ALL MY CHILDREN’s Amanda is in a bind, pregnant but unsure whether the father is David or JR. But if it’s any consolation, she’s far from the first Pine Valley lass to find herself in a paternity pickle. Here are 9 other sagas (one for each month of pregnancy!) involving some serious daddy issues.
Amy Tyler:
When AMC debuted in 1970, Ruth Brent was harboring one heck of a secret: Phil, the boy she had raised as her own with hubby Ted, was actually the progeny of her sister, Amy, and Nick Davis. Erica discovered the truth and blabbed it to Phil in the hopes of winning his affections. When Ted found out that the cat was out of the bag, he drank himself silly and died in the ensuing car accident.
Tara Martin Brent:
In 1972, Tara wed Chuck, but her heart was with Phil, so much so that they married themselves in an unofficial ceremony and consummated the faux union, which left Tara preggers. With Phil now presumed dead in Vietnam, she confessed the truth to Chuck, who wanted to raise the boy, named after Phil, as his own; Tara agreed and told the truth to no one else, except for Ruth. The truth didn’t reach the very-much-alive Phil until 1975.
Donna Beck Cortlandt:
Donna was a unique case insofar as the dads knew the truth before the mom — and Mom also harbored another woman’s paternity secret! In 1982, Donna slept with Chuck while on her honeymoon to Switzerland with Palmer when she and Chuck were trapped together in an avalanche. Back in Pine Valley, Estelle gave birth to daughter Emily but was killed in a car accident shortly thereafter. Before taking her final breathe, Estelle made Donna promise never to tell the child that she had been sired by psycho pimp Billy Clyde. Donna took in the tot and raised her as her own. Meanwhile, she learned that she was expecting a baby and she was sure it was Palmer’s. She gave birth to Palmer John, called Johnny. Unbeknownst to Donna, Palmer knew he couldn’t be the pop because he was sterile, and he and Chuck had agreed not to divulge the truth — but Phoebe filled her in in 1983 and Donna was livid with both men.
Barbara Montgomery:
Pregnant by Travis, who was married to Erica, Barbara was grateful when Tom volunteered to take responsibility for the child. They married on the same day she gave birth to little Molly. But in 1990, Molly became ill with leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant, so Barbara gave Travis a belated baby announcement and, despite the fact that they were both happily married to others, they slept together in the hopes of conceiving a child who could provide the much-needed marrow. Their son, Sean, proved to be a match, though neither of his parents’ marriages survived the deception.
Mimi Reed:
In 1993, with her romance with Derek on the rocks, Mimi succumbed to temptation and spent a night with Lucas Barnes. When Danielle, her little girl, was born in 1994, Mimi didn’t know which fella deserved a cigar. But Mimi and Derek patched things up and married — and the best wedding gift they got was a DNA test confirming that Derek was indeed the daddy.
Maria Santos Grey:
Maria was going through a rough patch in her marriage to Edmund, while Dimitri’s union with Erica was similarly under duress. One night, the in-laws found solace in each other’s arms. When Maria found out she was expecting, the news was bittersweet, as she didn’t know whose little swimmers were responsible. In 1997, Skye, who wanted Edmund for herself, got a lab technician to doctor the DNA test to make it look like the baby was Dimitri’s, and Maria (presumably) died in a plane crash before Edmund learned that little Maddie was actually his. Skye decided to come clean but Dimitri threatened her life, then absconded to Hungary with the baby. Albeit belatedly, Skye ‘fessed up to Tad and Edmund, who recovered the baby.
Babe Chandler:
Freshly married to JR in 2003, Babe was super-stressed at the prospect of meeting her fancy-shmancy in-laws, so she did what anyone in her situation would do: She had a one-night stand with a handsome stranger who turned out to be her husband’s stepbrother. (Whoops!) And wouldn’t you know it, she soon learned that she was pregnant. Before Babe gave birth to Little Adam, JR insisted on a paternity test. Babe’s ex, Paul, to whom she was actually still married (whoops again!) made sure that the results indicated that JR was the father. But since he actually was, his self-serving heroics were no biggie.
Mary Smythe:
Mary got pregnant by Jack during their youthful fling, but she married Roger Smythe, who raised Greenlee as his own. It wasn’t until 2003, the year after Roger was shot dead, that both Greenlee and Jack discovered the truth, leading to his temporary breakup with Erica, who had kept the secret to herself so as not to give Mary leverage in her quest to win back Jack.
Krystal Chandler:
When Greg Madden died in 2006, Tad’s chances of finding his missing daughter seemed to die with him, so Krystal comforted Tad the best way she knew how: by sleeping with him in his living room, despite the fact that she was married to Adam. When Krystal’s belly ballooned, Adam was thrilled; they even named the baby girl she was soon to birth Charlotte, after his late sister. Late in Krystal’s pregnancy, she finally admitted the truth to both men. Adam was so disgusted and devastated that when she went into labor with the girl she ultimately named Jenny, he left her alone on the floor (Colby took over baby-delivering duties), and, even worse, kidnapped the newborn for a time.
