A new mum whose boyfriend died suddenly in his sleep while she was pregnant has been told she must produce DNA evidence before his name can appear on her daughter’s birth certificate. Samantha Thomson was stunned to discover Matt Vergo was not listed as baby Thea’s father because the couple were not
married. Now she has been told she must pay thousands in legal fees and provide DNA evidence to get Matt as the official father of one-month-old.
Samantha, 24, was just seven weeks pregnant when she woke up next to 28-year-old Matt and realised he had passed away.
A post-mortem examination revealed he had died from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome – which causes a cardiac arrest by disturbing the heart’s rhythm and can strike even in people with no known heart problems.
Matt had seen just one ultrasound scan of his daughter before his sudden death.
The couple had been trying for months for a baby.
Recounting her partner’s excitement, Samantha said: “When Matt saw the scan, his smile was as wide as his face.”
After Matt’s death, Samantha was told she would just need Matt’s death certificate. However, when she went to register the birth at Durham County Council she was told she needed a court order and DNA proof of his paternity.
Her plight has now been raised in Parliament as she faces an expensive legal process while coping with the grief of losing the man she planned to spend the rest of her life with.
Samantha, who delivered Thea by emergency section in at the University Hospital of North Durham on October 6, said: “This is the last thing I can do for Matt.
“If you’re married the husband doesn’t have to be there when you register a birth. But if you’re not, the father has to be there or you need to go through all this. “It’s just the last thing you need when you’re grieving and on top of having a baby. A DNA test could cost hundreds of pounds, maybe thousands.
“I’ve got a year to get this done and it could take six weeks before the first hearing, otherwise we can’t have her birth certificate changed.
“If I can get this for us, I hope I can work to get a change so other people don’t have to and are aware of it.”
Samantha, who was living in Chichester with Matt, moved back to County Durham to be close to her family after his shock death.
She added: “Thea is the last part of Matt we have. His family are devastated and they deserve to see their son’s name on their grand-daughter’s birth certificate.
“I still have a lock of his hair that I could use for DNA. Otherwise a family member will have to step in.”
Matt’s mother Teresa 60, and dad Jon, 48, are united in their backing of Samantha and have offered to give samples to help in the DNA test.
Teresa said: “Matt’s death was very sudden and he was so looking forward to being a dad. We are going to do this for him to get his name on that birth certificate.
“We 100% believe Matt is Thea’s dad, there is no doubt to us at all.”
Samantha’s mum Wendy, 49, added: “I think this is disgraceful, especially when someone is grieving.
“It really hurts and she also has mental health concerns and she has lost Matt, and now she can’t get his name on the birth certificate.
“There needs to be a change.”
*Wow! A Government that protects even the dead and gone*
A Working Government of the people for the people, not the family insisting this time, it's the Gov't trying to protect a dead man's name from being used 'wrongly'
Poor woman!