I am in GA, and I would like to know if there is anyway to petition the court to get my daughter's last name changed even if her dad did not sign the birth certificate. He is "unavailable" to sign it right now, and I am not sure how long it will be before he becomes "unavailable" . Please let me know... He acknowledges that it's his child. There was just NO way that he could be there! Can I do this without him?? I was thinking about getting my oldest daughter name changed to mine, or my baby girl's name changed to his. He would prefer the latter, but since he can't help out by going down to Vital Records, then I want to do what seems right for the children...

I answered a post like this yesterday and my suggestion was not to change your child's name to your last name because it may create problems when she gets older, filling out forms for different areas of her life. You know there is always a question 'what is your mother's maiden name'. What does she say when her name is the same as yours? I think in some instances, this would be embarrassing to answer. What is your objection to your children having a different last name, it is perfectly normal, whether he signed the birth certificate.