We went through this at the start of the year with our baby who was born in june. I am british and my girlfriend is german, we went to the gemiende and asked them what we had to do. In the end we asked the british embassy to send a email to the gemiende to say it was ok if the baby would have my name. They did this and the gemiende was happy. we did all the paper work and did everything months in advance to clear all of this up. I know of other british expats (not married) who's problem was they didn't do any preperation and thier son was given the mothers name. The father later had to adopt his own son to be then given the fathers name. As to the law for expats its different where you can just change the last names but if the mother is swiss then the baby will have the mothers name. I would talk with your gemiende about it and see what they say.

You certainly can be a single mum with no father for your baby.

I don't know what the "justice of the peace" does when they enquire. But my friend had a baby with no recognized father. She told the registry that she didn't know who the father was and that was it. The baby has no legal father.

25 years ago my ex girlfriend from NZ gave birth to a son. His father came from Peru and refused to acknowledge the birth. Then 4 years later the father adopted his son and the son received the Peruvian surname. 5 years later the father became Swiss. The son now has access to 3 passports, and has completed his Swiss military service keeping his father's Peruvian name.

As I highlighted above, "Mit der Adoption erwirbt das Kind den Familiennamen des/der Adoptierenden" an adoption is the path to take, and it is best to talk to the Zurich Standesamt whom are the experts in these matters.

Well, I gave birth in Vaud last April, and amongst all the documents we had to fill in, it was specified that if you don't declare the name of the father, the judge would start an enquiry.

I don't know if they would really do it or if it's just written words, but so be it.

@Sbrinz: there might be a misunderstanding concerning the legal lingo. In Vaud, the father 'recognises' his child born out of wed-lock, at the birth or later. This is distinct from an adoption, which is specifically for people who are not related by blood. Possibly this distinction doesn't exist in German, I have no idea.

They tried that in the UK:

More here...

Good one:

"I am unsure as to the identity of the father of my baby, after all when you eat a can of beans you can't be sure which one made you fart."

Tom

They can enquire all they want, but what are they going to do if you claim it was someone you had never met before, nor seen since?

Tom

This was in Vaud. I haven't spoken to her since I left. But really, I'm not sure it's something I'd get into details with her about.

The father wanted nothing to with the baby as he already had children. She on the other hand didn't want to risk he might one day claim rights to the child or have problems leaving the country with the baby, making decisions, etc. Therefore no legal father.

She said it was a one night stand accident.

Now that we are talking about it. I'd be interested to be fly on the wall during the inquiry.

I think you are clouding the issue.

A father here can adopt the son he did not earlier recognise as his.

Go to the office, 'Standesamt' in Zurich

If none of the above works out, there is always the option to give birth in England. That way you can choose exactly the name you want to give your child. Then come back over here and register your baby to get Swiss nationality.
Not ideal, but it just depends how you get on with other options/ how much you want your child to have your surname. Hope this helps.

That may not work if the father is Swiss.

Years ago, a friend's sister got married in Germany, and they both took her last name (he was German, she Swiss), which is legal in Germany.

Got back to Switzerland, and while the Swiss accepted that he now had her last name, they did not accept thet she did not have his (original last name), and for years he was legally Mr. (her name), and she was Mrs. (his name)!

Also, they wanted to take away her Swiss citizenship, as she got married to a foreign national in a foreign country without first notifying the Swiss embassy that she wanted to remain Swiss after marriage.

Same thing happened with my first wife when we got married in the US, luckily my friend knew how to handle it because of the story with his sister, but it still took six months, during which time I was married but my wife wasn't!

Eventually, they allowed her to change her name back to her maiden name, but it took YEARS!

Tom

If one parent is British and the other Swiss then yes it will work, even if they are not married.

Perhaps not when they return to Switzerland.

Tom

Yes in both countries! Switzerland AND Great Britain!