In episode 334 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Mike Thompson.
Mike is the Founder of two organisations, Paternity Fraud UK and the Falsely Accused Network.
Mike founded PFUK in July 2020 and then later set up FAN in May 2023.
FAN supports men who have been falsely accused of domestic abuse in the family court system and outside of it, and PFUK supports men and families who have been the victim of paternity fraud, which is still not classified as its own unique criminal offence in the UK.
Mike’s desire to start these organisations came from his own experience of being the victim of paternity fraud and being falsely accused of domestic abuse from his marriage to his first wife.
Mike married his first wife in 2013 but very quickly after the wedding, the relationship became toxic.
In November 2017, he decided to leave the relationship for good. However, the day he told her he was leaving her, she rang him and told him she was pregnant.
This child was born in the summer of 2019. Fast forward two years later and in May 2020, after developing suspicions about his paternity and his best friend disclosing to him that he shared his own doubts, he took a DNA test and devastatingly, Mike found out that the child he was raising as his own for two years, was not his.
In this episode we discuss that journey, his experience of periods of depression at various points in his life, his experience of being a victim of paternity fraud, its prevalence in the UK and the statistics behind it, his experience of the family court system and being falsely accused of domestic abuse.
We then discuss how he channelled that trauma into setting up PFUK and FAN, the work the organisations do to support men, the safeguards they have in place to determine the genuine men who have been falsely accused and those who are in actual fact abusers looking to falsely accuse their own female victims, and the key achievements the organisation has had since they were created.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can find out more about Paternity Fraud UK here.
You can find out more about Falsely Accused Network here.
You can follow FAN on social media here.
You can follow PFUK on social media here.
TRIGGER WARNING: this podcast contains discussions about paternity fraud, domestic abuse and suicide, which some listeners may find distressing or upsetting, so please listen with caution.
Support Us:
Music: Patawawa – Strange
