CNN19980626.2130.0558 NEWS CAPTION Unwed fathers are often criticized for not taking responsibility for their children. Anne McDermott looks at a new law in California that's encouraging fathers to step up and be counted. Every day in the United States, almost 3,500 babies are born to unwed mothers. Where are the unwed fathers? More and more of them, like Hector Campos, are stepping forward to legally declare their paternity. Yeah. I mean, when you're in there and you're like, you know, you can't believe it. You can't, it's like the best thing, you can't explain it with words what you feel when everything's happening, at the moment, you know, it's great. Such paternity declarations means a father is legally responsible for his child. The declarations are available in all states, and all are voluntary. Some applaud them because of the emotional support such a declaration provides, but local governments are more concerned about the financial support they provide. For example, such documents make fathers easier to track down should they someday become deadbeat dads. California has one of the higher rates of voluntary paternity declarations, despite the fact that such declarations could cost the unwed fathers money. But a hospital employee says signing for some has nothing to do with money. It's a matter of pride. Pride, yes, but a deputy district attorney says it also has to do with caring, with love. I think there's -- and we're probably all guilty of this to some degree or another, a belief on our part that parents who don't marry are somehow less responsible than parents who do. And I think this is going a long way toward disproving that belief. And maybe, just maybe, there's a chance that taking this responsibility on could eventually help some of the 14 million children in the U.S. who live in poverty at one time or another. After all, parents, like Hector Campos, who plans to marry his baby's mother later this year, only wants what all parents want for their children. The best. Anne McDermott, CNN, Los Angeles.