Can Offset Claim Parentage of Cardi B’s Baby with Stefon Diggs?

For anyone out there not familiar with rapper Cardi B, the superstar from New York City is going through a contentious divorce from fellow rapper, Offset from the Migos. Cardi B and Offset were reportedly married in September 2017, but the two of them have been estranged and feuding in the courts for some time now. Their divorce is not yet final, so technically the pair remains married.

While there are many interesting issues that can come up in celebrity divorces, Offset recently raised the issue of the paternity of Cardi B’s recently-born baby via social media. The problem is that Cardi B’s new baby was fathered by NFL wide receiver Stefon Diggs. No one is claiming that Diggs is not the father of the new baby and he has embraced the child publicly, Offset posted comments on his social media that by law he is the legal father (but not biological father) of the new baby.

How can that be?

Without commenting on Georgia law (where Cardi B and Offset’s divorce litigation is taking place), this scenario sometimes also plays out in Maryland. Maryland has a similar law on the books. In Maryland, any child that is born while the mother is legally married is presumed to be the child of the husband.

In some cases, a pregnancy with a biological father but who is not the legal husband can be a reason to expedite the divorce proceedings because presumably both parties are motivated to avoid the potential ramifications of the scenario.

For example, the mother has obvious reasons to assure that the new child’s birth certificate and information regarding the biological father are accurate. From the nonbiological father/husband’s perspective, there are also motivations to resolve these situations as there are legal consequences to being a child’s father in the state of Maryland. For example, the non-biological-father-but-legal-husband could be found liable for child support of a child that is not biologically his but legally his responsibility.

One might question why this law, or similar laws in other states, might exist. The roots of this law are founded in the principles of the best interest of the child ideology that is the bedrock of child custody laws in Maryland and other states. If a child were to grow up believing that his/her non-biological father is in fact his/her biological father, and the non-biological father acts as such, a strong familial bond grows between the child and the non-biological father can develop over time.

Maryland Court’s have found that potentially breaking that bond then can be contrary to the best interest of the child. Maryland Courts will weigh the degree of that bond when making decisions whether to declare that the non-biological father/husband is not the legal father of the child. In such cases, the Court can award the non-biological father/husband legal and physical custodial rights of the child, as well as impose a child support obligation where appropriate.

While this result can seem unfair (and perhaps offensive) to some, when viewed in the light of what is best for the child in question, one can at least understand what Offset was referring to on his social media.