My daughter was recently born to me and my ex-girlfriend. Our daughter was conceived while she was separated from her husband. 5-6 months before our daughter was born, my ex and her husband decided to reconcile mainly for the benefit of their two children.

My ex has agreed to joint custody and no child support payments from me. At the time of birth there was uncertainty over paternity so her husband's last name was listed as my daughter's last name. The spot for the father's name was listed as "father withheld". Parternity has now been established and I am the biological father.

At the time, the woman in charge of recording the birth certificate at the hospital said that the last name could not be changed to my last name in the future regardless of paternity results that were not yet performed at the time.

Is this true?

If not, what are the steps to make this change of the birth certificate?

We are all residents of CA and all parties involved know of the situation. Both my ex and I are approaching each issue with the best interest of our daughter and doing so amicably. We were both a little taken aback when essentially told we could never go back and change our daughter's last name to mine on the birth certificate.

Thank you for your help!