Unwed Mother - Babies Surname ... what is possible?

[Jonmarleesco]

Supposedly, Thai/XXX children are supposed to have at least one Thai name, but ours arrived early, and unexpectedly at 6 ish in the morning of Xmas Day 14 years ago, with no thought given to his name and my wife/girlfriend/partner in the recovery stage. I gave the hospital my surname and two British forenames - including one that has christian connotations - and have never encountered a problem. He has dual nationality, with two passports plus his Thai ID card. And he doesn't look very Thai.

[easybullet3]

I highly recommend the double-barreled surname..

first name your surname-her surname

or

first name her surname-your surname

either way it is the MOST FAIR thing that anyone can do.

why on earth should a father have any more claim to a kids name than his mum..

and also,, why should a mother have any more right to call a kid by her surname, rather than the dads surname.

hence I think its soooo democratically fair to allow your child the double-barreled surname.

almost all Latino countries do this. and so do many other cultures.

then the baby has the best of both worlds

[khunPer]

David48,

My GF and I are not married, and when our daughter was born she had my family name on her birth certificate – I was told it would be “natural” with fathers name. However, to do that, you will need a certified Thai translation of your family name. Birth registration and name must be done within a certain time, I think it was two weeks when we registered, but as that is now some eight years ago, rules may have changed; furthermore they may be different from amphor to amphor. In our case it was up at rural Isaan.

It does not seem to be a custom with a middle name in Thailand, but I have noticed it a few times only. If it is “legal” to register a middle name, then both mum’s and dad’s family names may be an option.

The first name couldn’t be a farang name when we registered; they had a big black book with forbidden names. We had in advance compromised on a bit unusual name – or rather each of us chose a half – so some checking in the book; discussion about if it had any meaning; if it was Okay to use; and especially how to spell it in Thai characters. We ended with a little funny compromise – or bribe: The amphor had got digital cameras for some of their computers, but couldn’t get them to work, so if I installed a camera driver and software, and showed them how to do it, we could have the name we had decided for.

And of course, the long Thai talk about spelling with Thai characters did end up with a mistake the first name, which we decided to correct some years later – a little complicated process – so get “spelling” double- or triple checked before registration.

Good luck.

[recycler]

If you are not married when the child is born it will be difficult to get a passport of your own country for your kid.

Your name on the birth certificate without (legal) marriage will not give you parental rights under Thai law.

Not a USA passport I can assure you, that's pretty easy. Other countries mileage may vary

Most of EU require marriage, for my daughter that made it easy, if not married some countries require proof of 3 year care for the kid before issuing a passport.

[khunPer]

If you are not married when the child is born it will be difficult to get a passport of your own country for your kid.

Your name on the birth certificate without (legal) marriage will not give you parental rights under Thai law.

Not a USA passport I can assure you, that's pretty easy. Other countries mileage may vary

Most of EU require marriage, for my daughter that made it easy, if not married some countries require proof of 3 year care for the kid before issuing a passport.

That’s true; at least one European country – my own, Denmark – will not accept an unmarried fathers child born in a foreign country as citizen; not even after three years. And when they do accept citizenship, if father get married to the foreign mother who gave birth to the child in foreign country, they do (officially) not allow dual nationality; so for my child do I want Thai passport or…?

My home country’s present government however talks about changing the rules – gender equality so fathers have same rights as mothers – and even (officially) allow dual nationality, as the Law is out of line compared to most other European countries.

Believe David, the OP, is British, and it’s my impression that the law is not that strict there.

[manstr23]

(Most of EU require marriage, for my daughter that made it easy, if not married some countries require proof of 3 year care for the kid before issuing a passport)

Our son had his passport before his 2nd. birthday and without any problems, also we where not married, but yes, BC translation. Perhaps Germany is more interested in having a new generation growing up in Germany, no matter were they are from. The birthrate in Germany is under 2 children per couple.

[David48]

David48,

My GF and I are not married, and when our daughter was born she had my family name on her birth certificate – I was told it would be “natural” with fathers name. However, to do that, you will need a certified Thai translation of your family name. Birth registration and name must be done within a certain time, I think it was two weeks when we registered, but as that is now some eight years ago, rules may have changed; furthermore they may be different from amphor to amphor. In our case it was up at rural Isaan.

It does not seem to be a custom with a middle name in Thailand, but I have noticed it a few times only. If it is “legal” to register a middle name, then both mum’s and dad’s family names may be an option.

The first name couldn’t be a farang name when we registered; they had a big black book with forbidden names. We had in advance compromised on a bit unusual name – or rather each of us chose a half – so some checking in the book; discussion about if it had any meaning; if it was Okay to use; and especially how to spell it in Thai characters. We ended with a little funny compromise – or bribe: The amphor had got digital cameras for some of their computers, but couldn’t get them to work, so if I installed a camera driver and software, and showed them how to do it, we could have the name we had decided for.

And of course, the long Thai talk about spelling with Thai characters did end up with a mistake the first name, which we decided to correct some years later – a little complicated process – so get “spelling” double- or triple checked before registration.

Good luck.

Mate ... thanks for taking the time to write the above post ...

.

[David48]

So, I never did return and mention what we did.

We had Twin Boys, born not long after this post above.

Western First/Christian name

Thai Middle name, chosen from a list of suggested names for boys born on that day of the week.

It didn't to happen this way but we ended up going with 2 names the gf's Father suggested.

Western (my) Surname/Family name.

Even though we weren't married, no problems with registering a Western Surname, either with the Hospital or the Amphur.

.

[mrtoad]

Deleted

Edited December 9, 2014 by mrtoad

[Been there done that]

Deleted