History Main / LawOfInversePaternity

* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Joy has an affair with Darnell while she's still married to Earl, after the stress of taking care of a colicky Dodge took a toll on the marriage. Several months into the affair, she finds out she's pregnant and excitedly shows Earl the positive test. Then she has an OhCrap moment as she realizes that there's a good chance the baby ''isn't'' Earl's... and that there's a good chance of delivering a ChocolateBaby. She even asks the doctor who's giving her an ultrasound to see if he can tell the baby's race. In keeping with this trope, she gives birth to a black baby... and Earl ''almost'' leaves her. [[spoiler: It turns out that Earl Jr. might not be Darnell's, either based on a DaddyDNATest,]] but [[CutShort that plot point was unresolved]] thanks to the 2007 WritersStrike.

** Subverted when Chandler and Monica find out their adopted children could have been fathered either by a smart scholarship student, or by a man who killed his father with a shovel. Chandler [[GenreSavvy thinks this trope will come into play]], given they're already victims of the LawOfInverseFertility. However, it's {{Subverted|Trope}} and Chandler is wrong. Turns out that the sex act the girl and the killer did couldn't cause pregnancy.

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* Played with in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive:'' [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Davan]] doesn't ''want'' to be [[BrattyHalfPint Rory]]'s biological father, but while he's willing to step up, the other (unnamed, unseen) guy isn't. Even when Davan is cleared by a [[DaddyDNATest DNA test]], he becomes Rory's ParentalSubstitute anyway. He later tells Vanessa that in retrospect, he wishes he had been Rory's father; not long after that, [[NewParentNomenclatureProblem Rory asks if he can call him "Dad"]] from now on.

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** Zig-zagged with Rachel's unplanned pregnancy -- on the one hand, [[spoiler:the dad is Ross, her one true love, and not her slightly younger ex-boyfriend]], but on the other hand, [[spoiler:it was a one-night-stand with Ross, as opposed to the presumably regular sexual activity she was having with her steady boyfriend]].

* Subverted in ''Series/{{Friends}}'' when Chandler and Monica find out their adopted children could have been fathered either by a smart scholarship student, or by a man who killed his father with a shovel. Chandler [[GenreSavvy thinks this trope will come into play]], given they're already victims of the LawOfInverseFertility. However, it's {{Subverted|Trope}} and Chandler is wrong. Turns out that the sex act the girl and the killer did couldn't cause pregnancy.
-->'''Chandler:''' Honey, it's ''us!'' Of course it's the shovel killer!
** Also averted with Rachel's unplanned pregnancy when [[spoiler:the dad is Ross, her one true love, and not her slightly younger ex-boyfriend]].
*** Possibly still played straight, as it was a one-night-stand with Ross, as opposed to the presumably regular sexual activity she was having with her steady boyfriend.

A Sub-trope of WhosYourDaddy, although it may also be coupled with LawOfInverseFertility if it comes into play early enough.

* Subverted in ''Series/{{Friends}}'' when Chandler and Monica find out their adopted children could have been fathered either by a smart scholarship student, or by a man who killed his father with a shovel. Chandler [[GenreSavvy seems to think this trope will come into play]], given they're already victims of the LawOfInverseFertility.

** Thankfully it turns out he's wrong. Turns out that what the girl and the killer did couldn't cause pregnancy. ("Was it the thing we rarely do, or the thing we ''never'' do?" "The thing we never do." "All right, Shovely Joe!")

So, Alice is pregnant and caught in the horns of her TriangRelations - she doesn't know who the father is. So, after sufficient tension has been built up, she discovers that her baby's dad is not Bob, [[{{OTP}} her]] and [[FanPreferredCouple the fans']] one true love, but Charlie, the hypotenuse -- her worst nightmare. The law applies to the men too: Bob will hope he's the father before anyone knows for sure and be disappointed when the truth is known, while Charlie will have much stronger misgivings than Bob (often treated sympathetically) about taking on the responsibilities of fatherhood.

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* ''Series/UglyBetty'': A variation - [[spoiler:Henry finds out that he was father of Charlie's baby.]]

** Subverted in ''Series/{{Passions}}'', when Theresa's son, Little Ethan - who, up until then, was thought to have been fathered by {{Jerkass}} Julian Crane during a drunken one-night stand, in accordance with [[LawOfInverseFertility The Law of Inverse Fertility]] - actually turned out to be the son of his namesake, Ethan. There was much rejoicing, as Ethan & Theresa were Passions' [[OneTruePairing One True Pairing]].

--> "Honey, it's ''us!'' Of course it's the shovel killer!"

* Done three times with the same pregnancy on ''Series/{{Neighbours}}''. Bear with me: first Sky was with Dylan, but cheated on him with her art teacher, breaking them up. A few weeks later, Sky has a one night stand with Dylan's brother Stingray, who is also her best friend. Shortly afterwards, she discovers she is pregnant. When Stingray asks if it could be his baby, she says that she wishes he was, but the dates don't add up. As soon as Dylan has accepted he is the father and become excited, a scan shows that the baby is younger than originally thought, making Stingray the father. This destroys the relationships of Dylan and Sky, Stingray and Rachel, and Dylan and Stingray. Then when the baby is born, a DNA test shows Dylan is the father after all - the baby's size is attributed to Dylan's exposure to toxic waste a year earlier, which later causes Kerry to develop cancer - but Sky's relationship with Dylan is over permanently, and she ends up with Stingray.

* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Joy has an affair with Darnell while she's still married to Earl, after the stress of taking care of a colicky Dodge took a toll on the marriage. Several months into the affair, she finds out she's pregnant and excitedly shows Earl the positive test. Then she has an OhCrap moment as she realizes that there's a good chance the baby ''isn't'' Earl's...and that there's a good chance of delivering a ChocolateBaby. She even asks the doctor who's giving her an ultrasound to see if he can tell the baby's race. In keeping with this trope, she gives birth to a black baby...and Earl ''almost'' leaves her. [[spoiler: It turns out that Earl Jr. might not be Darnell's, either based on a DaddyDNATest,]] but [[CutShort that plot point was unresolved]] thanks to the 2007 WritersStrike.
* The talk show ''Series/{{Maury}}'' lives on this trope. The most frequent episode format involves a woman seeking a paternity test for her child...often with a man (or multiple men) she hates so that she can spitefully hit him up for child support. The more tearjerking variant involves married couples where the husband is heartbroken to learn that his beloved child isn't biologically his due to his wife's affair.

->''The odds that a given character is the biological father of someone whose paternity is unknown is directly inverse to how badly the other parties directly concerned want him to be the biological father.''

* On {{Supernatural}}, Dean has his girlfriend Lisa and her son Ben. Ben is about the right age to be conceived from a previous fling between Dean and Lisa, and he probably wishes he were the father, but Lisa makes it clear that he isn't. She's never said anything about who Ben's father is; she probably doesn't think it's any of his business, or, as a demon once accused, she may have been promiscuous enough at that time that she has no idea who the father is (in which case, maybe it really is Dean).

So, Alice is pregnant and caught in the horns of her TriangRelations - she doesn't know who the father is. So, after sufficient tension has been built up, she discovers that her baby's dad is not Bob, [[{{OTP}} her]] and [[FanPreferredCouple the fans']] one true love, but Charlie, the hypotenuse -- her worst nightmare. The law applies to the men too: Bob will hope he's the father before anyone knows for sure and be disappointed when the truth is known, while Charlie will have much stronger misgivings than Bob(often treated sympathetically) about taking on the responsibilities of fatherhood.

* Played with in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive:'' [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Davan]] doesn't ''want'' to be [[BrattyHalfPint Rory]]'s biological father, but while he's willing to step up, the other (unnamed, unseen) guy isn't. Even when Davan is cleared by a [[DaddyDNATest DNA test]], he becomes Rory's ParentalSubstitute anyway. He later says that in retrospect, he tells his girlfriend that he wishes Rory was his son; not long after that, Rory asks if he can start calling Davan "Dad."

* This came into play in ''SnowDogs'' (starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.). Our protagonist goes to Alaska to find his real father. He develops mutual hate at first sight with an old and mean dogsledder. Unfortunately, circumstantial evidence suggests that this fella is his father, for various reasons, including a shortage of plausible choices and a mutual liking for blue cheese. And it turns out to be true.

* Brazilian SoapOpera ''PorAmor'': the main "villainess" raised her two sons very differently because she believed that her favorite one was the one she bore with the man she was and still is truly in love with... who, incidentally, [[YourCheatingHeart isn't her husband of 30 years]]. All the men involved learn about it, DNA tests ensue, and it's revealed that the biological son of her true love was TheUnfavorite. Cue her being abandoned by her family and her ex-lover, and a VillainousBSOD.

** Surprisingly averted on AllMyChildren. When a grieving Maria had a one-night stand with an equally grief-stricken (over separate issues) Dimitri and later learned she was pregnant, she was relieved to learn that he was ''not'' the father of her baby, husband Edmund was.

* Done three times with the same pregnancy on ''{{Neighbours}}''. Bear with me: first Sky was with Dylan, but cheated on him with her art teacher, breaking them up. A few weeks later, Sky has a one night stand with Dylan's brother Stingray, who is also her best friend. Shortly afterwards, she discovers she is pregnant. When Stingray asks if it could be his baby, she says that she wishes he was, but the dates don't add up. As soon as Dylan has accepted he is the father and become excited, a scan shows that the baby is younger than originally thought, making Stingray the father. This destroys the relationships of Dylan and Sky, Stingray and Rachel, and Dylan and Stingray. Then when the baby is born, a DNA test shows Dylan is the father after all - the baby's size is attributed to Dylan's exposure to toxic waste a year earlier, which later causes Kerry to develop cancer - but Sky's relationship with Dylan is over permanently, and she ends up with Stingray.

* On ''MyNameIsEarl'', Joy has an affair with Darnell while she's still married to Earl, after the stress of taking care of a colicky Dodge took a toll on the marriage. Several months into the affair, she finds out she's pregnant and excitedly shows Earl the positive test. Then she has an OhCrap moment as she realizes that there's a good chance the baby ''isn't'' Earl's...and that there's a good chance of delivering a ChocolateBaby. She even asks the doctor who's giving her an ultrasound to see if he can tell the baby's race. In keeping with this trope, she gives birth to a black baby...and Earl ''almost'' leaves her. [[spoiler: It turns out that Earl Jr. might not be Darnell's, either based on a DaddyDNATest,]] but [[CutShort that plot point was unresolved]] thanks to the 2007 WritersStrike.
* The talk show ''{{Maury}}'' lives on this trope. The most frequent episode format involves a woman seeking a paternity test for her child...often with a man (or multiple men) she hates so that she can spitefully hit him up for child support. The more tearjerking variant involves married couples where the husband is heartbroken to learn that his beloved child isn't biologically his due to his wife's affair.

* Played with in ''SomethingPositive:'' [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Davan]] doesn't ''want'' to be [[BrattyHalfPint Rory]]'s biological father, but while he's willing to step up, the other (unnamed, unseen) guy isn't. Even when Davan is cleared by a [[DaddyDNATest DNA test]], he becomes Rory's ParentalSubstitute anyway. He later says that in retrospect, he tells his girlfriend that he wishes Rory was his son; not long after that, Rory asks if he can start calling Davan "Dad."

** And on GeneralHospital, when Brenda slept with husband Jax and ex-lover Sonny. . .only to not get pregnant at all.
* Subverted in ''{{Friends}}'' when Chandler and Monica find out their adopted children could have been fathered either by a smart scholarship student, or by a man who killed his father with a shovel. Chandler [[GenreSavvy seems to think this trope will come into play]], given they're already victims of the LawOfInverseFertility.

* Subverted in ''{{Futurama}}'': Kif's species can get pregnant just by coming in contact with another's DNA; the person whose DNA he assimilated ([[spoiler:Leela]]) wasn't his first choice, but at least it wasn't [[FakeUltimateHero Zapp Brannigan]]. However the parent, or smizmar, is considered to be the one who got them turned on into DNA assimilation mode in the first place, who in this case happens to be Amy.

* ''{{Casualty}}'': [[spoiler:played straight with Selena realizing that Nathan was the biological father of her baby, not Harry]].
** In its SpinOff, ''HolbyCity,'' the Williams family history has become particularly contorted by the result of a paternity test; it was revealed that Chrissie was conceived by the rape of her mother by her presumed father's father, making her presumed father her actual half brother.
* ''UglyBetty'': A variation - [[spoiler:Henry finds out that he was father of Charlie's baby.]]

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** And on TheBoldAndTheBeautiful, when Amber trysted with both fiance Rick and buddy Raymond. Amber was quite relieved when the baby was very obviously Rick's--white, as opposed to black, like Raymond.

* Subverted in ''{{Friends}}'' when Chandler and Monica find out their adopted children could have been fathered either by a smart scholarship student, or by a man who killed his father with a shovel. Chandler [[GenreSavvy seems to think this trope will come into play]], given they're already victims of InverseFertility.

* Played with in ''SomethingPositive:'' [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Davan]] doesn't ''want'' to be [[BrattyHalfPint Rory]]'s biological father, but while he's willing to step up, the other (unnamed, unseen) guy isn't. Even when Davan is cleared by a [[DaddyDNATest DNA test]], he becomes Rory's ParentalSubstitute anyway. In a more recent strip he admits that in retrospect, he wishes Rory had been his son.

* On ''MyNameIsEarl'', Joy has an affair with Darnell while she's still married to Earl, after the stress of taking care of a colicky Dodge took a toll on the marriage. Several months into the affair, she finds out she's pregnant and excitedly shows Earl the positive test. Then she has an OhCrap moment as she realizes that there's a good chance the baby ''isn't'' Earl's...and that there's a good chance of delivering a ChocolateBaby. She even asks the doctor who's giving her an ultrasound to see if he can tell the baby's race. In keeping with this trope, she gives birth to a black baby...and Earl ''almost'' leaves her. [[spoiler: It turns out that Earl Jr. might not be Darnell's, either based on a DaddyDNATest, but that plot point was unresolved thanks to the 2007 WritersStrike.]]

* Subverted in the DavidTennant four-part drama ''Single Father''. The main character Dave lives with his three kids and his partner's daughter from an earlier (and extremely brief) relationship. Suspicions arise that the other three kids were ''also'' fathered by the same man as the daughter, so Dave goes for a paternity test and it's obvious that the writers are setting this trope up... But no, turns out they're his after all.

So, Alice is pregnant and caught in the horns of her TriangRelations - she doesn't know who the father is. So, after sufficient tension has been built up, she discovers that her baby's dad is not Bob, [[{{OTP}} her]] and [[FanPreferredCouple the fans']] one true love, but Charlie, the hypotenuse -- her worst nightmare. The law applies to the men too: Bob will hope he's the father before anyone knows for sure and disappointed when the truth is known, while Charlie will have much stronger misgivings than Bob(often treated sympathetically) about taking on the responsibilities of fatherhood.

* Subverted in ''{{Friends}}'' when Chandler and Monica find out their adopted children could have been fathered either by a clever student, or by a man who killed his father with a shovel. Chandler [[GenreSavvy seems to think this trope will come into play]] ("Honey, it's ''us!'' Of course it's the shovel killer!") but it turns out he's wrong. Turns out that what the girl and the killer did couldn't cause pregnancy. ("Was it the thing we rarely do, or the thing we ''never'' do?" "The thing we never do." "All right, Shovely Joe!")