Hi people if my girlfriend was to have a baby in thailand what rights do i have and where do i stand for staying in thailand with them as we have not planned for a child but TBH We are not useing protection it's only a matter of time ... thanks

Make absolutely certain, 100%, that you and you alone are the person who registers the birth with the local government or amphur. Hospitals will try and do it for you, asking for her ID and your passport. Do not give it to them as if you do, you may well spend a fortune in legal fees and be fighting for years to become legitimised. As you are not married, you can only be legitimised (at this time) if you and only you are the one who registers the baby and your name must appear twice on the birth certificate, once as the father and once as the person who registers the birth. If they put a Thai name on the BC as the person registering the birth you are sunk. Do not let it happen.

make 100% sure you do as torrenova suggested! then when/if your relationship goes "tits up" you are in an excellent position and not the sh1tty one i am in atm.

DO NOT LET THE HOSPITAL REGISTER THE BIRTH!!!

make 100% sure you do as torrenova suggested! then when/if your relationship goes "tits up" you are in an excellent position and not the sh1tty one i am in atm.

DO NOT LET THE HOSPITAL REGISTER THE BIRTH!!!

Right!

This should be pinned somewhere, most of us find this out too late!!

Start using contraception,would be the best advice i could give you and think about if you are financially stable to bring a baby up in a foriegn country,a big step which many have made and struggled to cope with the many differences of parenthood from the western approach,the birth certificate being the first step and good advice from torrenova above.

Start using contraception....

also excellent advice!!!

The registering the birth yourself (being on the BC both as the father and the teller) may not be enough. Please read the link where IsaanLawyers indicate that it is not. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Article-Chil...dy-t327932.html

I don't know what to think myself, I have asked at 2 amphurs and one of them didn't know / didn't recognize it but the officer at the amhur where my daughter was born confirmed that it was correct

why do the hospital want to do that in the first place

All private hospitals do it for you, don't know about government hospitals. This must be done within 15 days of giving birth

As said, registering the birth yourself is not enough to legitimize the child. Go at least with the mother and egister the child together, with you as the person registering the birth and make clear you want to legitimize the child. The amphur might accept that. Also ask for the form showing who has custody over the child to confirm you have legitimized the child.

Otherwise you have to go to court to legitimize the child.

Legitimizing the child will give you the right to stay in Thailand with your child, if you have an income of 40,00 or 400,000 in the bank. You must have custody over the child for that, some immigration offices even seem to require you have sole custody over the child.

If you legitimize the child, the child will also have your nationality, next to that of the mother, depending on the nationality laws of your own country.

if registering is not enough and you have a child in thailand, you have to either get married or go to court. what an absolute joke of a law. who makes up this crap?!

C411um, I do agree that the law is absolute crap for fathers who has the intention to take care of their children but the problem is that in the lower ranks in Thailand, there are quite a few of them who don't and has no intention to do it either. In fact the child is better off being protected from quite a few of those fathers. I know it doesn't apply to many westerners and many Thai fathers too, but that's the problem when the law has to be written to fit all, the difference is so enormous. How to write a law that suits all?

The law is made the way it is for a specific reason, it is protecting the child by giving all rights to the mother, who more often is the one who cares for the child. It's shitty for responsible non-married fathers, agree.

while what you say is true michael, the child often needs to be protected from the mother, as in mine and many others case

All private hospitals do it for you, don't know about government hospitals. This must be done within 15 days of giving birth

Seems standard the world over. The hospital my child ws born in in the Middle East did the registration, in Arabic of course, so I still had to run around gettin one from them in English.

Doesn't the midwife handle the birth registration in UK?

while what you say is true michael, the child often needs to be protected from the mother, as in mine and many others case

I know c411, you're doing an excellent job caring for your daughter and the mother does the opposite

Doesn't the midwife handle the birth registration in UK?

No, in UK the parents have 6 weeks to register the birth, either parent can do it alone or together. When you have the baby you are given a birth notice (not sure that's the right name) & it is taken with parents id to the local registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages (how funny they put them all together )

here (israel but not the same middle eaast as pattaya parent) its done in the hospital or u cant leave; both parents, with id cards; since school registration and everything is done under father's name (patriarchal society here)... thsi si to prevent the formation of 'bastards' i.e. a child birn to different father then the one the woman is married to, so later in life the kid can get married normally (for here. religous courts). un unwed mother's child is not considered a 'bastard' btw. only one from adultery or married mother (even if separated a zillion years from the husband) and other man.

bina