The ridiculous notion of ‘illegitimate’ children lingered for too long | Brief letters
Registering babies | Farage’s pub crawl | Medics in crisis | Weeding out thieves | Weighing up the cost of papers
Ideas of “illegitimacy” (Letters, 17 April) remained potent for some at least as late as the 1990s. When I registered my firstborn, I refused to say whether I was married and insisted my partner’s name also go on the certificate. The registrar, horrified, told me: “But then your child will be registered as illegitimate!” I had to point out to her that illegitimacy had not been a legal category for some time. But I didn’t tell her that I’d been born in a mother-and-baby home. I found her words ridiculous, but they could as easily have been an unnecessary (and inaccurate) cruelty.
Naomi Standen
Birmingham
• As the 1 May local elections near, Nigel Farage’s campaign is featured in every media outlet. The reports seem to suggest that it consists of a pub crawl around the country. I wonder if Farage is aware of the Alex Glasgow song As Soon As This Pub Closes (The Revolution Starts)?
Keith Flett
Tottenham, London
Continue reading...
By Guardian Staff
The ridiculous notion of ‘illegitimate’ children lingered for too long | Brief letters to Continue reading...
NHS Forums - For NHS Staff | Patient Forums
Registering babies | Farage’s pub crawl | Medics in crisis | Weeding out thieves | Weighing up the cost of papers
Ideas of “illegitimacy” (Letters, 17 April) remained potent for some at least as late as the 1990s. When I registered my firstborn, I refused to say whether I was married and insisted my partner’s name also go on the certificate. The registrar, horrified, told me: “But then your child will be registered as illegitimate!” I had to point out to her that illegitimacy had not been a legal category for some time. But I didn’t tell her that I’d been born in a mother-and-baby home. I found her words ridiculous, but they could as easily have been an unnecessary (and inaccurate) cruelty.
Naomi Standen
Birmingham
• As the 1 May local elections near, Nigel Farage’s campaign is featured in every media outlet. The reports seem to suggest that it consists of a pub crawl around the country. I wonder if Farage is aware of the Alex Glasgow song As Soon As This Pub Closes (The Revolution Starts)?
Keith Flett
Tottenham, London
Continue reading...
By Guardian Staff
The ridiculous notion of ‘illegitimate’ children lingered for too long | Brief letters to Continue reading...
NHS Forums - For NHS Staff | Patient Forums
