Free, so a woman could get, and also erasing the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate offspring, a woman could get child support from a man she suspected of being the father of her child, even if they weren't married.
Charles Fitzroy, for instance, was made the Duke of Southampton in 1675 when he was just thirteen years of age, the same year the king bestowed noble titles on several of his illegitimate children.
He was born a penniless orphan in St. Croix of illegitimate birth, became George Washington's right-hand man, became Treasury Secretary, caught beef with every other founding father.
He loved women, but he certainly struggled with senses of loyalty towards them and ended up with, I believe, all his illegitimate children living with him.
So-called illegitimate children did not have the same rights of inheritance as those born within wedlock, and their mothers were often treated as social pariahs.