There are numerous images of three young boys with unruly hair adorning the walls of Richard Mason’s study. These cherished mementos of holidays, family gatherings, and the school years during which his boys grew into adults are very important to him, as they are to any other parent.

However, after 21 years of being a father, that feeling of pride was abruptly broken, and it was replaced with intense sadness and a searing sense of betrayal.

He was informed in 2016 that it was physically impossible for him to have fathered the boys he loved – and still loves.Richard, who was 55 years old at the time, was essentially living on borrowed time because of the life-limiting condition known as cystic fibrosis.

The multimillionaire businessman was trying to come to terms with the diagnosis when he also discovered that a severe side effect of the hereditary illness was infertility.

Mr. Mason began a court struggle to retrieve part of the £4 million that he and his wife won in the divorce settlement. He also began a lawsuit against his wife for paternity fraud.

As a direct consequence of this, two of the boys have cut off communication with him. Mr. Mason said that finding out the boys weren’t his own ruined his life.

“You have no notion what’s real and what isn’t – it’s like I’m in The Matrix. Someone informs you that everything you know and think to be solid and true is not real and has never been. You are not a father, you do not have the ability to have children, and your surname will not be passed down to future generations.’

“I still see what the guys are up to on Facebook, and it tears my heart because we watched the eldest’s graduation on there, but I wasn’t invited.

Mr. Mason, who is now married again, claims that his ex-wife ‘tricked’ him into believing the boys were hers when she must have had some doubts about the paternity of the children. He also said that his ex-wife chases him for extra money.

‘After the divorce, even though I had always cooperated with the Child Support Agency’s recommendations, she persisted in pursuing me for further maintenance, while, the biological father has not contributed anything financially.”