Unmarried pregnant Brit, Canadian father resident in South Korea who doesnt acknowledge paternity

[1Micem0use]

So im currently an English teacher in South Korea and will be returning to the UK to settle next month. Am 21 weeks pregnant. The father is a Canadian citizen who is also an English teacher in South Korea. We arent married.
The pregnancy was the result of a contraceptive failure. He wanted me to get an illegal and therefore unsafe abortion. I refused and have continued with my pregnancy.
He hasnt attended a single scan, or contributed towards medical costs.
He hasnt once asked me a single question about how the pregnancy is going.
When I told him that in order to go on the birth certificate he would have to sign some paperwork acknowledging paternity he told me that he wont. That the baby isnt his until a dna test says so.
Because of his unsupportive, emotionally and verbally abusive behavior towards me during the pregnancy, and his lack of interest in our baby im now not sure I want him to have PR. I imagine coparenting across continents would be challenging even with the most amenable father.
So my question is can he even go about forcing a dna test? As a foreign non UK resident?
Im all for allowing contact via Skype, and supervised visitation. But I dont want him to have PR.
I also have no interest in anything financial from him.

Is there any way that you could bring your flight forward a little? As you are pregnant the airline might be more happy to help.

The earlier you travel and the sooner you get settled in the UK the better. I also think that the longer that you are hanging around, becoming more visibly pregnant, the chances increase that he might begin to cause difficulties.

Ive got friends coming to visit me all the way from the UK, which was all arranged before i got pregnant, and im leaving the day they leave. My last day of work was today, im only sticking around for their visit. Luckily theres nothing Michael can do to keep me in the country legally. And as he lives an hour away by subway (underground), I dont have to worry about bumping into him.

I will be ordinarily resident. Im going back to stay

You need to be careful on this.

You are only ordinarily resident in the UK if you have lived there for at least 90 days before seeking treatment. There is an exception for EMERGENCY treatment but not for routine ante natal treatment.

DH and I discovered this when we moved back to UK. We were both - and always had been higher rate UK tax payers with full UK NI contribution records - but he was told the NHS would not pay for urgent eye care as it was not considered to be an emergency. Fortunately our overseas health insurers picked up the bill.

Thank you for the heads up on this. Thats worrying. Bloody hell. Looks like I might as well go private. If im going to be paying anyway.

Just did a little research and it turns out they cant refuse treatment for antenatal care. Which is reassuring.

But they can bill you for it.

No clinician will deny you care, thankfully they refuse to be financial gatekeepers/ immigration officers for the state. However they do have to pass on your details to the trust/ CCG finance team, who will then decide whether to bill you or not.

I would personally try and get a contact point for him but don't give him one of yours. Can you stalk his FB etc to get names and locations of his extended family? You will likely get nothing positive out of keeping any kind of rl with this man but your child may be entitled to Canadian citizenship through him so having details of wider family might help confirm it.

Get home asap. Talk to a solicitor about your options. Your child may be very glad

Your child may be very glad of the chance for Canadian citizenship. Sorry posted last too soon!

That might not be a bad thing, perhaps they could liase with the korean immigration and see that my work visas been cancelled. Im honestly not a medical tourist expat. Thank you for all the info.

Dual citizenship would be a massive advantage for baby. Two countries to freely work and go to university in. At the same time, I wonder if my child could persue that when they are a young adult? Id really rather the father not be given PR. It could make day to day child raising difficult. If i have to get his permission to choose/change schools, medical treatment/passports/trips abroad. I can see him being uncontactable, or difficult out of spite.

This really isn't politically correct, but if you have a bog standard British accident and don't mention to the medical professionals you've been out the country for. along time (perhaps just mention an extended visit to a friend in South Korea and discovering your pregnancy there in case that is medically relevant and to explain lack of booking in earlier) I really doubt anyone will think to check whether you're eligible for medical treatment in the UK. It isn't something that is done as standard before allowing access to services.

@1Micem0use There's a name in your 2pm post, if you want to have it removed.

Routine antenatal treatment cannot be denied. Anyone who tries that is breaking the law. It can however be charged for. Maternity Action can help with this. But this is why I think you should start your paper trail as soon as possible. There's been something of a crackdown in recent years, and being white British isn't the protection it was.

Oops pregnancy brain. Yeah. Id better figure out how to redact it. Cheers