Who’s The Daddy? A Look Back At B&B’s Paternity Puzzlers

In 1992, while Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) was married to Eric, she had a passionate encounter with his son/her ex, Ridge (then-Ronn Moss). Mr. and Mrs. Forrester went their separate ways and when Brooke discovered she was with child, she realized that both her soon-to-be ex and his son were candidates for the role of bio dad. As Brooke held onto the hope that her baby would turn out to be Ridge's, Sheila worried that her burgeoning relationship with Eric would be threatened if he turned out to be the baby daddy. When a DNA test was ordered up in 1993, after Brooke gave birth to a baby girl (Bridget), Sheila sent her lackey, Mike, to make sure the results indicated that Ridge was the father. However, Mike botched the mission and was left confused after mixing up the blood samples. Brooke was overjoyed that Ridge was named the father but years later, another paternity test proved Eric was Bridget's pop after all.

In 1998, gold-digger Amber Moore (Adrienne Frantz) set her sights on rich-boy Rick Forrester, her babysitting charge. After he lost his virginity to her, Amber hooked up with former high-school pal Raymond (Usher Raymond), and when she learned she was pregnant, she had no idea who the father was. Amber concealed this from Rick, announcing that she was having his baby, and they tied the knot even though the expectant mom knew Raymond could be the father. Amber visited her mom, Tawny, and explained her predicament. Amber went into labor and a midwife helped to deliver the baby, who was tragically stillborn. A devastated Amber then agreed to Tawny’s plan to pass off her cousin Becky’s baby boy as Eric Forrester III. The ruse worked until Becky wanted her baby back and Amber had to confess her deception to Rick, which bought her a one-way ticket to the curb.

In 2003, Brooke believed Ridge had been killed on their honeymoon and in her grief, she hopped in the sack with his half brother, Nick (Jack Wagner). Brooke was thrilled when Ridge soon turned up alive, but was distraught when she discovered she was pregnant. A prenatal DNA test declared that Nick was the father of Brooke’s son, so she annulled her marriage to Ridge. Still, Brooke was unable to go through with marrying Nick and she reunited with Ridge, who promised he would love her little boy as his own. After Ridge helped Brooke deliver her baby in 2004, the duo got a huge surprise when Nick (who had only recently found this out himself) delivered the news that a second paternity test proved that Ridge was the bio dad, after all. A delighted Brooke and Ridge named their son Ridge Forrester, Jr. (R.J.) and got hitched again.

When former college beau Massimo Marone (Joseph Mascolo) moved to L.A. in 2002, Stephanie (Susan Flannery) recalled their intense romance and how, after they had unprotected sex, she was relieved not to have become pregnant. Shortly after, Stephanie had fallen for Eric Forrester and when she learned she was pregnant after they made love, she assumed only he could be responsible. They went on to marry and after son Ridge was born, they welcomed more children. Stephanie was aghast when Ridge's bloodwork indicated that he wasn't biologically related to Eric, which meant he was Massimo’s son! She came clean with Mass but swore him to secrecy. Marone stayed mum but when he secretly started playing games to push Ridge toward the truth, Stephanie nipped that in the bud by confessing everything to Eric, who was devastated as was Ridge, to whom Massimo spilled the paternity beans in 2003.

After a year away, Felicia Forrester (Lesli Kay) returned to Los Angeles from Paris in 2005 with a new baby boy, Dominick, and some awful news: her cancer had returned and she was facing a terminal diagnosis, having opted to forego treatment while pregnant. Felicia believed that Nick Marone — who was by then married to Felicia's half sister, Bridget — was the father of her son, and named the boy after him. Nick and Bridget did their best to take the news in stride, and in light of Felicia's health, they became active in little Dominick's life. Then Dante Damiano (Antonio Sabato, Jr.), with whom Felicia had had a fling in Paris, raised the question if he might have fathered her baby. Felicia pooh-poohed the notion, but Dante insisted he had a right to know, and in 2006, a paternity test was administered, proving that Dante's suspicions were correct: little Dominick was his biological son, not Nick's.

In 2010, Liam Cooper (Scott Clifton, c.) came to L.A. after the death of his mom, Kelly, a former fashion model, who advised her son to find his father at Forrester Creations, where she used to work. At the fashion house, Liam approached Thorne (Winsor Harmon), who fondly recalled dating Kelly until she suddenly left town. When Liam shared that he could be a Forrester, Thorne was excited by prospect of having another child and was eager to accept Liam, but there was one last hurdle to jump: Bill Spencer also dated Kelly. The reaction from Bill that he could have a son was the polar opposite from Thorne’s; Spencer accused Liam of being after his money. Liam was offended, and was far from pleased when a DNA test administered by Dr. Steele (l.) showed that Bill was indeed his bio dad. Eventually, father and son accepted each other.

In 2017, Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) felt so betrayed when Liam confessed that he’d shared a kiss with Sally that she sought comfort from her father-in-law, Bill (Don Diamont), and they slept together. Bill was once again smitten with Steffy, while Steffy wanted to forget what happened between them. Steffy got her marriage back on track but their happiness hit a snag when she found out she was pregnant and had no clue which Spencer was the father. When Liam found the results of the paternity test Steffy had secretly commissioned, Steffy was forced to come clean about having sex with his dad. Liam was devastated. Though a DNA test confirmed Liam was the father, he couldn’t forgive his wife’s infidelity and their marriage stalled. Bill was determined to make Steffy his wife, even after she gave birth to Liam’s baby girl, who they named Kelly after his late mother. Bill finally backed off and Steffy and Liam reveled in their new roles of parenthood.

In 2021, Steffy had intimate relations with two men: Finn (Tanner Novlan), the handsome doctor who had captured her heart after he helped her overcome an opioid addiction, and her ex-husband Liam, with whom she'd had a drunken one-night stand. When she learned she was pregnant, Steffy wasn't sure which man was the biological father. She came clean with Finn, who was understandably upset but forgave the betrayal and vowed to stand by Steffy regardless of the paternity outcome. When the results of a paternity test indicated that the baby was Liam's, Steffy and Finn were both devastated. Meanwhile, Thomas became suspicious of his pal Vinny, who was working at the same lab where the paternity test had been processed. Vinny eventually confessed to Thomas that he had tampered with the results, hoping that Liam being named the father would split up Liam and Hope, thus clearing Thomas's path to being with Hope. Having learned the truth, Finn caught up to Steffy just as she was about to jet to Paris and excitedly informed her that he, not Liam, was her new child's father! The couple soon got engaged and welcomed their son, Hayes.