As if Octomom wasn’t bad enough, a Tennessee man, 29 year old Desmond Hatchett has now fathered at least 21 children he can’t support. Hatchett was in child support court again last week. His name appeared on the dockett 11 times in one day, representing 15 of his children.
Hatchett says he wasn’t out to set a record. He says he never intended to have this many children, “It just happened.” He fathered the children by at least 11 different women and he claims all of the mothers knew about his large family. The children range in age from newborn to 11 years old.
The question Knox County officials now face is how to support all these children. Hatchett works a minimum wage job and by law the state can only take 50% of his paycheck for child support. By the time that money is split 21 ways, some of the mothers get less than $2 per month. That leaves the taxpayers footing a large portion of the bill for these children.
Even though Hatchett can’t support the children he has, there is nothing the state can do to prevent him from having more. Hatchett reports that he had 4 children in one year, twice. He says he’s done having children now, but only time will tell. He does say that he’s a good father and knows the names, ages, and birthdates of all of his children.
All of the blame can’t be placed on Hatchett in this case. One has to wonder about the women who chose to have his children. In the end, the children and the taxpayers of Tennessee will pay for their choices for years to come.
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