A biology class on blood types and hereditary properties prompted a question by a junior-high school student, which led to his father, surnamed Wang (王), discovering that his son and daughter were not his biological children.
Wang, married for 20 years, filed for divorce, a request that was approved by the Taipei District Court.
An article in the Chinese--language United Daily News yesterday said a student had asked his father why, given that his blood type was B, both his parents were type A.
“This kind of situation doesn’t exist; or is my teacher wrong?” the student asked.
Less than two years after Wang and his ex-wife married, they had a baby girl, the article said, adding that eight years later, a son was born with achondroplasia, a disorder that causes dwarfism.
To ensure his son had a happy childhood and received full-time care, Wang quit his job and took his son to and from school every day and involved himself in many school events, the article said.
To stimulate his son’s education, Wang taught him how to play chess and even recorded his son’s development on a blog.
However, after the son raised the question, Wang verified the information online and then took his daughter and his son to have a DNA test, the article said, adding that Wang had asked for a divorce and NT$3.5 million (US$115,500) in compensation from his wife.
The court said Wang’s wife began to have an affair less than two years into their marriage.
It added that after raising the children for many years, Wang’s sudden discovery of the affair and that the children were not biologically his would have been a very heavy blow.
The article said the court ruled that the ex-wife must pay Wang, now in his 50s, NT$1 million for causing “spiritual trauma.”
Wang’s ex-wife admitted in court that she had an extramarital affair soon after their marriage and confirmed that both the son and daughter were the result of the affair, the article said.
“I didn’t know who the father was, but after the DNA test, I know now,” she said.
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