Man takes ex to court for giving son her new husband's last name

A father has been accused of being "petty" for taking legal action against his ex-girlfriend after she decided to put her new partner's name on their child's birth certificate. 

The 24-year-old took to Reddit to share his shocking and complicated story with the world. According to the man, he dated his girlfriend for eight months before she left him to be with her ex-boyfriend.

She was allegedly pregnant at the time, but did not tell him. 

"It was her sister who told me, and she told me the baby was mine, and my ex knew about it. I reached out and told her I wanted to be a parent to my kid," he wrote. 

It seems that his ex had other plans. She married and told him her new husband would be the baby's father. However, he was not going down without a fight and told her that he would approach the courts when the baby was born to get a DNA test. 

"My son was born, they did everything to keep me away including adding her husband to the birth certificate and giving the kid his last name, which at the time of his birth was just the husband's name, my ex changed hers last month before our court date," he claimed. 

The mom apparently wanted to give the baby her husband's first and middle name as well, but settled on a form of his name. 

"DNA proved I was the father. The judge ordered us to attend two mediation and therapy sessions together (me and my ex). We didn't reach an agreement because she was clear she wanted me out of the picture and wanted her husband to raise my son as his own. The judge did not take kindly to that. In my petition to the courts, I said I wanted my son to have my last name, not his stepfather's."

The man eventually got 50/50 physical and legal custody of their son, who is now a five-month-old. The boy's birth certificate was also changed to reflect his biological father's surname. 

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You would think that would be the end of the story, but it just gets crazier. The man says his ex-girlfriend's mother, whom he only met twice, called him "petty" for not allowing her grandson to have his stepfather's last name. 

"She called me and told me I was a petty little kid who was playing daddy when her grandson deserved a real man for a father and he had/has one in the husband and I should have left them to raise him together so he could have the stability of one home. She told me to deny "that wonderful man" the right to pass his name onto a child he swore to love as his own is awful and that my ex as the mom should share a name with her child," he wrote. 

It seems his ex and her mother are not the only ones who are not impressed with his actions. 

Several Reddit users questioned the validity of his story. One found it interesting that a court allowed him to change the boy's last name. 

"When not married, kids get their mother's name unless both her and the father agree different. No logic as to why [the] kid would get his last name, DNA test or not."

Another user commented: "LOL b******t. 50/50 custody of a baby AND they were forced to change the baby's first and last name? Nope, that won't happen."

A third wrote: "Hmm…where do you live? Because some of the things you’re describing are unusual. Generally speaking, when married, the husband is the legal father and added to the birth certificate. I’ve even seen this in cases where the married couple have been separated and mother is living with someone else. Also, the name change is unusual. Normally, the mother, regardless of marital status can choose this."

Another Redditor accused him of having ulterior motives for fighting for custody. 

"I get that he's biologically yours, but socially why do you want custody? Your post hasn't said anything about why you care. To spite your ex? Why do you want to raise a child in a toxic environment?"

The man shot back: "Because he's my child. He deserves to know he was loved and wanted by me even if the circumstances aren't ideal."

Despite the backlash, many users applauded the man for fighting for his son. They assured him he had every right to be in his son's life. 

Read the man's full story on Reddit. 

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Main image credit: iStock/gorodenkoff