It’s difficult to imagine what feelings a resident of the small Moroccan town of Sidi Slimane and father of nine children experienced when he discovered that not all of his children were biologically his own. Resentment, indignation, euphoria? Let’s not even try; let’s just narrate this scandalous story worthy of a Mexican soap opera (not sure if Morocco has suitable series) and published in the Al-Massae newspaper.

This dramatic tale began when a Moroccan man in his fifties (not named) decided to undergo a medical examination. Many problems often start with a medical examination. Doctors were concerned about a lump on one of our hero’s testicles and conducted a series of tests. It turned out the lump wasn’t dangerous, and one could live and work with it just fine. But something else emerged:

the man’s sperm was completely ineffective, and it had been so since birth, according to the doctors’ conclusion. Now, how did this Moroccan father of nine, married for 35 years, have children?! That’s the question.

Of course, our story’s hero didn’t believe any of the doctors. He went to another clinic to confirm the diagnosis, and other doctors affirmed it. The situation became critical when third-party doctors reached the same conclusions mentioned above.

Here, the Moroccan couldn’t take it. He hired a lawyer and sought both divorce and the deprivation of parental rights. (It’s incredible how someone who raised nine children didn’t form an emotional bond, let’s not be afraid of that word, a soul, even if they’re not biologically his own children?)

But the worst part of this story won’t be a deceived father or abandoned, already adult children, but a traitorous woman. In addition to conscience remorse, she faces a very real consequence: in Morocco, things like adultery are not accepted by the law.