Surname quandry

My partner and I are not married either and my son has taken my partners surname. We did discuss double-barralling the surname when he was born but decided against it (mainly as we hope to be married one day and the double barrel was quite a mouthful) I have never come across any problems with forms, schools etc. think it is also becoming more common now to find unmarried parents so the surname issue is much more common then you may think. The only issue I have to correcting people when they say Mrs Jessop (as they just presume I have the same surname as my son) but this does not bother me.

My 3 daughters all have their dads surname and the 2 dogs have mine so i dont feel left out. I prefer my surname anyways. The only problem you will encounter is being called Mrs partners surname

It shouldn't cause red tape problems but you need to think if you will ever be likely to marry your partner cos if you do then you will have the same surname as them and baby will be different. Also think about the consequences of baby having a double barrelled surname. If you live somewhere posh then that's ok but if not, is there the potential for the child being picked on for being different?
Juat my thoughts.

I think lots of people go by different surnames and if you're all using both from now on, it will be far less problematic than the other way round (going down to a single-barrel and losing all evidence of the other name.)
Deed poll costs about £50 I think.
DH & I talked about blending our surnames into a new one and him changing his by deed poll before our wedding. We chickened out but have always regretted it!