Tammy Scott, Mom, Forced To Fight For Baby To Have Father's Name

Tammy Scott, a mom from Scarborough, UK is fighting to get her baby's father's name on the birth certificate. Scott's fiancé, Peter Wilson, died just weeks after he found out he was going to be a father.

What Wilson, 52, thought was just a bad cold, was actually bronchial pneumonia and myocardial fibrosis, which ultimately killed him in July, the Scarbourough Evening News reports.

Scott gave birth to a baby girl, Alenka Peta, prematurely on January 24th, but because she was not yet married to Wilson, she must now begin legal proceedings to have Wilson recognized officially as Alenka's father.

There are laws on the books to address these circumstances: "an unmarried woman must apply to court for a dead father's name to be on the birth certificate," BBC News reports.

But Scott sees this as just a harsh added layer of bureaucracy for new mothers who have just lost a partner. According to the Scarsborough Evening News, Scott "has reiterated her calls for a change in the law so that other grieving mothers do not have to suffer the same distress while already dealing with the pain of losing a loved one."

Adds Scott, "not having Peter named on the birth certificate is like denying Alenka had a dad. It feels like she's lost her father twice now.”

Her crusade to change the law has gotten support from at least one other family who slogged through the same sad process. Lincolnshire mother Kirsty Barden had to spend thousands of UK pounds to prove that Matthew Anderson -- her fiancé who died three days before she gave birth -- was her son’s father.

Anderson's father, John, said that the baby had to be DNA tested with some of his father's remains, and called the proceedings "terribly cruel."

Scott and Barden are now both arguing that the law should be revised to prevent other moms from experiencing similar pain.

For the full story, click over to the Scarsborough Evening News.