Bureaucracy: Absurd Law Means Baby Has 2 Fathers

Because of bizarre regulations, a young Croatian women’s daughter can not carry the surname of her biological father, but must carry the surname of her ex husband. To rub salt into the wounds, the government is forcing 27 year-old Petra Gregurovic to spend large sums of money proving who is the father in court, reports Croatian daily newspaper 24sata.hr.

“Because of the bizarre and pointless government bureaucracy, Tasa will be marked throughout her life,” angrily explains Zagreb resident Gregurovic.

More than two and a half years ago Gregurovic filed for divorce from her now former husband but the divorce has still not been settled in the courts. In the meantime, Petra met another man and the pair had Tasa, but due to complicated Croatian law, Petra’s former husband has been legally recorded as Tasa’s father. Tasa’s biological father has acknowledged being the father but the system has not.

“The drama began shortly after the birth because without the presence of my husband, with whom I was still legally married to, I could not give the child a name or enroll her in the record books. The state forced me to register him as the father, even though he is not the father, and now they want me want to pay lawyers and costly litigation fees in order to prove it,” said Gregurovic, showing 24sata’s journalist a stack of papers.