Does my baby have to have her fathers surname? We're not married?

Answer 1

Your child doesn't have to take his/her father's name. You have to remember it's all about choice - your choice. I kept my maiden name when I married and I wanted my children to have my name too. My husband and I compromised with all our children having my surname as their middle name.

If your baby's father is listed on the birth certificate, then you are not denying him his parental status or diminishing his role in the baby's life.

If you decide to give your child your name, then the baby's father could change his surname by deed poll - then you'd all have the same name!

Good luck

Answer 2

No the choice is entirely that of the mothers if you want your baby to have the fathers surname then he has to be present at registering the birth

Answer 3

If the father of the baby has agreed responsibilities of the baby then it is right for your baby to have the fathers surname even if you are not married.That is the only way she will know her routes and tradition. But if the father has refused responsibilities of the baby then why should you give the baby his surname

Answer 4

I would check with the child enforcement laws for the states are getting involved now with wrongful accusation suits with claims of people being dads that aren't so a dna might need to be done first before getting any child support from the state you are in.

however, some states are allowing hypenating last names like when a woman takes back her maiden name with her married name to offer stability to the children (for those how don't use reclaim their maiden name). They are trying to examing if this give the child unity to both parents as they take on both last names giving them not partiality to either parent. Over the years they discovered that by giving the kid the dads name some felt it meant they were saying they loved dad more. So it's being done in trial if a woman wants both names.

dna is always good to get done right away it is less confusing and it saves the open ended question later. it will lock the two together emotionally especially now that the tests can be done for under $200 in most cases.

even though things are going well now i'd lock the child support in with the child support enforcement division because if you do brake up it happens so often once the other one finds another person then the baby's needs tend to be played as ponds in a jealousy war, which I'm saying will happen here. i also have seen too many times where men play the matre and victim because they have to pay child support but they aren't doing anything to keep from making the babies which either leaves woman to go on welfare or causes them to live in povered economic standards which doesn't get the mother or child out of bad living invironments while the daddy is living high on the hog. the mom and baby deserve better.

i don't know if you believe in God or not but if you put the baby first above yourself and your boyfriend and do what is ultimately better for the babies well being you have to ask yourself even the simplist question would the baby be safe having the fathers last name? what is the father doing and into and would he/she be safe being around the father? are there even things through social services that you should be doing to see that the babies needs are being considered in both homes. food, money, clothes, etc? do you need to return to school to offer better for the baby later etc. so many things to consider then just that last name and i know you're thinking about them because you've already just started asking questions.

social security can also give you some feedback, i think.

follow your gut but if he's a good man the baby needs his/her daddy and please don't let your difference if any keep that baby from daddy. I never kept my kids from daddy even though he was a jerk for a husband. he seldomed paid child support and his arrears are too high to ever get caught up but that dollar to me never was a measure of a man. that is so over rated in our society. he treated them well and loved them and that to me is more important then the petty fights over a dollar. but i also believe if a man had a good moral structure he'd want to pay his child support because that gives the child a better home life, as a general rule. in our circumstances it didn't make any difference if he paid or not his money wouldn't have changed our ecomonic structure but would have given back to the state for caring for his son who was disabled with cystic fibrosis.

God bless.
take care.
lorraine

Answer 5

If you really think in the long run, well then mayb, you should give your child his/her father's surname. I would think that if you want
yourself or your child , to later in life pay for his/
her name change then that's fine. But as a mother I would think that your child was conceived out of love. So buy all means let your child carry his/her fathers surname.

Answer 6

Nope. People fall pregnant everyday, that does not automatically mean you and the father are soulmates. What if you seperate and you are left alone with the child (imagine this: 1 household with two people -different surnames). Does'nt look very stable to me.

Answer 7

No , but it's the child's right to have the father's surname.

Answer 8

No. you can give the baby any surname you like. If you plan to be married, I would recommend that you give her his surname if you plan to change yours otherwise, he will have to go through some silly adoption process thing to change her name.

Answer 9

I may be incorrect but I think it's either the mother's decision, or if the father signs the birth certificate, the child will have the fathers last name

Answer 10

whether ur married or not, itz up 2 u but if he wants 2 be in baby's life & u want him in ur's then out of respect dont u think u owe it 2 urselves 2 give baby the father's last name. U cld b like angeline & brad & have both ur last names just hyphenated.

Answer 11

no if you live in the uk in fact when your baby is born the midwifes will write your surname on her armband.
Then when you go to register her because you are not married you have to attend( if u were the dad could go on his own)
and it is your choice what surname she is under.
Also you can change her surname to her dads at anytime we did it with my son.