Many citizens know that a man, through a paternity suit, can be obliged to pay child support for an illegitimate child he has fathered .  But, not so many people understand that even if a man is obliged to pay child support for an illegitimate child, he has no custodial rights to the child until and unless the child is legitimated.  The mother, on the other hand, has all the custody rights because she has the biological ability to give birth to the child.  Remember, the father must legitimate an illegitimate child before he has any custodial rights in the child.  That makes legitimation of an illegitimate child very important.