Vickie Duckworth and Darren Kamp got married in 1983, and had three children together.  Then Darren decided to have a vasectomy in 1987.  Vickie became pregnant again in 1992.  Although Darren knew about her affair, he decided to treat the child as his own.

The couple stayed together until 1998 and filed for divorce in 1999.  In their separation agreement and divorce, Darren stated that he was the father of all four children.

In 2005, Vickie filed a motion to modify child support because Darren was making more money.  Darren had had enough.  In his response he said that he was not the biological father of the fourth child, and asked for a DNA test.  The court granted his request, and the DNA test came back negative,  Since Darren was not the biological father, the Court said he was not required to pay child support.

The Maryland Court of Appeals reversed, and sent the case back to the trial court for further proceedings, saying the judge must first consider whether or not a DNA test was in the best interests of the child.  And those considerations should take into account the length of time that Darren had maintained a father-child relationship.

Kamp v. Dep’t of Human Services, Maryland Court of Appeals, September 21, 2009

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