We were consulted by a young father who had separated from his former partner just prior to the birth of their child. Upon birth, the mother was not prepared to allow the father any contact with his child, furthermore she had failed to place his name on the child’s birth certificate thus meaning that he also had no parental responsibility. The young father was distressed to have missed important milestones in his child’s early development.
As mediation had been unsuccessful, we helped the father with an application to court. Recognising the enormity of this situation for two young parents on both a practical and emotional level, with a new baby, we prepared a detailed proposal for contact at a very early stage that would mean that the father was introduced into the baby’s life gradually. The proposal was sensitive to the baby’s needs and mother’s feelings and also relied upon assistance from both sets of grandparents, in order for it to work. The carefully thought out proposal resulted in cohesion and harmony within the family, and the mother happily agreed to the father having parental responsibility when it was recognised that, by working as one large family unit, the child would benefit from the love and practical support of the entire family.
