Father's name on Birth Certificate = responsibility?

The issue of whether mothers should be forced to name a child’s father on its birth certificate first became an issue in 2009 when the Welfare Reform Bill was making its way towards the statute book.

Opponents of the concept at that stage voiced their concern that it could lead to abusive fathers retaining control over their partners, especially on the basis of the proposal that fathers have the ability to declare their own parental status if the mother leaves their name off the certificate.

The Welfare Reform Act did, nevertheless, include a provision making it compulsory for mothers to name a child’s father on the birth certificate if he was known to them. The consequences of non-compliance ranged from a fine of £200 to 7 days imprisonment for perjury if a false statement was made.

When this government came into power it decided not to press ahead with enforcing that particular provision of the Act but the topic raised its head again late last year when the government announced that it was looking at this again as a way of ensuring involvement by fathers in their children’s lives and by way of encouraging a sense of responsibility.

The government has talked of exemptions for this provision being mothers who are victims of domestic violence (if a GP or social worker can corroborate any claim that naming the father would put the mother or child at risk), conceptions by way of rape or sperm donation.

The Liberal Democrats appear to oppose the idea but will forcing fathers to sign birth certificates or forcing mothers to name fathers on them really encourage active involvement or foster a sense of responsibility?

Certainly it might well make it easier to deal with issues of child maintenance but the rationale behind the proposals appears to be that signing the certificate or being named as the child’s father will boost the sense of responsibility and mean that more fathers remain involved with their children beyond separation.

David Lammy, MP for Tottenham mentioned on the BBC in June the effect that his father walking out on his family had on him as a child. Mr Lammy said:

"I missed someone help me learn how to shave, someone help me learn how to do up my tie, someone to talk to in those teenage years that can be so difficult.”

"No-one there on Fathers' Day, no-one at the end of the football game that you were playing, all of those things where the absence of the father is felt acutely”

"Of course relationships break down but active fathers make a huge difference to the lives of young people."

In the same piece Adrienne Burgess, joint chief executive of the Fatherhood Institute, said: "Requiring both parents to sign the birth certificate sends out a powerful message that our expectations of mothers and fathers are equal.”

"Meanwhile, 45,000 children every year are losing out because they do not know, and often never will know, who their father is."

I accept that there are undoubtedly cases where mothers are obstructive in allowing fathers Contact with their children or to develop a meaningful relationship with them but I can’t help but wonder about the responsibility of men who biologically father children but then apparently do nothing to discover if the child is theirs and, if it is, to establish a relationship with them – even if that means Court proceedings.

I am sceptical about whether forcing a mother to name a father on a child’s birth certificate is really likely to encourage more fathers to become actively involved with their children or maintain that involvement.

In addition, naming a father on a birth certificate has the effect of giving him Parental Responsibility for the child, entitling him to be consulted in terms of decisions on schooling, religious upbringing, medical treatment etc. and preventing the child’s removal from England & Wales for periods in excess of 4 weeks without his consent.

If a father chooses to disengage then with the child or the child is born from a short relationship, one-night stand, extra marital affair - where the father really has no interest in maintaining his relationship with the child - the fact of his PR may well cause difficulty for the mother down the line.

I agree that children should be aware of their paternity and that it is healthy and vital for their sense of identity and belonging but I am concerned that these proposals really achieve legal identification of a child’s father and focus less on what children really would benefit from, active involvement in their lives by their fathers.