A Blackwood mother whose partner was murdered has won a two-year battle for justice to get his name put on the birth certificate of their daughter.
Natalie Preece, 28, and her in-laws were forced to get DNA tests and fight the courts to prove Michaelee Emmett was the father to Lola-Grace.
Ms Preece was not married to 29-year-old Michaelee when he was stabbed in August 2014, and gave birth to their daughter while he was in a coma.
Mr Emmett died from his injuries six days after his daughter’s birth having never seen her, triggering a two-year battle by his family to add his name to the birth certificate.
A grieving Natalie was outraged that she wasn’t allowed to put her partner’s name of the birth certificate because he wasn’t alive to sign it, and was forced to get a court order to formalise the change.
Ms Preece, a local care worker, said: “I have been through hell to resolve this – even having to go to court.
“There was a blank space on the birth certificate where Michaelee’s name should have been for two years.
”I am very angry. The amount of red tape I have had to go through to get Michaellee’s name put on our daughter’s birth certificate was outrageous.
“If we had been married his name would have been added automatically.
“We had been together for 13 years and have nine-year-old twin boys, Logan and Riley, together. This was all because we were not married.”
In January last year, 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 on August 1, 2014.
As Mr Emmett was comatose and unable to sign his daughter’s birth certificate, it could not legally be assumed that he was the father and a DNA test was required by the General Register Office.
Ms Preece added: “It was horrible having to tell Michaelee’s parents.
“I felt as if people were doubting me and questioning my honesty and integrity. I was asked questions about our relationship like how long we had been together and if my eldest two children were Michaelee’s.”
A birth certificate has now been issued for Lola-Grace with her father’s name attached.
Ms Preece has said she wants to see the law changed. adding: “It is wrong. So many people who have children are not married today – the law needs changing.
“There should be something in place for catastrophic cases like mine where the unimaginable does happen.
“Michaelee was such a proud dad and it will mean so much to see his name where it belongs.
“It also means Lola-Grace, like her brothers, will have access to any criminal injuries compensation that might be available to them in the future. She wouldn’t have been entitled without the birth certificate.
“With the birth certificate, the law finally recognises that, and that Michaelee is her dad.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is important that all details on a birth certificate are accurate.
“In the sad circumstances where one parent has died before a birth is registered, we rely on a court to make a declaration of parentage after considering the evidence.”