Should I Put the Dad on the Birth Certificate

[Alene91]

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Tennessee

I was 16 when I met the dad and he was 38. He told me he was 29 so I'd go out with him. I didn't find out his real age untill 6 months later. I moved in with him and got pregnant. He's an alcoholic and does drugs and was very abusive. I also have pictures of my bruises and cuts from a few of the fights. I put up with it for a year, but when i was 3 months pregnant he jumped on my stomach and that was the final straw. Well, now that the baby is due in a few days he's threatening court to get custody.

He has a trailor but he has no job, no car, domestic abuse on his record(not from me) and numerous DUI's. My question is, if i put him on the birth certificate, here in Tennessee, does that give him any rights? And if he took me to court, whats the probability that he could get custody under the circumstances? I'm not against him seeing the baby, but the most i would want him to get is supervised visitations, being that i dont trust him alone with a baby.

I'm assuming my circumstances will look better in court. I know i'm young, but I'm now engaged to a man that does have a job and has always had a job, unlike the dad. Me and my fiance live with my grandparents in a nice home with an extra bedroom for the baby. SO can sum1 answer my questions please? Before the baby pops out?

[LawResearcherMissy]

People threaten court all the time, but the court is not Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, or any of those other nebulous beings we relied on as children for wish fulfillment.

"Suing for custody" and "getting custody" are two entirely different things, for one.

For another, your child's father has bigger things to worry about than threatening you with court, what with being a rapist and all.

Yes, rapist. The age of consent in the state of Tennessee is 18. If you have sex with someone younger than 18 and you are 4 or more years older, you're guilty of statutory rape, a Class E FELONY.

Now, if you want to be foolish and ignore that, that's all well and fine, but I would expect that when he shows up at the hospital to voluntarily acknowledge paternity - you can't just "put him on the birth certificate", he has a form to fill out first - hospital personnel are going to notice the extreme gap in age, have one look at your chart and see that you're underage, and notify the authorities.

Should they look the other way, and he is permitted to sign the AOP, that still only gives him the right to sue for visitation and possibly joint custody. It does not automatically grant him any other rights, and it's doubtful that any judge would award more than occasional visitation to a rapist.