According to the Gov UK's official definition, Parental Responsibility is defined as and includes the following:

"If you have parental responsibility, your most important roles are to:

    1. provide a home for the child
    2. protect and maintain the child"

"You’re also responsible for:

    1. disciplining the child
    2. choosing and providing for the child’s education
    3. agreeing to the child’s medical treatment
    4. naming the child and agreeing to any change of name
    5. looking after the child’s property"

Without Parental Responsibility, an individual waives their right to become involved in any of the above matters and has their opinion revoked without further consideration. An individual who does not possess Parental Responsibility for their biological children holds no responsibility over important decisions regarding their child, but will still be expected to support them financially.

Currently within Northern Ireland (and the wider UK) only fathers must take positive action to gain responsibility of their own children, while mothers are granted such rights automatically.

In order to have equal responsibility of their children, a father must do one of the following:

    1. Marry the child's mother, or already be married to her at the time of             birth
    2. Be registered on the child's birth certificate

Both of these options rely heavily on the cooperation of the child's mother and places all decision making in the hands of one parent - A power that can all too easily be abused to prevent a fathers paternal rights with no good justification.

In circumstances where both parents are separated at the time of birth and relations may not be amicable, a father within Northern Ireland is left helpless and completely at the will of his ex partner in the battle of gaining any sort of responsibility for his child. However, while he may have his parental responsibilities removed, the state will still recognise him as a means of financial support for a child he has been granted no rights to.

How Men Can Appeal

If a man is not married to his child's mother and has not been given the opportunity to be on his child's birth certificate, two options remain for gaining parental responsibility: 

    1. He can sign a Parental Responsibility Agreement, which will only apply if the mother agrees.

    2. Apply for a court order at an initial cost of £215 - A cost which may inflate and a process which may lengthen depending on any objection presented by the child's mother.

Should a father have had difficulty gaining Parental Responsibility from the outset due to objection from the child's mother, the first option here will obviously not be applicable. Leaving only option 2, which will cost at least £215 and result in court proceedings.

These are currently the only  options provided to fathers within Northern Ireland. 

This current system and legislation provides no protection or paternal guarantee for existing or prospective fathers and is extremely vulnerable to abuse, making it even easier to use children as leverage in relationship disputes.

We are subject to a system which does not recognise father's as equals in parenting and strips them of their most basic responsibilities to their children, while still expecting them to pay maintenance.

In short, current legislation asks fathers to foot the bill for none of the reward or involvement in a child's life, and a fathers exclusion from his child's life can be thrust upon him effortlessly by the states refusal to acknowledge him as a default parent from birth, like it does with the child's mother.

Furthermore, even with Parental Responsibility applied, the government states that this will not ensure contact. Meaning there are currently NO ways in which father's in Northern Ireland have a right to a meaningful relationship with their children.

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The first step to changing this is to recognise a father as worthy of Parental Responsibility without forcing him to seek cooperation from another parent he may not have an amicable relationship with.

Relationships breakdown constantly, in many cases separations are not amicable. Your rights as a father should not be put into the hands of an ex partner, and not having the approval of a former partner does not make you an unworthy parent. The government needs to recognise this and give well meaning fathers more power to become part of their children's lives.

Sign this petition to encourage the Department of Finance and Personnel to reconsider the current law around Parental Responsibility, and let them know that father's deserve equal rights to go along with their expected payments.

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GQ