Dads & Fathers

"Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad."

That's a phrase I've heard and seen a lot. I've also seen it transposed too, but to engender the same meaning.
What does it mean? Well, anyone can be biological sire of a child, but it takes someone special to care for that child through the years and help mold that child into a useful person.

I know, I wrote a fair bit about Fathers' day recently, but today's post is a little different, it's about the people who choose not to be a 'Dad' to the child they fathered.

So, a couple split shortly before the birth of their child. So now they're separated (divorced or whatever), for the sake of argument, the child stays with the mother and the father voluntarily pays child support while seeing his child every other weekend or something. This sounds fairly good, yes?
Now, both parents find new partners. The father starts missing visits, paying less attention to his child, breaking promised visits and activities, and paying less support because his funds are stretched - all the while publicly shelling out some hefty amounts of cash on his 'new family'. Gradually his twice a week visits become once a month, then increasingly sporadic, until finally he claims "This is not my child."

He's a nice chap isn't he?

What would you do?
Force him to test for proof it's not his child and make sure he pays child support?
Accept his implied accusation of infidelity and be happy he's out of the child's life?

For my money, the father in this hypothetical situation is running away from his responsibilities, but I would suggest that keeping him away from the child is in the child's best interest as he is likely a destructive influence whether he believes his claim to be true or not.

It will not be often I invite comment, so make the most of it, let me know your thoughts people of the internet.