UAE parents hide son's identity for 16 years... born out of wedlock

Looking grim and timid, a woman enters the Legal Affairs Office of the Judicial Department of Abu Dhabi, with her appearance indicating that she has come with a purpose to meet someone.

“How can I help you,” asks an official of the Department. Without responding to him, she sits down in front of him.

“Her clothes and the way she looked indicated that she was an upscale educated woman. When she sat down, she started talking about happy days with her husband. But suddenly she asked about the possibility of including her 16-year-old son in the official records,” said the official.

Before the Judicial Department official could ask her to explain what does she mean by the inclusion of her son in the official record, she started narrating her story again.

Published by Arabic daily Al Bayan and shared by an official of the Judicial Department, this is the story of a woman who was involved in extra-marital affair with a man – who later became her husband – and gave birth to a boy who was conceived out of wedlock.

Feeling ashamed, the woman told him she she was involved in a relationship with a man who later became her husband. She became pregnant before the two got married.

“The young man proposed to the woman, but the pregnancy months passed quickly, and she delivered a baby only two months after the wedding.

“Fearing adultery charges, the couple decided to give birth at home; they kept the child's birth a secret and did not register him in the official records,” said the official while narrating her story.

“Years passed and the couple had more children. They registered all of them except the eldest son. So, he didn’t go to school, did not have an identity or a health card; never travelled with his parents and siblings because he didn’t have a passport. The family had been hiding this secret for 16 long years,” said the Judicial Department official.

“What kind of parents are you both?” questioned the official angrily who was shocked to hear the story.

“My sister, who said that you’ve to go to jail if you haven’t registered your child in the official records. This is a personal custody case, and will not go to the penal authorities. All you have to do is to file a case to prove lineage to your husband; he must acknowledge in the court that the child is his in order to obtain official papers,” the official told the woman.

But the woman said her husband would not accept this and would rather be upset if the case went to the court. “This will cause a big problem between us,” she said.

“This young man is your son. It was your mistake, not his. He deserves to live his life full just like other children,” the official replied to the woman.

Then the woman took the official’s permission to leave but her facial expression indicated that she had not made up her mind yet about what she was going to do with the future of her son.

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