Gypsy-Rose Blanchard‘s ex Ryan Anderson could be listed as the father of her baby on the infant’s birth certificate, a Louisiana attorney confirms to PEOPLE.
Blanchard, 32, and her boyfriend Ken Urker announced that they’re expecting their first baby together on Tuesday, July 9. In April, the Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup star filed for a divorce from her husband Ryan Anderson, whom she married in 2022, and if the divorce is not finalized by the time of the baby’s birth, then Anderson’s name may be on the birth certificate.
According to Louisiana law, “If the mother is married to someone other than the biological father when the child was conceived or has been divorced for less than 300 days at the time of birth, the husband/ex-husband shall be the presumed father, unless paternity is established for the biological father.”
With this law in place, the only way Urker’s name will go on the birth certificate is if Anderson signs an affidavit that Urker is the father. If he doesn’t, and if Urker wants his name on the birth certificate, he will have to file a motion with the courts and the courts will make all three of them take a DNA test to determine the father.
Beau Brock, an attorney in Louisiana who has practiced family law, among other things, for 32 years, spoke with PEOPLE on Friday, July 12, about why this law is in place and how it will affect Blanchard, Urker and Anderson.
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“There’s a legal presumption in Louisiana that if you have a child while you’re married, it’s presumed to be the husband’s child. It’s done that way to protect the child,” Brock explains to PEOPLE. “All the laws in Louisiana concerning paternity are designed to protect the child and make sure the child has a father and a mother to provide for them. So that presumption can be overcome by DNA and that’s what people have to do.”
“If the husband goes and signs the affidavit along with the boyfriend, then the true father, if you will, if it’s the boyfriend’s name, will go on the birth certificate,” says Brock, adding, “In these kinds of situations, we always recommend to do a DNA test because there are overlapping hookups that are possible. You don’t know.”
However, if Anderson declines to sign the affidavit or take a DNA test because he wants to be on the birth certificate, “Then the other party [Urker] would hire a lawyer and go in and file for paternity, and then the court would order a DNA test.” Brock explains. “So, in the end, if the boyfriend’s fighting it, and the husband will not sign a certificate saying he’s the father, ultimately the court’s going to make them all take a DNA test.”
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Brock also explains how the courts would proceed with DNA testing in this scenario.
“The courts, they’re used to dealing with things like this, there’s a whole mechanism to take a DNA test that is admissible in court,” he shares. “You make sure that the sample is taken from is the correct sample standpoint. The people, they’re done from witnesses, so they know that this sample came from this person so that the results in court are legitimate and can go unchallenged.”
After all of these measures are taken and the DNA results prove that Urker is the father, only then will Blanchard and Urker be able to submit it to the vital records, who will change the birth certificate to say Urker’s name as the father.
However, if Blanchard and Anderson finalize their divorce before the baby is born, then Urker’s name with be on the baby’s birth certificate without any legal trouble.
In May, the former inmate and Munchausen by proxy victim opened up to PEOPLE about rekindling her romance with Urker. While serving time in prison for her role in the killing of her mother, Blanchard was in a relationship with Urker, who first started as a pen pal.
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Urker proposed in 2018 and their relationship then ended years prior to her 2023 prison release. At the time of her release, Blanchard was married to Anderson, whom she married while she was in prison.
“Ken and I reconnected as friends. It wasn’t like, jump out of a marriage and then let me meet up with you, and boom, we’re in a relationship,” she said. “We had kept a friendship for the longest time. He was in a relationship. I was with Ryan, and so we were living different lives with respect to our partners, a ‘wish you the best’ type of thing.”
After her marriage to Anderson fell apart, Blanchard told PEOPLE that Urker is who she turned to. “It wasn’t until I knew that my marriage was over that I was like, ‘I would like to see you and let’s hang out because we never got to hang out before when I was in prison’,” she said.
“I would say that Ken is my first love because that’s when I honestly felt like a mature love. It wasn’t based off of a fantasy. It was actually based on a connection that two people have for each other,” added Blanchard.
