Hello,

I'm new the forum. I'm 26 years old, female, and I have 1 child (5 months) who was born in Thailand. I live and work in Korea, and my son lives with me. We're both under an American passport.

This is what's complicated: on the passport is the name of a Nigerian man who signed it because I needed a name so I could leave the hospital (no thanks to antisurrogacy laws). I want to remove his name (he's told me that he wants it removed), and then declare Sole Custody so my son can continue to get new passports without another person's permission.

Do you have any advice on this? What's the best way to go about it?

Cheers!

Moved to the family and children forum.

Is his name shown on the Consular Report of Birth you obtained from the embassy? Info on amending it is here if needed. http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/events-and-records/birth/replace-or-amend-consular-report-of-birth-abroad.html

Not sure how or if it is possible to have the Thai birth certificate changed.

Under Thai law you already have sole custody, as in the case one is not married the person named as the father on the birth certificate is not considered to be the legal father. For that additional steps are required.

But not sure you can change the birth certificate.

Your problem seems to be with your consular report of birth, which should be amended, so the child does not have a father in the person of the Nigerian man according to US-records.

To my knowledge, there is no physical father's signature on a Thai birth certificate. The mother alone indicates a name, which can be any, does not need to be present and is not verified. Otherwise single mothers could never leave the hospital.

Of course, the hospital interpretation of law can have twisted the mother's arm and distorted things, causing a serious problem now.

My understanding is that there are two Thai birth certificates, the one from the hospital (and no you did not need to put a fathers name on that one, someone lied to you, many Thai's put their brother of parents name on this one for face saving respect) and a registration Thai birth certificate which is in Thai and a legal requirement which does not require a fathers name.

Unless you are legally married in Thailand neither matters unless you want parental contributions which is an international agreement between countries, in this case only the latter seems to matter.

As a mother the rights are in your favour, if your partner is the father of your child he has a higher mountain to climb.

My understanding is that there are two Thai birth certificates, the one from the hospital (and no you did not need to put a fathers name on that one, someone lied to you, many Thai's put their brother of parents name on this one for face saving respect) and a registration Thai birth certificate which is in Thai and a legal requirement which does not require a fathers name.

Unless you are legally married in Thailand neither matters unless you want parental contributions which is an international agreement between countries, in this case only the latter seems to matter.

As a mother the rights are in your favour, if your partner is the father of your child he has a higher mountain to climb.

All good with that, now as the OP clearly explained the issue is that on the baby's American passport and consular report of birth there is the name of someone with which the mother doesn't have any contact anymore, but under US law has has paternity rights, and must sign for the most important decisions regarding the child.

Thailand has nothing to do anymore with that. The OP should seek advice from her consulate about the easier and best way to correct the situation.

I believe you can have the 'father' removed by order of the Family Court and that it requires DNA testing of both 'father' and child. I know someone who found out that his wife had cheated on him and their child was actually not biologically his. He was able to have the paperwork amended via the court. But it took time and money. I believe you would need a good lawyer.

I believe you can have the 'father' removed by order of the Family Court and that it requires DNA testing of both 'father' and child. I know someone who found out that his wife had cheated on him and their child was actually not biologically his. He was able to have the paperwork amended via the court. But it took time and money. I believe you would need a good lawyer.

Again: the OP would not benefit from any amendment in the Thai papers, because the child is not Thai and has not the the right to be.

The OP is not even in Thailand anymore. Her issue is with the USA authorities only.

Thanks Paz - I was basing my assumptions on being Australian. Our ability to get a passport is based on the Thai birth cert - if two people are shown then they both need to agree to the passport being issued. We don't get another doc issued by the Embassy except for the child's citizenship paper (which doesn't list the parents). Sounds like the OP has other options.