Michael and Mike now... devastated but determined to stay close

Father talks of his agony after DNA test reveals he's not related to his boy

When Mike Yates held his baby son for the first time, it was the best feeling in the world.

From then on the loving dad doted on his only child.

He taught his boy Michael how to ride a bike, took him on holidays abroad every year, proudly went to his school events and always made sure he was there for him.

And Michael says he felt like the luckiest son in the world to have such a great dad.

But their perfect world has been torn apart after a bombshell DNA test two days before Michael’s 18th birthday revealed they are not even related.

Devastated Mike, who took the test only to quash rumours about his son’s paternity, says: “Words can’t ­describe the agony of finding out after all these years that Michael isn’t really my son.

“When I saw the results of the DNA test my first thought was disbelief. To find out the son I thought was my flesh and blood isn’t mine is terrible.

“It truly feels as if someone has ripped my heart out.

“And it’s the cruellest betrayal. For 18 years I thought I was a dad, but I’m not. My ex-wife ­deceived both of us and I can never forgive her. We feel utterly duped.”

Mike, 55, is now considering suing his ex, Michael’s mum, after paying thousands of pounds in maintenance.

Meanwhile Michael, a fitness ­instructor, says: “My whole world has been turned upside down.

“Everyone always said how alike we are, and I thought I had the best dad in the world. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it.”

Mike, an HGV driver from ­Rochester, Kent, was 31 when he met Michael’s mum, then 18, at a party. Then in August 1990 they married at a big white wedding with 200 guests.

Mike says: “We decided to try straight away for a baby. She ­wanted to be a mum and I’d always longed to be a dad.”

A year later she was pregnant. “We were both overjoyed and I can honestly say when Michael was born it was the happiest day of my life. I can remember holding him as a tiny baby and feeling ­absolutely elated that I was a dad.”

For the next couple of years all was well. But then his wife — who we are not naming —­ began going out more with friends.

Just before Michael’s third ­birthday, she made a shocking ­announcement. Mike says: “She said she no longer loved me.”

He moved out of the family home and it was arranged through the courts that Michael would come to stay with him every fortnight, join him every other year for Christmas and for a ­family holiday in the summer. He would also pay regular maintenance to his ex-wife.

A year after the couple split Mike began dating an old friend, Linda, and they married in June 2002 after his divorce.

   Family time: Christmas together in 2001
 

     New family: Michael was best man when his dad married Linda
 
“As Linda already had two children from a previous relationship and I had Michael, we ­decided not to have any more babies,” he says.

It’s a decision he now bitterly regrets. “Had I known earlier Michael wasn’t my biological child we would have ­certainly decided to have another baby,” he says. But he has fond memories of Michael’s childhood. “I lived for those weekends when Michael came to stay.

“I just adored everything about being a dad and we have always got on so well. We’d go go-karting, swimming and to car shows. And when I wasn’t with Michael I always found myself telling people about my son.”

    My and my boy: On holiday in Tenerife in 2004

As Michael grew older the pair grew closer. Michael, from London, says: “Some people don’t get on with their dads but we could always talk about anything.”

However, last summer a friend ­confided to Mike that he’d heard rumours about Michael’s paternity. Mike says: “The friend said he’d heard my ex say I wasn’t really Michael’s dad.

“At first I ignored it, but what he said niggled away at me and I began to worry that someone might say something to Michael. So I decided to get a DNA test... to quash the rumours.”

       Growing up: Doting dad in 2007
 

Michael says: “When Dad told me about the rumours I was as shocked and horrified as he was. But we both decided there would be no harm in getting a DNA test. Neither of us ever thought it would come back saying we weren’t flesh and blood.”

Nothing could have prepared them for the result a fortnight later.

Mike says: “When I opened the envelope and it said we couldn’t possibly be related I felt sick.”

Worse was to come when he had to give the terrible news to Michael he wasn’t his dad after all. Michael says: “The DNA test said the only thing we have in common is we are both white males.

“The tension was terrible. I remember thinking, ‘What if Dad doesn’t want me in his life any more?’ But then he said, ‘You’re still going to call me Dad aren’t you?’ and I jokingly replied, ‘Of course, Mike.’

“Being light-hearted was a way of coping. But inside both of us were absolutely grief-stricken and numb.”

Two days later Michael plucked up the courage to confront his mum. He says: “She was really upset and immediately said there must be some mistake.”

However, in May at a court paternity hearing, she did not contest the DNA result. A judgement was made confirming Mike and Michael are not related.

Michael says: “I don’t know who my real dad is as Mum won’t talk about it at all. She refuses to discuss the past or what has happened.”

Despite everything, Mike and Michael still intend to carry on as father and son.

“Dad brought me up,” says Michael. “He’s the only dad I’ve ever known and he has always been there. Neither of us can forget a lifetime of memories.”

Mike feels the same way. “Whatever’s happened I still think of Michael as my son,” he says. But he is now looking into suing his ex-wife. “It’s not about the money,” he explains.

“It’s the betrayal that hurts... I was duped into paying maintenance for 18 years. This has denied me the chance to have my own biological child.

“Now it’s too late. I’m the last in the Yates family line. I imagined having grand-children that were my own flesh and blood. Tragically that will never happen.”

He said he would also like to see a change in the laws to make DNA testing routine before dads are ordered to pay maintenance, and adds: “How many more men are bringing up children that aren’t biologically theirs?”

By Alison Smith-Squire

Source: mirror.co.uk