Naming a baby can be a bit of a tricky decision, especially if there are two parents with drastically different ideas as to what their children should be called.
However, there are some circumstances where baby names can become a particularly difficult topic, especially if one of the parents isn't behaving in a way that's fair or reasonable.
One new mum claims to have found herself in a trying situation after giving birth to her twins. Their father decided to "up and leave" when she was around 14 weeks pregnant and didn't really show any excitement about becoming a dad for the duration of her pregnancy.
The "minimal contact" the pair had during the pregnancy mainly centred around topics such as custody, with the dad fighting for 0% custody. This means he'll have visitation and parental rights going forward, but nothing else.
The confused mother was therefore surprised when he reacted angrily to her choosing the babies' names without him and giving them her surname - having assumed he just wouldn't care.
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Taking to Reddit, the fed-up mum revealed that the last time she'd talked with her former partner was three days before her planned C-section.
She said he'd been fully aware of the date and location, but chose not to visit her, and never came to see his two children during the two weeks they spent in the Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). He didn't even so much as send a text to check on them.
She wrote: "Obviously you need to name your kids and so I ended up choosing them myself since we hadn't gotten to that stage. I also gave them my last name since I'll be the one to do appointments etc and raise them.
"From his lack of interest throughout pregnancy, I didn't think he cared".
Three weeks after the birth, the anonymous poster - who goes by the username u/CraftyHold598 - was finally able to take her babies home. It was at this point that the dad showed up, asking what names she'd chosen. She was very surprised by his response.
According to the mother: "He said they don't look like their names and the names are 'stuck up' names. He then says their names and his last name, but I corrected him and told him they'd taken my surname. He got p***ed and it became a tense situation.
"He demanded I change their names, I said no. He told me to combine our last names, I said no. I told him a parent that fights for 0% custody of their kids doesn't show much concern or care about said kid, especially since there are no physical/mental etc reasons to not be able to parent".
She continued: "He told me I was unreasonable and unhinged, I told him that paying child support was the bare minimum and if he wanted a say in their names, he should've shown up/called when they were born and not waited three weeks to even ask what their own kids' names were.".
Fellow Reddit users were quick to reassure the poster that she'd done nothing wrong, with one person asserting, "Once he decided he wasn’t going to be involved, he forfeited any right to being involved in any decisions regarding your children".
Another wrote: "He insists on having kids, you’re pregnant with twins, he dumps you over text, doesn’t get involved during pregnancy, isn’t there when you give birth, fights to get no custody, and shows up three weeks after the kids are born to demand they have his last name? Lmao. Sod off".
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