If you're not married, you don't need to take anyone else's name. That's true. That's your choice. Even if you're married you can keep your maiden name, but that's an adult making the decision for herself. But what does your marital status have to do with your child's birthright? What does that have to do with his relationship with his father?
A woman's first connection to her baby is usually during pregnancy. She loves it immediately. A man's is usually at birth and the name. They share that now. A woman knows her child is hers because she carries it. For men, when a child carries his name, that's a strong connection too. Usually that proves to them it's theirs too.
In a nutshell, let's put it this way: I would wonder why I didn't have my father's name. Unless I was adopted or the man was missing in action and abandoned my mother, I'd want to know WHY my mom thought my father wasn't worthy enough, why she thought I shouldn't have my father's name. If this man wasn't good enough, then what does that say about me? (the offspring?). The message it sends out is negative. I think it does more harm to a child than good and I also think society looks at your child in a negative manner. When I was in school, the kids who didn't have their father's name were kids who never knew their dad because the guy was either unknown or their dad's were in prison and basically gone. That is so sad. The whole stigma attached to that is unfair to a child IMO.
Bridget Moynahan's baby doesn't have a loser father. His father is successful. His father makes a good living. His father is a record-breaking icon in the sports world. That baby deserves to have that connection to his dad. He was carried by his mother who obviously loves him, but he deserves to have that connection to his father too. The fact his mother isn't married is irrelevant. That's still his dad--a dad who was there and wants to be there. The kid deserves his history too...give it Moynahan-Brady or whatever, but don't take the kid's paternal name from him.
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