- Woman speaks on child paternity triangle
- AAP
- 13/03/2007 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: admin ( 59 articles in 2007 )
MELBOURNE - Meredith Magill - the woman exposed as a repeat adulterer after a routine paternity test - has spoken for the first time about being sued by her ex-husband.
Ms Magill's infidelity made headlines when she was sued by her dejected ex-husband Liam Magill for deceit after a paternity test revealed he was not the father of two of their three children.
His case was thrown out by the High Court last November, overturning the $70,000 compensation order awarded to Mr Magill in the Victorian County Court.
Ms Magill resisted lucrative media offers to tell her story, but she has spoken candidly about the impact the case has had on her family in an unpaid interview with The Bulletin magazine.
"No one wanted to hear my side of the story. They just wanted to punish me and what good would that have done my children?" she said.
In 2000, several years after the Magill's marriage collapsed, a paternity test revealed their two youngest children, Heath, now 16, and Bonnie, 15, had been fathered by another man.
Mr Magill paid child maintenance for all three children, including his biological son Arlen, now 17, for several years after the marriage break-up. But in the end the slate was wiped clean.
The lawsuit was not seeking reimbursement for child maintenance, but for deceit, noted The Bulletin.
Ms Magill has made no attempt to excuse her behaviour, but she blames her ex-husband for becoming estranged from his children.
"I can't pretty this up. I had an affair and had two kids whose father was another man, not my husband," she told the weekly magazine. "I know that what I did was inexcusable in a lot of people's eyes, but I was young - 23 when the affair began - depressed and in a pretty horrible relationship.
"It started during my marriage and went on for some time after it ended. I did it for the same reasons most people do. It made me happy for a while but my kids have suffered the consequences. So have I."
Ms Magill said any guilt she felt had been "wiped out" by the way Liam had abandoned his kids. Arlen has not seen his father since he was 11 and harbours more of a grudge against his dad than his cheating mum.
"I want my dad to read this story so he realises just what he's missed out on," Arlen said. "You can't buy those memories back, but you know what? It's his loss, not mine."
Bonnie and Heath have formed a relationship with their biological father, and Bonnie is particularly resentful of her estranged dad.
Ms Magill's infidelity made headlines when she was sued by her dejected ex-husband Liam Magill for deceit after a paternity test revealed he was not the father of two of their three children.
His case was thrown out by the High Court last November, overturning the $70,000 compensation order awarded to Mr Magill in the Victorian County Court.
Ms Magill resisted lucrative media offers to tell her story, but she has spoken candidly about the impact the case has had on her family in an unpaid interview with The Bulletin magazine.
"No one wanted to hear my side of the story. They just wanted to punish me and what good would that have done my children?" she said.
In 2000, several years after the Magill's marriage collapsed, a paternity test revealed their two youngest children, Heath, now 16, and Bonnie, 15, had been fathered by another man.
Mr Magill paid child maintenance for all three children, including his biological son Arlen, now 17, for several years after the marriage break-up. But in the end the slate was wiped clean.
The lawsuit was not seeking reimbursement for child maintenance, but for deceit, noted The Bulletin.
Ms Magill has made no attempt to excuse her behaviour, but she blames her ex-husband for becoming estranged from his children.
"I can't pretty this up. I had an affair and had two kids whose father was another man, not my husband," she told the weekly magazine. "I know that what I did was inexcusable in a lot of people's eyes, but I was young - 23 when the affair began - depressed and in a pretty horrible relationship.
"It started during my marriage and went on for some time after it ended. I did it for the same reasons most people do. It made me happy for a while but my kids have suffered the consequences. So have I."
Ms Magill said any guilt she felt had been "wiped out" by the way Liam had abandoned his kids. Arlen has not seen his father since he was 11 and harbours more of a grudge against his dad than his cheating mum.
"I want my dad to read this story so he realises just what he's missed out on," Arlen said. "You can't buy those memories back, but you know what? It's his loss, not mine."
Bonnie and Heath have formed a relationship with their biological father, and Bonnie is particularly resentful of her estranged dad.
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