She's Using The Baby To Get Back With Me (Full Episode) | Paternity Court

Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello.

This is the case of Allen v. Toliver. Thank you, Jerome.

Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms.

Allen. . .

You claim the defendant got you pregnant and now refuses to do anything for your two-year old daughter, Novella, who's been diagnosed with severe allergies, leaving you in financial and emotional distress. You claim today's DNA test will prove that he is Novella's father and you need him to step up. Yes, Your Honor.

Mr Toliver, you and your girlfriend say you are 100% certain you are not her child's biological father and have evidence to support your claim. Ms. Allen, what has he done for your daughter?

Absolutely nothing, Your Honor. Nothing? Nothing.

JUDGE LAKE: Wow. TOLIVER: Well. .

. Has he paid any child support at all? No, Your Honor.

Been involved in her life? No, Your Honor. Come to visit her?

No, Your Honor. I have several reasons that I can prove that I'm not the father. How?

TOLIVER: Well, I mean. . .

What can you prove? TOLIVER: I've tried to get her to do a DNA test. For instance, just the other day, says she's not gonna do the test.

JUDGE LAKE: Really? Yeah. Have you been avoiding the test, Ms.

Allen? Um, no, I have not been avoiding the test. Why haven't you taken it if he's volunteering?

ALLEN: Um, he's the reason why. I, honestly, did not want to go take a test by myself, with him. And he don't wanna be around my family.

Wait a minute. Now, you laid down by yourself with him. Now you can't go and get a DNA test by yourself?

I just don't feel. . .

I've never heard of such. I just don't feel comfortable around him. But you don't have to be present at the same time to get the DNA testing done.

She texts him saying that she misses him, and you know, I accidentally saw that. It was on Facebook Messenger, um, that she missed him. So I don't know where she's getting this.

. . She doesn't wanna be with him, you know, it confuses me too, so.

. . TOLIVER: Whenever she breaks up or has a fight with a boyfriend, she comes back to me, with.

. . Acting like she wants to get back with me.

She loves me, and she misses me, but then, when she's in a relationship, I don't hear anything from her. Wait, let me just go back first. Before we jump into this, I wanna make sure I understand.

You two were in a sexual relationship at some point. Am I correct? Yes.

Was it during the window of time that Novella was conceived? TOLIVER: Yes, ma'am. How long were you together?

Just a couple of months. Not long. It wasn't a steady relationship.

We weren't. . .

JUDGE LAKE: So you weren't committed? Yeah, we was committed. We'd see each other on the weekends, every now and again.

It's not like we were. . .

No. We were living in different counties. And so.

. . Well, you know, you can get someone pregnant that lives in a different county.

(LAUGHTER) Yeah. But were you using protection every time you were. .

. No, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Okay.

Okay, but how we met, we met on a dating site. And, we. .

. You know, we had intercourse the first night we met. She also told me.

. . JUDGE LAKE: Did you use protection?

No, ma'am. But she told me that the day before that, that her ex-boyfriend she just broke up with, they had intercourse that night. No, I did not tell you that.

Okay, that's what you said. No. Okay, so the day you met her, she says, "I had intercourse with my boyfriend, "my ex-boyfriend, last night," and then you had intercourse with her that night.

Yes, we were having drinks and talking, and I don't wanna hear about that. I don't wanna hear who you. .

. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) . .

. had sex with, but, I mean. .

. You know, I mean. .

. Alcohol does that, alcohol opens people up, it's what she told me. And, I mean, the first night we met, you know, we had sex, you know?

I've heard that I'm not the only one that she's been like that with. JUDGE LAKE: I understand, but, Mr Toliver, you do understand that if you were one of them, then you were one of the possible fathers. TOLIVER: Yes, but, I mean.

. . JUDGE LAKE: Well, let me ask you this.

If you've been informed that you possibly are this beautiful child's biological father, why is it you aren't pursuing the test, or pursuing some form of relationship with this child? TOLIVER: I need to know if it's mine or not. She's given me every reason to believe it's not mine.

JUDGE LAKE: So your thing is, "The buck stops here "until I figure out whether or not I am the father. " You don't feel like you wanna invest any time getting to know the child. .

. TOLIVER: No, it's not that. Well, what is it then?

It's been two years. I mean, look, okay. She's told me over the text messages and phone calls that, "This other guy here, "this is gonna be Novella's father.

" Wait, wait, wait. When did that come out? TOLIVER: This was when she was in the hospital.

The guy in the hospital. . .

With her. JUDGE LAKE: Let me see those please, Jerome. And supposedly, you know, that's.

. . She's saying.

. . And it's on the Facebook.

What are these pictures of, Mr Toliver? TOLIVER: That's Ms. Allen with the guy she was seeing at the time that she's.

. . JUDGE LAKE: So this is her in the hospital, having birth, and that's the man there, on the phone, in the corner.

TOLIVER: Her boyfriend, or. . .

She's telling me that that's gonna be Novella's father. JUDGE LAKE: When did she tell you this? Right after the pregnancy.

JUDGE LAKE: So you weren't there on this day, the day she delivered? No, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Were you invited?

No, ma'am. TOLIVER: How was I invited? Was she gonna invite me and him?

I mean, that makes no sense. Um, I told you that he did not have to be in the delivery room, that you could be in there. TOLIVER: No, you.

. . ALLEN: Yes, I did.

So wait a minute now, Ms. Allen. You admit that you had moved on and started dating this gentleman?

ALLEN: Yes. And you invited him to the birth of Novella. ALLEN: Yes.

Was he with you during the pregnancy? When we got together, when I was three months pregnant, he was there the whole time. JUDGE LAKE: He was there the whole time.

Yes. You told Mr Toliver that this is Novella's father, or he used the words, "This is going to be Novella's father. " ALLEN: I told him that he was gonna raise her.

So your contention is that what you truly said was, "This is gonna be her dad," meaning, "Since you're not around, "and you don't wanna be involved, "I'm gonna make this guy her father. " Yes. You took that to mean, Mr Toliver, that it was a potential that he actually was her biological father.

I believe it could be, because she said that he's the daddy. "This is her true father," whatever. I mean, I have a message on Facebook here where he's claiming her as his little girl, you know.

JUDGE LAKE: This piece of evidence is what, a picture of. . .

TOLIVER: That's the guy that she was seeing at the time with Novella. You know, as in claiming it's his daughter. (JUDGE LAKE READING SCREEN) JUDGE LAKE: So let me ask you this.

Do you believe that this gentleman is potentially Novella's biological father, or do you feel like this is just someone she's using to get back at you? I don't know, it just seems to me like that's a very good chance, that he is the father. When you got pregnant, were you dating anyone else at the time?

No, Your Honor. Did you call Mr Toliver and tell him you were pregnant? ALLEN: Yes, I did.

What was his response? I called him when I was in the doctor's office, told him I was pregnant. And his basic response was, it was not his problem, it was my problem.

I said. . .

I asked her who the father was, is what I told her. I said, "You need to find out who the father is. " JUDGE LAKE: And what was the answer?

She just said that it's mine. She said I was the father. But it's only when she's getting in a fight with her boyfriend, or breaking up with a boyfriend, that she come to me and want me back or this and that.

Is that true, Ms. Allen? Do you just come back around after you broke up with somebody?

No. Do you consistently press and try to establish a relationship between Mr Toliver and Novella? Yes.

JUDGE LAKE: How have you done that? I have constantly tried to get a hold of him. I've even asked if he wanted to come see her.

And it's always, he's too busy. You don't have a way. I don't have a driver's license, I can't just up and drive to Pelham, Georgia.

Mr Toliver, have you ever met Novella? She's two now. TOLIVER: No, ma'am.

JUDGE LAKE: You never met her? Two years? TOLIVER: No, ma'am.

I know, but if she was really mine, she would want to have this test done from the beginning. It's just wrong to. .

. I think it's just wrong to toss a kid around like that. She needs to find out who the real father is, and she should have done it in the beginning, that's how I feel.

I mean, if she would give me proof that I am the father, then it'd be totally different. But I can't just change my life because an ex-girlfriend calls and tells me, "I'm pregnant with your baby, "so you're the father, you need to do this. " And she said she don't want money or anything from me.

She wants me to be in their lives. Not just Novella's life, but their lives. So that's why I feel like she's trying to get me back by using the baby.

Her ex-boyfriends, from what I understand, and the ones I've seen, are losers, more or less. I have a decent job, I'm mean, I'm a pretty good guy. I'm one of the better candidates that she's dated.

And that's what I feel like she is. . .

(SCOFFS AND LAUGHS) . . .

trying to use that as. . .

No. No. Use the baby as, well.

. . (ALLEN LAUGHS) TOLIVER: You know?

And, I mean, I have a life. I can't change my life just to make her happy, because this is what she wants. So, Ms.

Allen, I have to ask you this. In your court papers, you indicate that Novella has severe allergies. Yes.

JUDGE LAKE: And that's one of the reasons why you desperately want to find, or have Mr Toliver identified as her biological father. You need help. ALLEN: Yes, I do need help.

JUDGE LAKE: Explain. ALLEN: She has allergy problems. I'm constantly going back and forth to the doctors with her.

She's allergic to just about anything you can be allergic to. Pecans, pine trees, oak trees, apples, rice. You name it, she's allergic to it.

There is no medical history of any kind of allergy problems in my family, whatsoever. Of anything. I mean.

. . Nobody in my family is even allergic to poison ivy, which you got.

. . (STAMMERING) JUDGE LAKE: So wait.

The fact that she has these allergies, I mean, this is financially and emotionally taxing on you, I'm sure. Yes, it is. JUDGE LAKE: And you're taking care of her, and getting her back and forth to her doctors.

Yes. All by yourself. Yes, I am.

Your Honor, I wanna get this test done. I wanna find out. Everybody needs to know, you know?

I need to know, she needs to know, we need to know, for the benefit of the baby. But, you know, it's never just, "Be in the baby's life. " It's, "Be in our lives.

" I never said, "Be in our lives," 'cause I don't want you in our life. I want you in our daughter's life. You hear that, Mr Toliver?

TOLIVER: Yes, ma'am. . .

Do you believe that when she says it, or do you think she's. . .

No, because I've been going through this for two years. On and off, for two years, every couple of months. I really don't, I don't want you in my life, I want you in my daughter's life.

And, Ms. Bole, you're in a relationship with Mr Toliver? BOLE: Yes, I am.

And how do you deal with all this? I mean, if it's not his daughter, so that's fine. But if it is his daughter, I'm gonna act.

. . You know, be like a stepmom, I guess you could say.

I'll take care of her. I'll make her happy, you know, like it's my child. So, I mean.

. . But this has got to come to an end.

TOLIVER: She's seen the message. She picked my phone up the other day and saw a message from Ms. Allen saying how she missed me, and loved me, and wanted to be back with me and all this.

It got me in trouble for it. I didn't even see the message she has. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) She got mad at me for reading a message from her.

Are you enjoying this a little bit, Mr Toliver? You say you don't want it, but do you enjoy the fact that she can't seem to completely move on from you? No, I would love.

. . Because you're entertaining this a lot.

Well, I'm just trying to make my point here that she's using the baby to try to get back with me. So in your court papers, one of your major pieces of doubt. .

. Is that you say no one in your family has allergies. None whatsoever.

I just have one question though, and I'd like to speak to a medical expert we have here. Jerome, would you please escort Dr Jameelah Gater into the courtroom? I'd like to ask her.

. . Yes.

. . .

a question or two about this allergy issue. Just gonna have you go up to the witness stand. Okay.

Hi, Doctor. Hi. Thank you for being here.

Thank you. So, Doctor, we're having a discussion concerning a beautiful baby, Novella's paternity. And we have heard testimony that suggests that she suffers from extreme allergies.

Mr Toliver contends he does not believe he can be her biological father. He says he doesn't have allergies, he says nobody in his family has allergies. And he says, for this reason, he believes he could not be Novella's biological father.

So I wanna know from you, if a child is born, first and foremost, with allergies, does this cause further complications? Asthma, things like this. Are these things you can trace to heredity?

GATER: Yes, so asthma is definitely related to allergies. About 65% of asthma is allergic asthma. And that happens when you breathe in air, and then the body actually has an overreaction to it, or a hypersensitive reaction and causes difficulty with breathing.

JUDGE LAKE: Okay. And so is this passed down through the families? Is this hereditary?

So it's interesting, allergies and asthma are actually not genetic. What can be inherited and can be passed down is something called "atopy. " An atopy is basically the tendency of the immune system to overreact to things in the environment.

So, in Novella's case, we've got a list here where she's allergic to, you know, apples, pine trees, cat, oatmeal, eggs. All of these different things that she's allergic to, and the way that things are inherited, the parent, per se, whether it's the father or the mother, isn't necessarily going to be allergic to those exact same things. So what can be passed on is just the tendency or the potential to have reactions, and that could be broad, from allergies to asthma to eczema.

JUDGE LAKE: Hmm. So it's hard for us to drop a thumbnail and say, "Oh, you know what? Because of these allergies, "her father is.

. . " GATER: Exactly.

We can't do that. No. JUDGE LAKE: That's what I needed to know.

So, Mr Toliver, your argument just went on out the window here with Dr Gater. My argument was the way she's been. .

. (AUDIENCE CHUCKLES) You know, not willing to do the DNA test. But part of your argument was that you don't have allergies, and no one in your family has them.

Contributed to your doubt. But that's because she told me that. .

. Told me that the baby had allergies and they had to come from my side of the family. I've told you, I'm not sure how the allergy thing works, but my reason for doubt is, for two years now that we've been going on this DNA test, and it's not happening, she won't do it.

I mean, reason after reason. . .

Well. . .

The good news is, is this court has administered the DNA testing. . .

And I have the results. Oh. Jerome?

Thank you. JEROME: You're welcome. These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows.

In the case of Allen v. Toliver, when it comes to two-year-old Novella Allen, it has been determined by this court, Mr Toliver, you. .

. Are her father. Okay.

(APPLAUSE) JUDGE LAKE: Are you happy? Little bit, yes, ma'am. Just a little happy?

(TOLIVER CHUCKLES) I mean, I've always wanted a kid, but the other thing is that, I mean. . .

Now, I want Rachel to understand this. I'm gonna be in the baby's life, but. .

. You know, I know you said you're over me, but. .

. We're done with the going back and forth, okay? Yeah, I'm in a serious relationship.

I don't want you. TOLIVER: That's good. That's what.

. . Just wanna make sure we're on the same page on that.

Me and Brittany are going. . .

You know, we're trying to go somewhere with our relationship. She's gonna be part of Novella's life too. That's fine.

But, I mean. . .

I don't really know who she is. This is my first time ever seeing her, so I'll have to get to know her. That's fine, that's understandable.

I wouldn't ask you to. . .

Okay, family, so we're going places. TOLIVER: Yeah. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) JUDGE LAKE: No, I like it.

I just sat back and listened to the dialog, and I like it. At the end of the day, it's wonderful that you found it in your hearts to be here, because now, we've cleared this out. And Novella has her father, she has her mother, and she even has another woman who is gonna be there to help raise her, and be a part of her village.

So I want you all to talk to our counselor, talk to Dr Jeff, and figure out how you start going forward. All right? I will, I will.

All right. I wish you the very best of luck. Court is adjourned.