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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    8

    Default Father's Name on Birth Certificate and Child Abduction

    My question involves paternity law for the State of: California

    my husband has citizenship in another country and when we were going through some rough times recently, he kept our child there and said that the child will now never leave that country, if i wish i can come to live there with the child, but can not bring it back to the usa. that country's laws allow for this to happen and mother has not right to remove her child. later i found that i am pregnant with another child. our marriage is registered in that country but not in usa. now, if i put his name on the birth certificate of this new baby, he can get a passport from his embassy for this child, and take this baby out of usa also (yes, there is even a warning on State Department web site, they can not prevent people taking kids out on foreign passports, even if they are also US citizens. sweet!). So if i put his name on birth certificate i have to always live in fear that he will take this baby at any time without my consent.

    so that would leave me with two options: 1) to leave father's name blank (he is not here to complain), or 2) to put someone else's name instead of his.

    if i ever change my mind, and suppose some day we reconcile with him, and sucessfully negotiate our differences which may take months, but ultimatelly this is the solution i prefer if it ever proves possible... then how much harder it would be to fix scenario 1 vs scenario 2? And if the reconciliation is not possible, how hard it would be for him to get legal rights to this baby in scenario 1 vs. 2, and threaten me with stealing this child?

  2. #2

    Default Re: Father's Name on Birth Certificate and Child Abduction

    #2 is the last thing you want to do unless you are looking for charges of fraud - which will play right into his arguement that you are trying to hide the child from him.

    If you leave it blank, it might slow him down, but only slightly. Since you are married, generally the child will automatically be presumed to be his, legally - and it's a relatively simple process for him to exercise his parental control over the child so long as you stay married to him.

    In other words:

    Married = he has rights of unfettered access to the child

    Divorced = the courts will determine access to the child

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    8

    Default Re: Father's Name on Birth Certificate and Child Abduction

    Quote Quoting aardvarc
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    #2 is the last thing you want to do unless you are looking for charges of fraud - which will play right into his arguement that you are trying to hide the child from him.

    i never tried to hide my first child from him, but i do not want the situation that i am now in with my first child (visitations for 2 weeks - twice a year) to be repeated with this new baby. i mean my heart is bleeding for my first baby, still very small and needs mommy.

    i mean if there is someone else's name on the birth certificate, he can not obtain that birth certificate to obtain a passport for baby from his country and then freely (thanks US customs service!!) take this baby out of US. because it says birth certificate is issued only to mother/father/guardian and not other people.

    then again, if we ever reconcile (may not happen before this baby is born) how hard would be to fix all this?

    and if you want to give personal advice and just tell me that i am stupid to think to stay with him after all this, i would like to hear your opinion also. some of the people's problems i was reading about here, to me seem like a no-brainer because many of them i think shouldn't even bother. but when you are in the situation yourself it is hard to see the right answer.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    8

    Default Re: Father's Name on Birth Certificate and Child Abduction

    It is sad that in a country like US there is no system to protect the rights of US citizen parents and children, and prevent removal of those dual-national children from the country on foreign passports.

    This kind of systems exist in many countries, including many third-world countries, who look more concerned with the rights of parents among their citizens then rich and mighty country like US.

    The support from State Department on this issue after the child has been taken out of the country is also non-existant.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    9,096

    Default Re: Father's Name on Birth Certificate and Child Abduction

    Quote Quoting babys_mommy
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    It is sad that in a country like US there is no system to protect the rights of US citizen parents and children, and prevent removal of those dual-national children from the country on foreign passports.

    This kind of systems exist in many countries, including many third-world countries, who look more concerned with the rights of parents among their citizens then rich and mighty country like US.

    The support from State Department on this issue after the child has been taken out of the country is also non-existant.
    Or, you look at it as the US feels that both parents have the right to the child.

    The actions taken after that can be criminal.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Father's Name on Birth Certificate and Child Abduction

    The problem is that the State Department can't enforce laws or kidnap children on foreign soil, even if US law recognizes the illegal taking of the child. They don't have any jurisdiction to do so. What they CAN do is set up border blocks preventing removal of children from the country under certain circumstances, but when parties are still married, the contract of marriage is more or less a legal permission to move the child. That's why the advice you're going to see over and over is: if the marriage isn't working to the point where who has the children with them is an issue, then divorce is the way to void all of the inherent permissions that go along with marriage and allow a court to set forth very specific instructions and permissions in PLACE of the inherent ones in effect now. Filing for divorce doesn't mean you can't reconcile with your husband at some time in the future, but so long as you choose to stay his legal spouse, his rights to the children will be difficult if not impossible to curtail.

    Again, if you feel you must leave the birth certificate blank, then by all means buy yourself some time to deal with the issues at hand and do so. But if you fraudulently put some OTHER person's name, you are going to be facing a legal situation that will turn around and bite you (and could have a very negative impact on your ability to retain the child in the long term). You will only HURT your efforts to keep the children in the long run by doing so.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    8

    Default Re: Father's Name on Birth Certificate and Child Abduction

    Quote Quoting aardvarc
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    so long as you choose to stay his legal spouse, his rights to the children will be difficult if not impossible to curtail.
    Unfortunatelly, even if we are divorced, and even if there is a court order to prevent the child from leaving the US... it still can not prevent the other parent from taking child out on a foreign passport. There are many, many cases like that, of foregin fathers taking children for their custodial visits on a weekend and then mom getting a phone call from a foreign country that she will never see her baby again.

    This is the real tragedy. There is just no way to prevent that in the US. From leaving on US passport - yes, both parents must sign to get a US passport for minor. Foreign passport - the US border service can not prevent foreigners from leaving, unless they are on some FBI wanted criminal list.

    As far as fraud, well, how can he prove that there wasn't some casual relationship behind his back, that could have resulted in pregnancy...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Posts
    8

    Question U.S. Citizen Baby Taken Out of the Country by the Mother!

    Good Evening Everyone! Some advise will be greatly appreciated on this issue:
    Both Parents are Non-US Citizens, but the baby is a US Citizen! Mother took the baby out of the country for a vacation, and when she and the baby were supposed to return back to the US (where the family lives, and where the father is) the mothers calls the father and says "I am not returning, If you wanna see your daughter you can come and see her!" that is it!!! This is the short version of the miserable moments we are living in lately..

    What can the father do?
    Mother does not mention the Divorce!
    Mother took the baby for vacation, but obviously this was a set-up! and now tells the father she is not coming back, and she is not returning the baby!

    PS: The baby has dual citizenship! Can the mother do this? How would the U.S. Government/Embassy act in this issue? Can the baby be brought back to the dad? What must be done?

    Thank you.

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