Let’s talk about safe sex in Europe. It’s quite the big legal subject, but one needn’t get into all the details.

I’ll start with mine: Sweden

Fatherhood carries the responsibility for the childs livelihood, same as motherhood. A father who doesn’t live in the same household as his child and/or isn’t legal guardian will have to pay money to the child (or usually mother) until they are 18 or 21, depending on if they are still going to school. If the father does not pay, the government will pay instead, and then collect the money from him.

• If a married woman is pregnant, the husband is legally the father. It doesn’t matter if somebody else knocked her up. If a married man wants to challenge his fatherhood of a child, he will in practice need the cooperation of the actual father to prove that he isn’t.

• If an unmarried woman is pregnant, a man can sign up for fatherhood. If a man doesn’t, social services will have to examine who the father is. This can be done through various methods and if they fail to ascertain who the father is, but the pregnant woman says who it is, it will be taken to court. In court, as far as I know, the burden of proof is nearly non-existant.

In all cases, if a man is legally determined to be the father of a child, but disputes this, or suspects he isn’t, he will need the actual father to help determine that he isn’t.

What’s it like in your country?