S'pore woman, who gave birth at 16, seeking child support from man, 13 years after losing contact

13 years ago, a 19-year-old male and a 16-year-old female in Singapore got into a relationship.

The girl got pregnant, but the former couple lost contact.

They never got married.

Woman asking for child maintenance payments

Now, at age 29, the woman is seeking child maintenance payments from the 32-year-old man, Shin Min Daily News reported.

The man initially denied that the child was his.

But after a paternity test, he accepted that he is the biological father of the child.

Their child is now 13 years old.

On May 8, 2024, the woman took the man to the Family Justice Courts.

The court eventually ordered the man to pay S$750 a month for child maintenance, but he is dissatisfied with the outcome and is appealing the verdict.

Monthly expenses for raising child

The woman claimed that the monthly expenses for raising the child were about S$1,900.

She requested that her former partner pay S$750 in child maintenance each month, as she knew he was able to afford this amount.

It was reported that she asked for the man to compensate her for the cost of raising the child over the course of 200 months, at S$1,500 per month.

But it was not reported how the 200-month figure came about.

The man countered with an offer to pay S$200 to S$250 per month, saying that this is the maximum he can pay.

Worked at food stall & as a driver

The man said he runs a food stall in a secondary school and earns S$2,300 a month for himself, while paying his assistant S$2,400 a month in salary.

He is also a part-time private-hire vehicle driver.

He said his monthly expenses are about S$2,276, of which S$1,000 goes to his parents' household expenses.

However, the judge reportedly said he was not convinced by the man's purported figures, as he claims that he pays his assistant more than himself.

The man would be better off being an assistant than the operator, the judge said.

Conflicting accounts

The exact date that both parties reestablished contact was also not clear.

The woman said she only got the man’s contact information in February 2024.

However, the man said the two of them had met three or four years after the child was born, but the woman’s then-husband asked him to stay away.

Going by their testimonies, and assuming the couple did meet a few years after the birth of the child, the judge reportedly said it would be unfair to the man if the child support payments were to be recovered from the time the child was born.

The judge said that since the man said that he could give S$200 to S$250 in child support each month,  he should pay the woman a S$6,750 lump sum.

In addition, he also has to pay S$750 monthly child support payment.

This was after the judge factored in the time the woman first submitted the application in May 2024.

Tried to show woman lead comfortable life

The man tried submitting proof in court during the oral submission stage to show that the woman now lived a comfortable life, but the judge did not accept it.

According to the judgement, the woman worked two jobs, earning S$1,500 a month as an administrative assistant, while also running her own cloud kitchen business, earning about S$2,000 a month.

The man also tried to show that the woman bought a new car and branded bags, including one that cost S$15,000.

The judge disallowed the submission and said both parties had ended their testimony on Oct. 24, 2024.

Moreover, the man did not inform the woman in advance of the purpose of the new submissions and could not explain why it was not done earlier.

Child support payments in Singapore usually continue until the child is 21 years old.

The man is appealing the verdict.

Top photo via Unsplash