I feel like there should be a way to back out of this. Yes they're biologically yours but you're not family. You were never told or involved in formative years. What if you never wanted kids? What if you're POOR?

I have sympathy for the child. Every child deserves to be wanted and loved.

Congratulations! And good luck!

This sounds like an 80s-90s movie plot. if real, man the **** up.

When you first meet your child, introduce yourself as his or her biological father. Be honest. Kids know when we lie. Do your best to keep being honest, that you don’t know what you’re doing. That you will do your best to do what is right. If you don’t want to raise your child tell social services right away, but know there is a chance this child if you don’t take care of him or her may not be adopted and the foster care system is not kind to older children. You are the last link to anyone this child has. Don’t worry about failing. Parenting is about love and giving it your all. Paying attention especially of emotions is going to be key. Your child will push and test boundaries. This is normal. 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste, 1 thing positive about yourself, 1 thing your child did right at least today helped me immensely. You can’t protect your child from everything but you can prepare your child for things in case of emergency. Full name, address, phone number and 9-1-1 is for only emergencies. Find out if this child has any allergies.

I understand the difficulty and seriousness of your predicament, but I’d advise to empathize with what the child is going through right now, all the changes and confusion, and put yourself in their shoes. Giving yourself time to process the new news & slow introductions are a good first step. Best of luck

I know this sucks for you, but this is gonna be 1000 times worse for this kid. His mom died. His grandpa died. He's a ten year old child. Either step the **** up immediately or go tell the courts you can't, because you cannot half ass this shit. You cannot half ass the care of an already traumatized child. It's okay if you need to pass on this and remove yourself from the situation - you will not be at fault. But don't half ass this.

I understand this is a shock. I urge you to get into family therapy with your child. Put yourself in the kid's position. That kid has lost their mother and their grandfather and is grieving. Their world has been turned uoside down and ripped away. Please be kind. It will be an adjustment. Please do family therapy. The child will need help coping with all of this, as will you.

They make movies about this sort of thing. Make the most of it

Same kind of thing happened to me. The mother did not pass away, but I didn't find out about my oldest daughter until she was 7. and the only reason I found out then was because I happened to run into the mother (my high school girlfriend). I know how hard it is to reconcile that your life has changed, hopefully for the better in the long run. Just want to ask one thing...DO NOT GET DRUNK before bringing the child into your home.