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Home / Lifestyle

Parents slammed after substituting their adopted son’s name to ‘miracle’ newborn

NZ Herald
12 May, 2023 01:43 AM3 mins to read

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A father has taken to an online parenting forum asking others if he had made the wrong call after changing his adopted son's name and giving it to his biological son.

A father has taken to an online parenting forum asking others if he had made the wrong call after changing his adopted son's name and giving it to his biological son.

A father has been slammed after admitting he changed his adopted son’s name when his biological baby was born, claiming his “blood” son should be given the family name as it dated “back five generations”.

Kidspot reported the man shared his story on an online forum and called his biological child a “miracle” before asking for advice about the situation.

Writing on the forum website, he said: “Am I the a**hole for changing my adopted son’s name back to his original birth name after my bio son was born? (pregnancy and birth were kind of a miracle).”

He continued to say his name is August V and it was always his plan for his son to carry on the tradition and be called August VI.

Taking it right back to the beginning of their parenting journey, the father explained how he was told he was essentially infertile, and he and his wife began the adoption process immediately.

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The father claims he and his wife have been branded "social pariahs". Photo / Getty Images
The father claims he and his wife have been branded "social pariahs". Photo / Getty Images

“We started the adoption process right away, looking in mostly foreign countries so it would go faster, and we were able to adopt a baby boy from Vietnam. His first name was Thien but my wife agreed to change his name to August VI.

“We also agreed we would let nature take its course because miracles can happen.

“Seven years later, a miracle did happen and my wife turned up unexpectedly pregnant. I decided with my wife’s agreement that because we now have a bio son, it is better to give the firstborn biological son the family name.”

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The anonymous father said his adopted son preferred to be called Thien by the time he was 7 and “didn’t understand or care” about the family name or name change, which only further fueled the parents’ decision to change his name allowing their biological child to have the family name.

Following their decision, the news quickly spread through the community - as they had to inform the school - and the father revealed he and his wife had become “social pariahs”.

“We’re now essentially social pariahs and the subject of massive gossip – accusations of not loving Thien enough,” he said.

“We’ve heard it all through closed mouth hushed tones. It’s gotten so bad. Am I the a**hole?” he asked.

The confession didn’t receive welcome feedback, with many criticising his decision. One person said: “You are the a**hole. People like you really shouldn’t adopt.”

Another sarcastically wrote: “Are you also looking at the return policy on your oldest son or did the fine print get ya on the adoption?”

A third person questioned the law writing: “I can’t believe any judge would approve the name change under those circumstances, even if there are parents vile enough to request such a thing. If true that poor kid is growing up feeling inferior to your bio child.”

With rarely any positive comments on the post, the father decided to delete it, however the slew of comments remain.

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