Ms Rachel Baldwin:

There needs to be more in-depth talks about guardianship. To clarify, the father will only have automatic rights if the couple has lived together for 12 months, including three months after the child is born. There will be issues if automatic guardianship comes about. Issues may arise in cases where a father is not involved, and does not wish to be involved, with the child. There will be complications, for example, getting a passport for the chid or if the child has medical issues and the father cannot be tracked down. One can bring an application to dispense with consent, for example, a passport, but there would be a problem in serving that if it is not known where the father is.

There are some practical issues. I do not disagree with Treoir's position on that but there are practical difficulties.