Paternity Test - Boris Becker Boosted German Demand

Paternity Test On TV - Boris Becker Boosted German Demand

Boris Becker became famous for playing tennis, but he also became equally famous for a brief encounter with a Russian model in a broom cupboard. A bitter court case ensued that was finally settled with a paternity test. Becker inadvertently did a lot for boosting the popularity of the paternity test in Germany.

Paternity Test Boom in Germany

As a result, Oliver Geissen, one of Germany's biggest TV celebrities hosted a lunchtime show that attracted 1.3m viewers, because of its use of the paternity test. The show read out the results of each paternity test on air Jerry Springer-style. At the time, it was estimated that about 10% of German babies were the result of adulterous affairs.

Paternity Test - High Profile Paternity Suits

High profile paternity suits involving celebrities such as Boris Becker, who initially denied he fathered a baby in the cupboard of a London restaurant, have certainly boosted demand for a paternity test. In 2001, Becker finally admitted paternity after a paternity test showed he was undisputedly the father of the child in question. The child was a result of a liaison with Angela Ermakova, a Russian model, in the broom cupboard of a London restaurant. The Wimbledon champion denied paternity until the results of the paternity test, which Becker had himself sought. As a result of the paternity test, Becker agreed to take responsibility and pay child maintenance for his daughter.

Paternity Test - Child Maintenance

The outcome of the paternity test meant Angela Ermakova would receive financial help bringing up the child. The paternity test disputes and affair clearly had a devastating impact on all involved. Becker's wife Barbara divorced the tennis star a month before the paternity test results were revealed and won a million-dollar settlement in court, and custody of their two sons.

All Day Drinking Binge

Becker blamed the affair with the model on a drinking session. He told reporters that his defeat by Pat Rafter in the 1999 Wimbledon championship sent him on a drinking binge that led to the broom cupboard encounter. Despite denying the sexual act that led to his daughter's birth, an act that was said to have lasted five seconds, a paternity test proved that he was without doubt the girl's father. “It wasn't even an affair," Becker said in a TV interview, “It was an act that lasted five seconds. I never saw her before and never saw her again afterwards… It's a mistake that is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.”