Fathers need to be named on birth cert

[jofeb04]

Heard this on the news, not sure what i think about it yet

here

RLR - you can definitely do this.

My partner wasn't present for the registration of our daughter - I gave birth in the UK, he was in France. It was as simple as anything to add him later. Of course, I knew that at the time - if there had been going to be a problem he'd have been present first time round.

Anna 8888. Do u know if i can change her surname to her dads?

RLR-yes you can.re-registering is basically the same as doing it the first time,and cancels out the first registration,so you can choose a completely different name if you want.

i also think this is impossible.i would think most women who dont want the father's name on the birth certificate have very good reasons for it.

a child isnt a womans sole property,but she will have carried the child for 9 months,and given birth to it.

Are you sure diva? With both ours the registrar gave us a bit of a speech about how the name chosen is the name on the birth certificate for life and cannot be changed later on. I think you have to use other legal methods to change a name but the birth certificate stays the same. Can you imagine the riot criminals would run with that? Oh I'll just get a new birth certificate with completely different name on it

RLR - I think you can make a legal declaration (ie deed poll) about your dd's preferred name.

In reality there is nothing to stop anyone from saying that their name was Mickey Mouse and it'd legal as long as everyone knew them as that name. Most people take out a deed poll so that they've got a certificate to satisfy banks etc.

RLR - yes, definitely, no problem.

My daughter was registered with my surname only. When we re-registered we had the choice of either my surname only, his surname only, or both our surnames in whichever order we chose, with or without a hyphen.

Unfortunately in France there isn't the same degree of freedom, so we had to go with the option that the French would also allow us to register.

Call your local registry office, they will explain everything.

FJ - that's because you were both there first time round.

I wasn't even present at my DD's registration. I sent DH on his own.

bozza - sure, when you are married that's a great option. Not an option for the unmarried...

I realise that, but was being flippant. And I did trail out with DH and DS when DS was born, but second time round had too many other things going on.

Someone told me that you can re-register the surname more easily than changing the first name, after the first year anyway. I think you can change a child's surname fairly easily (people do it when they get a new partner, or lose an old partner, and want the child to have their name/their new partner's name/not their old father's name/etc).

We re-registered our dds' surnames, it was simple. They reached an age when they had an opinion so we've changed them. Just a matter of sending some forms off.

thanks everyone i think i will phone the reg office and find out for sure as some say you can then others say not 100% sure. ive even been told off friends that my daughters own father has to adopt her so she can have his surname because hes not on the birth cert.

you can re-register the birth to include the fathers nname if he wasnt there for the original registration,and change the sirname if you want(within the first year).the registrar told dp and i that we will have to re-register our dd's when we get married.i didnt realise you had to do that.

changing a child's sirname in any other circumstance is practically impossible unless you have a very good reason(i know as i want to change ds2's sirname but its not going to be possible unless dp is allowed to adopt him).

RLR - that information on adopting your own child is wrong. In England a father can be added to the birth certificate at any point in his or the child's life.

anna8888. thanks i thought it was not right surely u cant adopt a child that already your own

Why not get married before conceiving babies? Problem solved.

Doesnt always work like that.

Miljee because some of us don't want to be married, doesn't make us lesser parents

RLR - diva is right. I've worked in Births and Deaths. As you are unmarried and he isn't on the cert, you can add the dads name and change the surname too.

I think the insistance on father on the registration is unworkable, for all the reasons mentioned earlier in the thread.

Diva - re-registering after marriage 'legitimises' the birth. It's very old fashioned thinking but it is a legal (it often little known) requirement.

This sort of legislation scares me. It's a gesture and poorly thought out IMO...the quote from Kate Stanley is just feeble. You cannot ensure a man takes his 'responsibilities' seriously...the fact that maintenance is separate from access backs this up, making PR and naming on the certificate more about men's rights than their responsibilities. They could easily take off after the registration and never partake in the child's life again, should they be of that mindset.
It's just silly...also in my own experience the reasons not to involve the father in that way were to do with his abusive (but not violent) behaviour plus distinct lack of commitment. To have his name on there as if it meant something would have been a farce. A woman can always tell her kids who their father is if they want to know. (if she herself knows that is!)