I don't see anything wrong with having a different surname to your child (or a hypened one for that matter). I wasn't married while pregnant with DS (we had a shot gun!!), but DS's first name IS my maiden name....so his whole name is like a surname IYKWIM
I didn't change my name when I got married...and my husbands family did not like it one bit! I get comments from time to time about it...but really, I don't care what others think about a decision that really, has no bearing on anything. When we have children, I'd like them to have my name but we'll need to have further discussion because my husband is probably more leaning towards hyphenating so as to honour both of our families. I went to school with SO many kids with hyphenated surnames and it was never an issue for them (that I was aware of)...it just wasn't a big deal. Friends of mine had a baby, together for 10 years but not married - baby got mum's surname and dad decided to change his surname to mum's via deed poll...
I don't have DH's name either. Unlike some others on here it really bothers him! But I just can't bring myself to change it fully. It feels like I would be giving up all of me. DD has his name and I have changed it on some things like medicare and the health fund so she got his name in hossy. I may get round to changing it on everything (Mel we've been married 5 years ) but I'm not in a hurry. Ithink its ok these days to have double barelled names. Our 2 names don't work together tho.
If DP & i were to marry he know's i would not be changing my surname to his. Our DD has his surname which i was more than happy to do as my surname is not my actual birth or family name as i changed it through deed-poll when i was 19. And i wanted our DD to have a surname with a family connection.
As far as hyphenated surnames go when i was working in a clinicin the CBD of Melb our clients with hyphenated surnames drove us nuts ... not just me but everyone in the clinic especially the receptionist ... as often the clients file would get filed under the wrong part of the surname (getting it back to front) ... also some clients we never knew how to address them and often found remembering clients name that were hyphenated surnames so hard to remember than just remembering one surname IYKWIM.
So sorry i simply don't mean to offend anyone ... just wanted to a paint a picture as the many staff members i worked with actually did dislike hyphenated names and they often commented on it in a negative manner
My older 2 kids have a hyphenated surname... they share their dad's name and my married name... we mostly popped my married name onto the end to stop confusion at school because believe it or not, in this day & age most schools don't understand that parents can have a different name from their children. Since changing to the hyphenated name we've had very little confusion. The kids are often referred to by the first of their surnames but prefer to be referred to by both.
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