I wasn’t going to ask for child support initially, because I don’t want him to have any custody over his son if he is high on meth 100% of the time he is awake. He begged and begged to meet his son, and when he was 4 months old I caved and gave him the chance… which he blew off to smoke dope.

Now, when I look at my son I’m pissed at him to no end, and I want child support. He doesn’t have a job so I’m not going to get any, but if he ever pulls his life back together he needs to contribute to the life of the child he made. He shouldnt just be allowed to knock up a dozen women while he roams the street getting high all day and night. He has another son in Cali who he walked out on 8 years ago. She filed for child support and he has to pay when he works.

He is not on the birth certificate… and I don’t want him awarded any custody because he’s always high… what are the steps I have to take to prove to a court he’s the Father, and to request he take a drug test if he wants visitation? I’d put money on it that he won’t even show to court. He was ordered to go to rehab in lieu of prison for violating his probation for getting caught shoplifting with dope on him, but he never went, so Im sure there is a warrant for him.

I also don’t have the slightest idea where he lives, so I don’t know how they’d serve him. Last I checked he was homeless and robbing people to pay for hotels so he could sell drugs out of them to have money to use them. What a winner right? His mom keeps me well updated, she and the rest of his fam are just as pissed at him as I am. She is the one who strongly insisted I file for child support.

I can’t afford a lawyer at all. So, I need to figure out what I need to do on my own and make it happen. I know absolutely nothing about how anything in family court is done. I live in Phoenix, AZ. Any advice you could give would be a major help. Thank you!

I’m only 17. I know there isn’t much I can do, but if you know if something I can do, please, tell me. I need a new approach. He doesn’t like me much even though I am his only child.

This is killing me as much as it’s killing him.

[if your answer is going to be plain arrogant and mean, keep your fingers from typing. i don't want to hear negative bullsh*t. heard enough.]

My step-father is an alcoholic. HIs episodes of drinking are violent, angry, and have resulted in abusive fights with my mother. The things he’s done have cause irreversible harm to me, my nine-year old sister, and possibly my four-year-old brother. Luckily, he’s never touched any of us. If he ever did, it would cause me to do a lot more harm to him than me.

The problem is, he only drinks when my mother isn’t home or when she works late. He’ll be the only one to watch us and drink alcohol or vodka he’s hidden in the house. I don’t know what kind of sick person would choose this over us, but he has.

If I had more room, I might be able to go into the problem in more detail but unfortunately I don’t. Bottom line, I don’t know what to do.
My mom knows about this. His violent episodes have often caused them to get into abusive fights, one one occasion hitting her with his belt. But what can she do? Divorce him? She wouldn’t be able to care for me, my brother, or sister.

Thx in advance.

Multiple Choice
1. Humans have

23 pairs of sex chromosomes and 1 pair of autosomes
23 pairs of chromosomes, of which 1 pair are sex chromosomes
22 pairs of sex chromosomes and 1 pair of autosomes
1 pair of sex chromosomes and 12 pair of autosomes

2. A female is created with the fertilization of

an egg with a Y chromosome by a sperm with a X chromosome
an egg with an X chromosome by a sperm with an Y chromosome
an egg with a Y chromosome by a sperm with a Y chromosome
an egg with an X chromosome by a sperm with an X chromosome

3. Genes found on the X chromosome are considered

sex-linked
sex-limited
sex-influenced
autosomal recessive

4. Which of the following is a sex-linked trait?

sickle-cell anemia
dwarfism
albinism
color blindness

5. If a male with hemophilia is crossed with a carrier female, what is the probability their children will have hemophilia?

25 percent
50 percent
75 percent
100 percent

6. Sex-influenced is defined as

your gender is more influential in society
your gender determines if the heterozygote will express the trait
your gender is not able to get the genetic disorder
having an X and Y chromosome

7. Nondisjunction is

the pulling apart of chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis
a chromosome that has been broken
when chromosomes cannot replicate in interphase
the unequal separation of chromosomes during meiosis

8. What is the end result of a cell that underwent nondisjunction?

cells with more and less chromosomes than they should have
a fertilized egg with an extra chromosome
a sperm cell with one less chromosome
mutated cells

9. Trisomy 21 is commonly called

Down syndrome
Patau’s syndrome
Edwards syndrome
Turner’s syndrome

10. Which of the following genetic conditions describes Turner’s syndrome?

an extra X compared to a normal female
XXY sex chromosomes instead of XX or XY
only one X for sex chromosomes
three of the thirteenth chromosome

11. What is the probability that parents with type AB and type O blood will have offspring with type O blood?

75 percent
50 percent
25 percent
0 percent

12. Which of the following children cannot be born from the following cross: AO x AB?

type A
type AB
type B
type O

13. A mother has type AB blood, and the father has type A, and they have five children with the following blood types: A, AB, B, A, B; what is the genotype of the father?

AA
AO
BB
BO
AB

14. Which of the following genes is a good example of multiple alleles?

blood types
colorblindness
Huntington’s disease
Rh factor

15. When using a pedigree, males are drawn as what shape?

circle
triangle
square
rectangle
pentagon

16. How many autosomes does a person have in each cell of his or her body?

23 pairs
22 pairs
1 pair
20 pairs

17. Which of the following statements about sex-linked disorders is true?

It is easier for women to express a sex-linked disorder.
Prostate cancer is a good example of a sex-linked disorder.
Balding is a good example of a sex-linked disorder.
It is easier for men to express a sex-linked disorder.

18. What sex chromosomes does a person with Klienfelter’s Syndrome have?

XXX
XO
XXY
XY

19. What does a person with hemophilia lack?

the ability to see the blue-green color spectrum
the ability of their blood to clot
an X chromosome
the Rh factor

20. Which of the following conditions is not an example of nondisjunction?

Huntington’s disease
Turner’s Syndrome
Klienfelter’s Syndrome
Trisomy 21

I’ve had a job before, so I’ve got the experience, but maybe not enough? It was only seasonal but I’ve worked there for 2 years in a row.