A court has been forced to step in and choose the name of a two-year-old girl after her parents split up before she was born and could not agree what to call her.
The little girl was yet to have her birth registered, with each parent calling her by a different name.
The Family Court of Australia decided the first name the mother chose should be used and ordered that the girl be registered by it.
She had already been known by her father’s surname.
Justice Colin Forrest was asked to rule on a name, as well as the amount of time the child and her brother spent with each of the parents.
He said, ‘I am drawn to the conclusion that the father’s opposition to the name, chosen by the mother, is yet another example of his determination to control the mother and her parenting of these two children.’
He said that if the child was known by two different names, it was likely she would become accustomed to that idiosyncrasy and learn to cope with it.
And he added that she would ultimately choose for herself which name she preferred to be called.
But, he added, the problem was the fact the birth had not been registered and that was why court intervention was needed.
The court heard the mother, who picked the girl’s name because of its meaning and the way the toddler looked when she was born, offered a compromise.
She suggested having the two names hyphenated, but the father vehemently opposed the suggestion.
The father also claimed the name the mother picked was blasphemous in his Islamic faith.
Justice Forrest said there was no evidence the name was offensive to Islam.
He also revealed the child was generally known to the world by the name the mother chose and that was also why the name should be registered.
by Sel Hurst
