogue and swift action to ensure paternity verification becomes mandatory before maintenance orders are granted – a move Mr. Feeles believes could prevent emotional and financial trauma for countless men and families.