Angela Philipps, Contributor

There are single women who will trap, or have trapped, a man by getting themselves pregnant. However, what if a woman does this but tells the wrong man that he is the father? In Jamaica, it's called giving a man 'jacket' and according to statistics at the University of the West Indies, 34 per cent of paternity tests show that the men being tested are not the biological fathers! So why are women doing this? What could they be thinking?

I have never been pregnant, so I cannot speak from the woman's side. I can only speculate as to why women would do such a thing and what the possible benefits for them would be.

Let's take a little story as an example. A girl has a fairly serious boyfriend, but has an affair with another guy. Nine months later she has a baby and names her beau as the father. In reality he is not. She might lie for several reasons:

1. She is in denial and wants her boyfriend to be the father.

2. She can't afford a child on her own and knows that the man she had the affair with won't pay up. Her boyfriend will.

3. She is petrified that the truth will send her boyfriend packing.

4. She's been looking to get married, and becoming pregnant has finally pushed her man into asking.

5. She is ashamed and embarrassed about the affair so she has to lie about the paternity of the child to save face.

Repercussions

To be honest, there might be hundreds of other reasons, but I'm sure you get my gist. The problem is that there are repercussions to these fibs, most of which are quite serious issues.

It is grossly unfair to a man to put him in a position where he is expending his emotions on a child which is not his. At some point he is going to wonder why his son or daughter has no resemblance to him or anyone in his family. And God forbid if the kid begins to look like someone else he knows! If the 'outside' man is close by - an acquaintance, a friend or a neighbour - then you can be sure that at least one person in your circle will figure it all out pretty quickly.

Before you realise what's happening, the entire world will know, including the child in question! And how will that be dealt with? Imagine growing up to believe that someone is your daddy and then finding out that he isn't? The consequences of your child discovering this fact could be immensely harmful to his or her psychological welfare, which can in turn affect social and academic aspects of life. And do you suppose he or she will ever fully trust the mother again?

It's not right

What about the biological dad? Doesn't he have a right to know that he has a kid? And shouldn't his parents be given the chance to play the role of grandparents? It's bad enough that there's another couple standing in, but even for them, it's not right. They give all this love and then one day they might be told, "Oh sorry, but I'm afraid you're not his grandparents after all. You'll have to hand over your rights to this lovely couple." Devastating!

And I haven't even touched on the money aspect of the whole situation yet! Kids are certainly not cheap, and the financial strain of raising, feeding, clothing and educating them is not an easy one to deal with. These are costs that can never be recovered really, so mummy had better be sure that she has not trapped the wrong man!

Email: angelaphilippsja@hotmail.com