The Rodriguez case is totally unfair to the man - he's not the father and never knew the child at all, and the child did not know him.

This guy, however:

Tampa Police officer Michael Anderson understands that sentiment. He paid child support for more than 12 years -- a total outlay he says amounted to more than $80,000. But a DNA test after he and his wife divorced showed the daughter he thought was his was somebody else's.

He then separated himself and his feelings from the child.

"I stopped having a relationship with the girl right from the beginning, when I found out," he said. "It was hard, but I had to do it."

A Tampa court earlier this year disestablished him as father and relieved him of his future child support payments. But by law, he is unable to get back the $80,000 he already paid.

Particularly this: "I stopped having a relationship with the girl right from the beginning, when I found out," he said. "It was hard, but I had to do it."


It is unclear how long he thought the child was his before cutting her off from his 'feelings'. Once you have established a fatherly relationship with a child, it seems unimaginably cruel to dismiss the child emotionally, regardless of DNA.