I don't want to give a lengthy and wordy story of the details of betrayal but I have a son that is 4 years old and I had a growing suspection that he wasn't mine. I went and ordered a paternity test with myself, son and his mother. We I got the result I found out the child wasn't mine. My name happens to be on the birth certificate and I went a lawyer who told me there isn't anything I can do. I refuse to believe there isn't something that can be done. What is your opinion? - I also live in New York.

What do you want to do. Remove your name?

I would consult another attorney. You left out some important facts here. I'm going to assume that a) you were never married to the mother, b) you signed an acknowledgment of paternity when the child was born and c) you have treated the child as your son the last 4 years.

According to NYS law: New York State Paternity Laws | DNA Testing for Paternity, Maternity, Sibling and Immigration you can challenge paternity but only "only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact". I assume that you had sex with the mother around the time of conception so it wasn't unreasonable to assume you were the father. However, if the mother withheld from you that there were other potential fathers, that could be fraud. I don't know if there was any duress involved, but there might have been material mistake of fact.

Now the thing is a NY Family Court judge could look at this situation and rule that you have acted as the boy's father for 4 years. That it could do harm to the boy to remove you as the father (talk about betrayal!). That could be why the attorney advised there was nothing you could do. But the law seems to allow you to challenge the paternity.

Another thing you don't state is what you want to do about this situation. That could dictate your next move.