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The Brazilian Constitution has institutionalized equality between children born in and out of wedlock. Theoretically, no births are legally privileged. This article presents the history of the right to paternity and recounts the experiences in Bahia and the Federal District aiming to reduce men’s resistances to breaking the link between marriage and recognition of children. The research shows that there is a relationship between the abandoning of “traditonal illegitimity” and the practice of a broader citizenship and reduced sexism. The presumption that women are lying still exists and means that the burden of proof falls on them.