Social services will pay for Alfie Patten to take a DNA test, and if the 13-year-old is the father of baby Maisie, he and his family could make a fortune selling their story.
Alfie and girlfriend Chantelle Stedman’s families have already been paid tens of thousands of dollars to sell their story to the British tabloids. Ten film companies are reportedly bidding to make a movie about them, and one former News of the World editor estimates that the families stand to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in the coming years by selling photos of milestones in Maisie’s life, like her first birthday or first day at school. Of course, these offers are dependent on the paternity test, which social services has agreed to pay for, proving that Alfie is the baby’s father. For now, all the media attention has caused Alfie’s school to report that he is often truant. His mother Nicola Patten will appear in court next week to explain why Alfie didn’t attend school regularly during a five-month period last year. [The Washington Post, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail]