A recent story [1] about a mother’s search to determine the paternity of her eight-year-old son is yet another example of why God’s ideal for marriage is not a trivial suggestion. The mother, who was not publicly named, had intercourse with two identical twin men four days apart, and could not say for sure which man was her child’s father. One of the men was legally listed on the boy’s birth certificate and acted as his father, but a legal battle ensued over the child’s actual paternity when the relationship between the mother and the acting father ended. It was determined through DNA testing that since the twins share the same genetic DNA code, paternity could not be established, and neither twin could be held legally responsible for the child.

 

The articles that report this story emphasize the challenges of DNA testing to determine parentage when it comes to identical twins,[2] but there are deeper implications to this story. To fall short of meeting the mark of God’s ideals for marriage had consequences that impacted not only the mother and the two men who have to navigate the emotional complexities of who will continue to act as the child’s father, but also the son, who now will most assuredly never know which man is his biological father.

 

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God’s ideals for marriage

 

The love of a man and wife in a marriage reflects most profoundly the absolute, unfailing love with which God loves all Mankind, and all of creation. The ideal for sexual behavior in the Church has always been that this is a gift given exclusively within the covenant of marriage, because by “ideal sex,” a married couple work together with God in the miracle of bringing life into the world, and also manifest an image of God’s love for creation, in that a husband’s love for his wife is an image of Christ’s love for the Church. Through giving the gift of themselves to each other, and only each other, they help perfect each other towards Christ-likeness, and cooperate “with God in the generation and rearing of new lives.”[3]

 

As stated by Pope Benedict XVI: “For human procreation has specific characteristics by virtue of the personal dignity of the parents and of the children: the procreation of a new person, whereby the man and the woman collaborate with the power of the Creator, must be the fruit and the sign of the mutual self-giving of the spouses, of their love and of their fidelity…The fidelity of the spouses in the unity of marriage involves reciprocal respect of their right to become a father and a mother only through each other. The child has the right to be conceived, carried in the womb, brought into the world and brought up within marriage: it is through the secure and recognized relationship to his own parents that the child can discover his own identity and achieve his own proper human development.”[4]

 

Since the conjugal act was treated flippantly in this situation, the mother formed a deep, spiritual union with both men and a child was created as an extension of this spiritual union.

 

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Father and son bond

 

While these men may share the same genetic profile, they are still unique human persons, [5] and only one of them is actually the child’s father. While making the best of a non-ideal scenario would require both men to continue staying in the child’s life, there is now no legal obligation for either of them to do so. Further, both men remaining in the child’s life still does not make up for the reality that the child will still be missing a unique father/son bond.

 

Children with higher levels of father involvement have higher levels of confidence, sociability, self-control, and are less likely to act out in school, have fewer teen pregnancies, and are less likely to participate in risky behaviors in adolescence such as crime and drug and alcohol abuse. Fathers provide a sense of security and protection, which strengthens a child’s ability to feel safe [6]. Fathers use more authoritative parenting, which leads to better emotional, social, academic, and behavioral outcomes [7]. Fathers also lead their children in a more outward direction than mothers - fathers are more involved in encouraging their children to meet other people, build relationships, get the most out of their learning, and succeed in the world. Furthermore, fathers are also more focused on developing appropriate social behavior in their children, building their sense of self-worth, building their resilience, and teaching them to confront challenges and overcome failures [8]. There has been research completed that shows that “children who are close to their fathers are happier, more fulfilled and less anxious.”[9]

 

Will either of these men feel obligated to step up to provide this child with the father involvement that will best help him thrive when neither of them are legally required? Will the initial acting father continue to remain in the child’s life, which now complicates the involvement for the other man, who may actually be the child’s father? In the words of Bishop Robert Barron: “when authentic religious values are repressed, they don’t disappear, they tend to come up in somewhat disguised or distorted form,” and we can see the distorted consequences of repressing the value of marital commitment in this story. [10].

 

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[1] Rudy, Melissa. 2026. “Woman’s Double-Twin Relationship Sparks Court’s Impossible Paternity Ruling.” Fox News. April 2026. https://www.foxnews.com/health/womans-double-twin-relationship-sparks-courts-impossible-paternity-ruling.

[2] “Court Rules on Woman’s Double-Twin Relationship and Paternity Case.” 2026. TheUNN. April 2, 2026. https://theunn.com/court-rules-on-womans-doubletwin-relationship-and-paternity-case/.

[3] Pope Paul VI. 1968. “Humanae Vitae.” www.vatican.va. July 25, 1968. https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html.

[4] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 1987. “Instruction on Respect for Human Life.” www.vatican.va. February 22, 1987. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19870222_respect-for-human-life_en.html.

[5] “Are Identical Twins Really Identical?” 2025. Biology Insights. August 17, 2025. https://biologyinsights.com/are-identical-twins-really-identical/.

[6] Fitzgibbons, Richard P. 2015. “Growing up with Gay Parents: What Is the Big Deal?” The Linacre Quarterly 82 (4): 332–36. https://doi.org/10.1179/0024363915z.000000000120.

[7] All For Kids. 2023. “A Father’s Impact on Child Development.” All for Kids. May 12, 2023. https://www.allforkids.org/news/blog/a-fathers-impact-on-child-development/.

[8] Machin, Anna. 2019. “The Devotion of the Human Dad Separates Us from Other Apes.” Aeon.co. Aeon. January 17, 2019. https://aeon.co/essays/the-devotion-of-the-human-dad-separates-us-from-other-apes.

[9] “Viewing Fathers as Attachment Figures - Counseling Today Archive.” 2017. Counseling Today Archive - Archive. September 5, 2017. https://ctarchive.counseling.org/2017/09/viewing-fathers-attachment-f-igures/.

[10] Bishop Robert Barron. 2010. “Bishop Barron on Judgment and God.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWEi3sRoMUQ.

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