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 test in Germany.

Paternity Testing 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 test on air Jerry Springer-style. At the time, it was estimated that about 10% of German babies were the result of adulterous affairs.

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 DNA test. In 2001, Becker finally admitted paternity after a paternity DNA 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 test, which Becker had himself sought. As a result of the DNA test, Becker agreed to take responsibility and pay child maintenance for his daughter.

Child Maintenance

The outcome of the 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 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.”