Yeah, yeah. I know. There are no illegitimate children. Only illegitimate parents.
Fact remains - that child is now damaged for life.
My step-grandson fits this thread almost perfectly, but he has not grown up damaged. He is eleven and one of the lights of my life. we have never given him any cause to believe he is ‘damaged’. But there are many other parameters to the love we have freely given, such as the financial support for him and his life-affirming mother.