The Court of Appeal has yet again restricted the rights of dads - when will fatherhood be given a break?

The court of appeal has ruled that a mother wishing to have her baby adopted does not have to tell the father of its existence. This decision shows just how ambivalent and uneasy the establishment is about endorsing the developing role of fathers, beyond the traditional stereotype of breadwinner and sperm provider.

The 19-week-old baby girl was conceived as a result of a one-night stand with a colleague. The mother, who is now 20, wished to have the child adopted immediately after giving birth, but a legal guardian and the local authority made an application to the county court asking that the father be made aware of the existence of his child.

Lord Justice Thorpe, one of the three appeal court judges, said:

“The law improves the opportunity of the child of anonymous birth to search out its biological origin. However, the ultimate veto remains with the mother. Registers of information are in place to lead the searching child to the mother’s door but the child has no right of entry if the mother, despite counselling, refuses to unlock it.”

Given that so much is now known about the strength of the biological tie, why shouldn’t the father know that a one-night stand has led to the birth of his child? Why should the mother have the right to deny a child information that might one day provide an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is his or her heritage?…

For me, as a feminist, the aim is social change. Men and women freed from stereotyped views of what their respective genders “ought” to want and do, and how they should behave. Generalisations about “all” men being rapists, or inadequate fathers, or bastards, are as daft as the archaic sexist remarks made by Rodney Marsh in I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! or Lynne Franks banging on about the specialness of “femaleness” - whatever that is.

In the 1950s, “motherhood” was defined as staying at home, baking bread in a pinny. Now, this vision has changed to give credence to the working mum. It is time the changing face of fatherhood, too, was given credit where it’s due; and the legal terms of engagement were changed.

Source: Guardian Unlimited, UK
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