German woman sues hotel to find out identity of her child's father

A German woman who gave birth after a three-night-tryst has lost her attempts to force the hotel where she stayed to reveal the likely father's identity.

The woman who hasn't been identified, gave birth to her son, Joel, in Halle in 2010.

The mother was attempting to receive child support from the father but only knew his first name, Michael.

And to get in contact with him, she was attempting to force the hotel to reveal his identity.

The hotel refused, arguing that it had no legal obligation to hand over the personal data of one of its former guests, according to German newspaper the Abendzeitung.

A court has now rejected her legal bid, saying that she had no legal right to demand the data from the hotel and did not provide enough information to be sure of the man's identity.

The court argued it could not breach the privacy of four men named "Michael" who were registered at the hotel at the time.

The judgment was reached last October but was only recently made public.

According to the court, the father's right to self-determination of his own information took precedence over the woman's right to child support.

Publishing its decision under the title Father Roulette, the court wrote: "This right is affected by the exposure of the data because as a result, the possibility of [the man having] a sexual relationship with the complainant, as the mother of the child, would be irrefutably placed in the room."