Marriage of Gupta CA4/3

FACTS

According to wife’s petition for dissolution of marriage, she and husband were married in India in December 1996, and again in Pittsburgh in February 1997. They did not separate until October 7, 2011. In the interim, wife gave birth to a son in 1998 and another in 1999. When she filed the petition for dissolution, she also filed a declaration stating husband is not the father of the boys. Wife requested the court order a sperm viability test and DNA testing. Husband objected to sperm viability testing, pointing out he conceived the boys 13 and 15 years earlier. He agreed to undergo DNA testing. The court ordered DNA testing. At the hearing on the issue of paternity, wife continued to insist husband is not the father, but refused to answer the court’s inquiry as to who the father is if not husband, and offered no evidence on the issue. Upon reviewing the test results, the court found husband to be the father of the boys. According to the record on appeal, the DNA test indicated the odds that the boys’ father is someone other than husband are 623 million to one. The court stated the DNA results established husband’s paternity at 99.99 percent. Wife appealed.

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