A Blackwood woman who has been grieving for her murdered partner for nearly a year, has had to take a DNA test to prove their daughter is his.
Michaelee Emmett and Natalie Preece’s daughter Lola-Grace was born six days before Mr Emmett died from injuries sustained from being stabbed.
In January, Connor Doughton, 16, was jailed for at least 15 years for murdering Mr Emmett, 29, after he and a friend, John Williams, tried to take him home from a Cefn Fforest pub.
Ms Preece, 28, who also has two boys with Mr Emmett was told she could not put his name on his daughter’s birth certificate. despite being together for 13 years.
She told ITV Wales: “Mike’s name couldn’t be put on the birth certificate as he wasn’t there to sign to say he was the father.
“I had to go through the process of having a DNA test and apply for a declaration of parentage in the courts.
“It’s frustrating more than anything, that you basically have to relive the past.
“I think there should be things in place for things like I’ve been through, for the partners to be automatically put onto the birth certificate.”
Mr Emmett was stabbed on August 1 last year, the night of Lola-Grace’s baby shower.
The two men took Doughton, who had been drinking and had taken Valium, home to Apollo Way. The teen ran into his house and grabbed a kitchen knife.
He stabbed Mr Emmett in the back and chased him before turning the blade on Mr Williams, who suffered back and elbow injuries. He also had to undergo surgery to repair a damaged bladder.
Mr Emmett suffered a three centimetre wound to his liver and died in hospital on September 2 after complications from a transplant.
Ms Preece had to make the agonising decision to turn off his life support machine, less than a week after their daughter was born.
A Home Office spokesman said: “It is important that all details on a birth certificate are recorded accurately.
“In the sad circumstances where one parent has died before the birth has been registered, we rely on a court to make a declaration of parentage after considering the relevant evidence.
“It is up to the court to decide whether this evidence should include DNA.”