Mick Reynolds is a grieving father and a broken man after learning his loving relationship with his son Lockie Hernaman was based on a terrible lie.
"I felt anger, I felt conned," Reynolds told A Current Affair.
Reynolds was 21 when he found out his on-off girlfriend Melissa Hernaman was pregnant.
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"I said to her, 'is he even mine?' And then she said, 'yeah of course'," Reynolds said.
Reynolds wasn't ready to be a dad, but Lockie became the apple of his eye.
Reynolds stayed in the family home with Hernaman and Lockie for as long as he could.
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When Lockie was seven years old, Reynolds felt comfortable leaving and sharing custody with Hernaman.
Reynolds claims he paid for Lockie's expenses when he was with him and also paid money to Hernaman to support Lockie for 10 and a half years.
"(I paid) $400 a fortnight into Mel's account," Reynolds said.
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"I did that from when I moved out at the end of 2005 until the day he turned 18."
Reynolds said he believes over the years he paid around $110,000.
He said his other son Rory was born "a mini me" but going back "Lockie didn't resemble me at all".
Family tragedy opens can of worms
Reynolds is a proud father and shared a deep passion for sport with Lockie.
On April 30, 2019, Lockie's heart suddenly stopped while he was at footy training in his hometown of Harvey in Western Australia.
"The phone call was, 'Lockie's collapsed on the footy oval', ... and they said they're working on him," Reynolds said.
"The phone rang again and it was a copper on the phone and (they) said, 'he's gone'."
The 20-year-old's death shattered the small community and his parents.
In the months that followed, the family wanted answers about Lockie's death, but got none.
"Sudden heart failure, that's the only answer I really got," Reynolds said.
But more than a year later, Reynolds said Hernaman got a call from a genetic testing team at Perth's King Edward Memorial Hospital, where Lockie was born.
"So Mel's contacted me to say, 'they want to do some testing and stuff'."
But that's all the information Reynolds received.
"She never passed on any information," Reynolds said.
Reynolds said he felt something didn't add up, so his partner, Sharna Timmer, looked into genetic testing in WA.
After months passed, they had a breakthrough when they got in touch with King Edward Memorial Hospital.
Mother admits to questionable paternity
Reynolds got tested and was told he was fine, so he turned his attention to Hernaman.
"So I put it to her and go, 'oh well I'm not carrying the gene' and she goes, 'oh well nor am I', so I just said to her, next thing was, 'well who, where did it come from?'.
"She just went all quiet ... and then on the phone ... hung up pretty quick."
In a text message to Reynolds, Hernaman confessed her terrible lie - that Lockie's paternity was never certain.
"There was one other person, one time, one only," the text said.
"Yes, you could have the test and we find that you are not the biological father, but you are and always will be his Dad.
"I know I should have said something at the time, but I know I made a mistake and I knew you were going to be a good dad."
Reynolds needed closure in the form of a paternity test, but to do that Hernaman had to sign off on Lockie's DNA being released by the WA coroner.
"We weren't able to get any of Lockie's DNA for paternity testing unless Mel's full permission was given," Timmer said.
A father learns the truth
Finally, in December last year Reynolds learnt the truth.
"Michael Bruce Reynolds, you are not the biological father of Lachlan Bailey Hernaman," a letter said.
"Who is the dad?" Reynolds said he asked.
"She wouldn't tell me," Reynolds said.
Reynolds got a name and called the man he was told was Lockie's biological father.
"I spoke to him for maybe 10 minutes or so," Reynolds said.
"All he said was, 'yep, yep, yep' and at the end of it he said, 'I appreciate your call' and I('ve) never heard, or seen of him since."
Lockie was a fit young man when his heart suddenly stopped.
His parents still don't know why that happened, because they were given the all clear by genetic testing teams.
But his biological father may hold the clue to his death.
When Reynolds finally had all the facts, he went to Harvey to get an apology and brought up the money he'd paid Hernaman.
"She turned around and goes oh I should have paid more," Reynolds said.
When A Current Affair approached Hernaman, she wasn't interested in answering questions about Reynolds.
When asked why she took child support payments for a decade when she knew Reynolds might not be the father, she responded saying "I didn't though".
Reynolds will always consider Lockie his son and still goes to his grave to grieve his loss, but now even that could be taken away from him.
"She's in the process of trying to get the gravestone changed," Reynolds said.
"(To get) my name off it."
What became apparent throughout Reynolds and Timmer's research into paternity fraud is that there's little support available to men in Australia.
It can also be a very expensive exercise to try and get any money back.
Reynolds said he had to give up on his legal fight against Hernaman because he couldn't afford it.
"I've had a marriage breakdown. I couldn't hold down work ... I had $37 left," Reynolds said.
"What does justice look like for you in this situation?" I asked.
"For Mel to acknowledge what she's done, that's the justice, but she hasn't got it in her," Reynolds said.
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2022-12-06 13:44:48Z
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