Joana Niemeyer went through enough of an ordeal when she lost her beloved partner just three weeks before giving birth to their daughter, but what followed when she tried to register his name on their child’s birth certificate added insult to injury.
Joana was left devastated when 42-year-old partner David McNamara passed away from a stroke just weeks before she welcomed little Eira. The couple were already parents to a three-year-old little girl.
When Joana went to put David’s name down on Eira’s birth certificate, however, she was told she would have to make an application through the family courts to do so – and all because they were not married when he died.
Joana was asked to provide DNA evidence of the familial connections as well as utility bills and details of her relationship with David. In all, the process set her back over £1,000, but it was the emotional trauma that proved most upsetting.
While her request was granted in January, Joana is still awaiting the arrival of little Eira’s birth certificate.
The mum-of-two is now calling for change in how the process is handled, and wants the registrars to be permitted to decide if the name of a deceased unmarried partner is included on the certificate.
A representative for the Home Office has said that the current process is in place so that all births can be ‘recorded accurately’.
