[Solved] Help!

...bit too short!

Not sure what happened there.

I had a one night stand earlier in the year and now she is pregnant and I've being denied going to the 20 week scan, I don't think she will add me to the birth certificate once born, my question is can I go to court to be added to this once DNA tests confirm its my child ?

Cheers!

Short version, yes you can.

Her hormones will be all over the place right now, give things a chance to settle down. Tell her there's no pressure but let her know that you want to be involved and support her during the pregnancy and once the baby is born.

With any luck she'll come round and you can take it from there, if not once the baby is born you can apply for a Declaration of Parenatage and if found to be the father you can ask the court to be added to the birht certificate.

I've only just posted the steps to take getting a DNA test in an earlier post. I'll go retrieve the info and copy and paste it here for you.

All the best

In order to establish paternity of the child you would need to take a DNA test. There are two routes to doing this:

1) If the mother was to consent you could visit your GP and request a DNA test to be completed

2) If the mother was not to consent you would need to apply to the Courts for a Declaration of Parentage. This would be asking the courts to order a DNA test be undertaken. To apply for a Declaration of Parentage you would need to complete a form C63 which can be obtained from www.justice.gov.uk. There is a fee for this application which you will need to check with the Courts.
If it is established that you are the father of the child then you can address the following:

Parental Responsibility
Parental Responsibility is defined in s.3(1) Children Act 1989 as being: "all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property".
Practically Parental Responsibility means that both parties should consult and consent on issues such as schooling, medical issues, change of name, removal from the jurisdiction and other major issues concerning the child.

If you are the biological father of the child we would strongly recommend that you obtain Parental Responsibility for your child.
You can obtain this through the following routes:

1) If you have gone through the Courts for a Declaration of Parentage you can request the court order your name be added to the birth certificate

2) If the mother agrees you can both re-register the birth certificate or, complete a form for a Parental Responsibility Agreement from www.justice.gov.uk entitled PRA1

3) If the mother does not agree you can apply for a Parental Responsibility Order on a form called a C1 from www.justice.gov.uk.

Before making an application to the Court you will need to undertake mediation with the mother. This is a process involving you, the mother and a trained professional third party mediator coming together to try and resolve the issue without the need to go to court. Under new legislation mediation is mandatory and you will need to attempt this before going to court. For more information on mediation and for help organising this you can contact National Family Mediation on 03004000636.

Contact
In order to establish contact, the first steps we would advise that you take would be mediation as detailed above. However if mediation does not prove successful then you can apply to the Courts for a Child Arrangements Order. This is a legally binding order that would set out the arrangements in relation to the child in terms of contact including the frequency and the type of contact.

To apply for this Order you would need to complete a form entitled a C100. There are also guidance leaflets entitled CB1 and CB3. These can all be downloaded from www.justice.gov.uk. There is a fee for this application of approximately £215. Although the court can give an exemption in certain circumstances.

In deciding whether or not to grant such an order the court will base their decision on what they feel is in the best interests of your son’s welfare, in order to do this they will go through the welfare checklist:

• Childs physical, emotional and educational needs.
• Effect of any change on the child.
• The age, [censored] and background of the child.
• Any harm which the child has suffered or may suffer.
• How capable each parent is of meeting the Childs needs.

If you would prefer to talk to someone about this you can give the Coram childrens adviceline a call, here's a link to their contact details

childlawadvice.org.uk/clas/contact-child-law-advice/

Cheers for the reply mate. I've tried all that but she's having none of it as I told her we won't be together!

Like you say hopefully she'll see sense closer to the time.

That's exactly what I was looking for.

Thanking you.

You're welcome.

I can see why shes having none of it if she wants a relationship....just keep trying every now and then, as I said no pressure, give her some space but remind her that you still want to be there for her.

It doesn't hurt to find out what you would need to do when the time comes. You don't have any rights until the baby arrives but once he/she is here you can take steps to get confirmation that you're a dad and then you have options to get involved.

Best of luck

Yeah I will do.

I've already started the ball rolling with solicitors, she has refused to go to mediation unti child is born as she keeps reminding me I have no rights. I dont trust her to let me have access once child is born either.

Such is life tho

I would have said its a bit early to get solicitors involved yet, she's right, there's nothing you can do until the baby arrives. If she's about 20 weeks shes only half way through the pregnancy, I would advise trying to get her on side in the next few months....as I said before, no pressure just gentle friendly reminders that you are there if she needs anything and would like to be involved and help her prepare.

All the best.