Jordan Sinnott: Call for rule change after birth certificate fight

Kelly Bossons found out she was pregnant after her fiancé was killed

A mother who fought for two years to have her deceased partner named on their child's birth certificate has said the rules need to change.

Kelly Bossons found out she was pregnant after her fiancé Jordan Sinnott was killed on a night out in Nottinghamshire in January in 2020.

As they were not yet married he could not legally be named as their daughter's father after she was born.

Ms Bossons said these rules were outdated and "unfair".

Mr Sinnott, a Matlock Town footballer, who had also had spells with teams including Huddersfield Town and Chesterfield, suffered fatal brain injuries when he was attacked on a night out in Retford.

Kai Denovan, Cameron Matthews and Sean Nicholson were all jailed for the fatal attack.

The 25-year-old's fiancée realised she was pregnant after his funeral and their daughter Maisie was born later that year.

In the UK, unmarried parents who are not in a civil partnership must sign the birth register together to be named

When registering her daughter's birth Ms Bossons said she had to leave a blank space on the document where the father's name should be.

"Jordan wanted nothing more out of his life than to have kids - it's just so unfair.

"She's half of me and she's half of him - it's only right for it to be legally documented.

"She has lost enough," she told the One Show.

Jordan Sinnott was killed on a night out in Nottinghamshire in January in 2020

In the UK, unmarried parents who are not in a civil partnership must sign the birth register together to be named.

In situations where one parent cannot attend, they must complete a statutory declaration of parentage form instead.

If this is also not an option then a court document is needed.

As part of this process Ms Bossons had to prove that Mr Sinnott was her daughter's father.

She said: "They asked me questions like 'do you have any other partners, are any other people in the picture?'

"Those kind of questions almost put you on the back foot because you think 'no of course there's not'."

Ms Bossons said Mr Sinnott's mother had to provide a DNA sample to prove she was Maisie's grandmother and after two years she finally received a birth certificate with his name on.

Kelly Bossons fought for two years to have Mr Sinnott named on their daughter's birth certificate

"We shouldn't have had to fight to get this.

"We were entitled to this in the first place," said Ms Bossons.

The charity Widowed and Young said last year 51% of births were to unmarried couples.

It is campaigning to give registrars the power to make a judgement without the need for court proceedings.