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Do you give your baby your surname or the fathers?
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Personal choice I would say. However, if the father was not a long term partner or married to you then I would give the baby it's mother's surname until he had given some concrete commitment. But that's just my view.
and Mark, i thought you were referring to the fact that your (hypothetical) baby wouldn't have another father :o)
and Mark, i thought you were referring to the fact that your (hypothetical) baby wouldn't have another father :o)
Legally (in the UK), you can give a child ANY surname. (It doesn't have to be that of either the mother or father).
Where a couple are living together 'as man and wife',and expect to remain in that relationship, it would probably be logical to use the man's surname (as, in the vast majority of cases, that's what would happen if the couple were actually married).
But where the couple aren't living together (or where the relationship isn't 'secure') it would make more sense to use the mother's surname.
As a former teacher, I'd advise that you need to remember that a school is obliged to enter a child for their GCSE examinations in their 'official' name (which is the name which will appear on their examination certificates). I remember countless problems where (for example, and using fictional names) a young person who had always been known as 'Paul Smith', and who had never even met his father (Steve Jones) found that his exam certificates were going to be in the name of 'Paul Jones', simply because that was the name on his birth certificate.
Chris
Where a couple are living together 'as man and wife',and expect to remain in that relationship, it would probably be logical to use the man's surname (as, in the vast majority of cases, that's what would happen if the couple were actually married).
But where the couple aren't living together (or where the relationship isn't 'secure') it would make more sense to use the mother's surname.
As a former teacher, I'd advise that you need to remember that a school is obliged to enter a child for their GCSE examinations in their 'official' name (which is the name which will appear on their examination certificates). I remember countless problems where (for example, and using fictional names) a young person who had always been known as 'Paul Smith', and who had never even met his father (Steve Jones) found that his exam certificates were going to be in the name of 'Paul Jones', simply because that was the name on his birth certificate.
Chris
this is a bit sad, but something to note, if you give the child the mothers surname you can always easily change it to the fathers if you get married and all want the same name. However if you give the child the fathers surname and unfortunatley split then you can not easily change the surname back to the mothers, as you need the fathers permission, which of course will probably not be forthcoming!
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