Thanks to good ole tradition, it's typical for a kid to get the father's last name. Where is MY right as a parent to choose what last name the child has? I carry it, eat for it, give birth to it, feed it when it's born, raise it, wake up in the middle of the night to feed it. It's MY milk that supplies nutrition. It's me that carries it to term. If I have the "right" to choose whether to have an abortion or not, without a judge's interference, why don't I have the right to give the child my last name without a judge interfering, and giving it the last name society and tradition dictate is proper and appropriate? All he's contributed is his sperm.
Why must I give up my right for the child to have my last name? Because tradition dictates that the woman gives up her last name when she's married, and a child, born to unmarried parents, should get the father's last name?
Should I decide to have any more kids, I'll most likely be married, and in that case, Florida law dictates that the father's name goes on the BC, even if I don't have the father's last name. Where is MY right as a mother? As a woman?
This is 2009, almost 2010, not 1952.
I'm not trying to sound like a horrible person here, but I don't care about tradition. And yes, I do feel I have a little bit more say in this than he does. When he has to deal with the sickness, the backaches, the soreness, the headaches, having to buy new clothing because nothing fits, the raging hormones, the weight gain, the pain of labor and having everything stretched out, and when he can produce milk from his body to feed the child every 2 hours, then yes, maybe the playing field would be a little more even. Until then, this is my 1 shot to carry on my last name, as my sister and I are the end of the line, and I will move both Heaven and Earth to give the child my name.
