My OH has a child that he has not seen in 10 years.
The child is now a young teen. OH was a teen himself when child was born. He was not put on the birth certificate and child had the mothers last name. There was a split and OH continued to see child for a further two years, paying the mother cash maintenance. When he found the money was not being spent on the child he stopped giving cash and was then buying the child what it needed instead. The mother stopped all contact with the entire family and moved out of the area.
She married and now has another baby. OHs child has the husbands surname. They now live locally again.
He says he was young at the time and couldn't handle the situation responsibly. Also he didnt know where they were when they moved away, but has often over the years talked about wanted to see his child.
We are planning a baby of our own now and it has brought back the hurt of all of this and OH is debating trying to contact them. I have advised that he seeks legal advice as not got any parental rights.
Has anyone been through this?