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Not all of those fundamentalist Mormon fathers on the Yearning For Zion ranch near San Angelo Tex have four wives. CBS anchor Katie Couric offered the statistics about the 463 children currently in state custody pending welfare hearings. Together they have 168 mothers and 69 fathers--so if the polygamist husbands averaged four wives each, more than half the sect's marriages would have to be monogamous. Those numbers showed the extent of the five-courtroom proceedings under way to negotiate conditions under which the children would be reunited with their families. CBS and NBC had correspondents on the scene, Mark Strassmann and Don Teague respectively. Jim Avila (embargoed link) covered the story for ABC from New York. The parents were asked to agree to parenting classes and psychological counseling. CBS' Strassmann added that DNA testing, "which most fathers have refused," was also required. Such tests could lead to "criminal prosecution," if they implicated them in underage pregnancies.
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