When policymakers invoke liberal democratic tropes while endorsing welfare reform, and, in particular, “paternafare”—the mandatory child support and paternity identification requirement—are they contradicting themselves? Can paternafare be defended in liberal democratic terms? In this article, I propose to set aside, for the sake of argument, my own radical egalitarian commitments and to speak directly to the liberal feminist in her own terms. Because the capabilities approach of Martha Nussbaum is one of the less demanding liberal democratic theories of justice, insofar as it permits a relatively large degree of inequality, it provides a particularly helpful framework for this feminist dialogue. I construct a hypothetical world in which the needy single mother has an entitlement to a basic income under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and I draw up my own version of an undue burden test on the basis of Nussbaum's theory. I explore whether the paternafare rule within this hypothetical world would pass the capabilities-oriented undue burden test. Finally, I argue that Nussbaum's nonfungibility principle can yield surprisingly robust redistributive results within specific historical conditions.