HOLIDAY/BIRTH CERT CRISIS 😩

[OHFUCKCRAP]

Name changed incase anyone can link me to previous posts.

IM PANICKING.

me and my dd age 7 are due to go abroad in 2.5 weeks. We have different surnames and I’m seperated from her father. Got his permission to take her out the country and he’s going to provide a letter no problem.

On the gov website it says I need her birth certificate to prove I’m her mother. Lovely ! Collect it from my stepdad (he keeps all my important documents always has done) and he’s fucking LAMINATED it 😩😩😩 so god knows what they are going to do if they ask for it.

I go back on the gov website to order a new one that is posted the next working day. AMAZING. Only I’m putting in her details TIME AND TIME again and nothing is coming up. Can’t even find her on the GRO index.

I’ve rambled and I’m sorry but WHAT DO I DO NOW?!! She has had a very shit year and if they turn us away her heart will break 😩😩😩

I've never been asked for the birth cert. I've only ever been asked for the letter once. We go abroad at least once a year. Don't worry

Travelled with my kid by myself, different surname - never been asked for birth certificate. I have never even taken it with me, had no idea I was supposed to! They’ve asked her who I am, that’s as far as checks have gone. Honestly just take the laminated copy they probably won’t even ask.

This is exactly what I mean. It’s a birth certificate also. But I’m being branded ridiculous.

Oh and they only checked on the way back in, no questions asked on the way out, and no other country has checked.

I also can't see how laminating it would cause an issue, maybe if you were ordering a first passport it might at the passport office but for the reasons you need to use it for they aren't going to be closely scrutinising it, it'll literally be "yep, you are the parent". I think you'd have more problems if you were a different race to your child or they were adopted and you don't resemble them, it is to stop child trafficking mainly.

You can use this website to find the GRO ref.....

FreeBMD - Search

GRO refs aren't up to date, but the above website (with some basic info) will provide it for you.....once you have this just use the details on the GOV website.

This !

Oh also, different race to my kid, and again, only just stopped on the way back into UK when they say to them who is that with you?

Well maybe because it’s her father? Why shouldn’t she have her fathers name? What a baffling thing to say, he is her dad just as much as I’m her mom!

Take a photo of it first.
And calm the f* down. You'll be fine! You have over 2 weeks.

OP if you cut just the clear plastic bit at the side of the document (not the document itself) whether it comes apart or not the document will still be fine
Nothing to lose by trying it, whole document outside lamination to gain by trying it

You’ll be absolutely fine. They mostly don’t ask and even if they do a laminated copy is fine. Whether or not laminating it invalidates it as a legal proof of identity, that’s not why you’re using it here. They accept photos of birth certificates on the rare occasions they ask. They can also ask your child!

Another option by the way would be your wedding certificate as it shows you married someone with the child’s surname. It’s one of the options the Government suggests: https://www.gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad

Thanks all. I’m going to get some sleep and come back with a clear head tomorrow. Running on empty right now and feeling a bit annoyed with it all. Sleep well everyone x

If you trim off the excess plastic around the edge and for some bizarre reason the plastic does not come off the front/back of the paper, no harm done, its still legible.

That could happen if, instead of laminating it, he has actually covered it front and back in sticky backed plastic, though why anyone would do that, who the heck knows!

You will not harm the form by trimming off the excess plastic around the edges.

This. This is not a crisis. Do you thrive on drama. Jeez. And as an adult with a child you should really be able to hold the documents relating to you and your own child in your own home.

This overhyped helplessness must be quite wearing

I take a photocopy. Man at customs said to do this to reduce the risk of losing the real thing.

Yeah thanks 🤨

Where was your daughter born? Which register office did you register her at. Call them tomorrow, it’s £35 for 24 service. They will be able to help.

are you for fucking real? I swear people like you get a power trip talking to people like this. Thrive on drama from one thread asking for help and advice?

don’t need to explain to the likes of you why he keeps them for me. Sorry not everyone doesn’t do things to your standard.

this bitchy power trip thing must be quite wearing.

Am I the only one who finds it odd that an adult woman who has a child and is still with the dad keeps all important documents at their stepdads? It's rather odd? Like you are still a child and can't be trusted? Our parents gave us our documents when we left for uni aged 18. What if you needed their birth cert and your stepdad was away on holiday? I think the moral to the story is look after your own important documents, you're a grown up.

You'll be fine, but this is why, as Mumsnet is always saying, the child of an unmarried mother should be given the mother's name! Honestly why you would give the kid the name of a man you're not married to, I will never understand

Ridiculous. I was married and I have a different name to my child because she has her dad’s surname. He’s as much her parent as I am.

She was born in Birmingham. They do not have a phone number just an email address and an online form. Done with it all now it is what it is. People are taking personal swipes

Dont try to undo the laminate, it may ruin the original cert and you dont actually need to

You either take the laminated copy with you, or your new copy will come through now that someone has found the number for you

It will all be ok

And you're quite right that its also ok for your child to have their father's surname!!! I dont get the MN obession with kids MUST only have their mother's surnames!

At what point did I say I was still with the dad?

fuck me. Your all out in full force tonight ain’t ya. Not everyone can live up to your perfect standards can they. You don’t know my situation love. So don’t act like you do. I find it odd how you think it’s okay to take personal swipes at someone over the internet.

I AM NOT WITH MY DAUGHTERS DAD

They won’t care if it’s a laminated copy or a photocopy or a picture in your phone if it.

The whole purpose of it is to confirm you are the child’s mother. Even then, they don’t always ask.