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Me (40m) & my ex (30f) were together for 4 months when we found out she was 8wks pregnant with our 1st baby (both our 1st) We went to the babys 1st scan together at 9wks where we were told the due date was my mums bday (mum passed away 10yrs ago)
Everything seemed to be going good, we were both happy, then at 11wks pregnant my ex went to her mums for a few days to visit (as she did atleast once a month), then she started making excuses not to come home & didn't want me to visit her either. After a week or so she tells me that she can't be with me anymore because of her mental health issues & that I had done nothing wrong to make her leave me & it was all her & she needed to fix herself, I offered to help with her problems as I always did but it wasnt good enough. About a week later she told me she was booked in for an abortion but when I asked for proof of abortion she got really [censored] with me and blocked me from all social media & blocked my phone number so there is no way i can contact her. She then messaged me a week later saying she couldnt go through with the abortion and that she would keep me updated on the pregnancy side of things but I havnt heard from her in about 14-15wks. She then later had the police call me and tell me not to contact her again unless its through a lawyer about our unborn child. Since then she's been like a ghost and I havnt heard a thing from her, she's now 26weeks pregnant and I found out off a mate of ours that we are having a baby girl which hurt a little bit knowing she couldnt even text or call to tell me the [censored] of our baby & everybody except me knew the [censored].
Being a 1st time dad to-be I feel like I'm missing out on so much already & I just want to be there for her & bub. As far as I know she probably wont even tell me when she's about to give birth & i wont be one of the 1st to meet my 1st child.
I will do everything humanly possible to be a part of my daughters life and finally be a dad for the 1st time at 40yrs old. I have even started an online parenting course for 1st time fathers just for some knowledge on what to do. It eats me up inside just thinking about what's guna happen when bubs born and i'v been stressing hard lately. I dont want to be one of those dads that doesn't get see his daughter because his ex wont let him, I actually want to be & need to be a part of my baby girls life and I'll do my absolute best to always be there for her. I just dont understand why my ex is putting me through this [censored] especially after all I ever done was love & take care of her like a princess, yeah fair enough if she's moved on to another partner but we do need to get along and talk atleast because I'm going to be in her life for the next +18years. I'm just feeling stressed, lost & confused but I'm also excited that I'm finally guna be a dad (hopefully).
Do I have any rights to be there for the birth of my baby girl?
Do I have a say in bubs name & will I be on her Birth Certificate?(she's definately mine)
What are my parent custody rights once she is born?
Can my ex partner keep me from seeing my child once she is born if I have done nothing wrong?
I'm located in NSW Australia, not sure if laws change from state to state or not.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.