Who is the father

On Tuesday afternoon we went to the center that tracks all of the births, deaths, marriages, and voter eligibility, among other things, in Bolivia. They have a national database for all of the Bolivian citizens. When a person is born or dies, someone must report it to this center to be recorded. One thing that really sparked my interest is how people name their children here: a baby takes its mother's and father's last name for a double last name. So, what do you do if you have a child but you're not married? Well, in the days of old, women in Bolivia had to mark that their child was born without a father, and that stayed on the child's record. This is a disgrace in Bolivian culture, and women did not want to have their children marked if they were without a husband. Even if a child was born to a couple but they were not married, then the father could 'claim' the child, but the child would still be marked as born to an unwed couple. However, the child would have two last names. This all sounds very complicated just to register your baby into the Bolivian system.

Also, this all sounds very complicated on the mother's part. This system places blame on and stigma around the mother of the child if she was not wed when she gave birth. Even if having a child out of wedlock were a real issue, then the man still had a child out of wedlock, too! The woman should not have to bear any shame for having a baby, and she definitely should not have to face that alone. Class A example of patriarchy.

Alas! Bolivia has moved forward in women's rights and has worked to correct this problem to some extent. If a woman has a child out of wedlock and the father will not claim the child, then she can just put down the father's name regardless of his consent. If she does not want to put down the name of the father, then she can mark the child as 'natural born,' which is less stigmatizing than the previous indicator that was more along the lines of 'bastard child.' If the father really does not want to take responsibility for the child, then he can undergo the process of having DNA paternity testing done to prove that the child does not belong to him to have his name removed.

This is a step forward for gender equality in Bolivia, but I do think it still has some implications. I would be worried that some people would falsely or mistakenly put down the wrong name of a man who truly is not the father of this child, and now he is legally responsible for the kid. I personally think they should just remove the title of 'natural born' altogether, and then the woman could just give both of her last names to her child.