Last Names/Incorrect Legal Advice

 That is so interesting.  I think it makes so much sense to do it that way.  It's hard to only have 50% parental rights and the other "parent" is completely absent.  Legally, in California and Oregon, there's not much I can do about that except take him to court for full custody.  Otherwise, he could show up one day and pick her up from school after meeting her once in her life.  And, he would still have some parental rights. Crazy.  I gave my daughter my last name, and that has simplified our lives tremendously, and I think helped her to feel more grounded than if we had different last names.  His name is on the birth certificate, but there's no other information on him.  When my daughter was 1, he wanted a paternity test, so he is definitely officially her father. 

The one problem I've really come across with all this has been when I've wanted to travel internationally.  Most countries require a child to be accompanied by 2 parents, or supply a notorized "permission" letter from the absent parent.  (Trying to get that resulted in a very interesting phone call with her father that I'll have to share with you all sometime).  Or, a birth certificate that shows only one parent.  When I went into Canada, they weren't going to let me through, but they interviewed me for 20 minutes or so and wanted to know the whole story.  I showed them the birth certificate with missing information on the father, and they believed me and let me through.  But, it will be more complicated with other countries, I think.  I wanted my daughter to officially have a father, but now, I think I would have opted to put only my name on it.  His name on there really can hold you up. 

BTW, to all the October babies to be, my daughter was born October 12.  A great month for babies!

I live in Canada and I am married thus according to the law the baby is presumably my husbands although we all know otherwise.  i don't want child support as this will only make my life more complicated. I want the bio-father out of my life for good. I want this child to hold the same last name as my two other children (for consistency sake) as well as to have access to the private french school (my hubby is french and this is a criteria for acceptance).  My hubby and i are co-habitatiing although we are separated for financial and shared parenting responsibilities.  

So, do i leave the father information blank, input my husband's info or put the bio father info. on the birth certificate.

At first, my husb. said that he would adopt this child as his own legally but given the lack of emotional support from him during this time, I told him that i was not sure if this was the best for my baby as i am not going to force anyone to do anything out of perceived obligation.