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Hi guys

Sorry I am mystified by your question....

You are Dads to your son who has a passport reflecting that fact... I am sorry if I am being naive but why would you carry a birth certificate as well..

I as a single mum never do why would it be different for you, I would be horrified if your dad status was ever queried you are daddies surely?... with a valid new passport for your son.

Sorry if I am talking rubbish but you have shocked me tbh ?

Xx moo xx

We are not a same-sex couple, but my surname is different from my kids' and when I travel with them on my own I am regularly asked to show the adoption certificate at border control. In the UK it is sufficient to show a digital copy, but in some other countries I have had to show a written travel permission from my husband. Hopefully you should be okay if you are both there and all share the same surname!

Absolutely bring your adoption certificate. We are a same-sex couple and have had difficulties/confusion/incredulity when navigating passport control in various places. Nothing insurmountable, merely awkward. Don’t assume that you will be without problems in a “Western” country either - my most embarrassing passport control episode was in Canada, where the official seemed to have heard neither of adoption nor same-sex parents.

And I could tell stories about even my experiences in the UK - ie a junior doctor in A&E who panicked, ran out of the room and returned with a senior nurse because we said we were both our son’s mothers, not biological parents and didn’t know where the biological mother was - another person who hasn’t seemed to have encountered either same-sex parents nor to be aware of the existence of legal adoption.

My experiences are not even surprising considering that same-sex adoption was not even legal here until 2006, only made legal a year ago in France and Germany, and is still not legal in most countries around the world.

As a same sex couple with three sons, we would ONLY take their passports - and nothing else. We have never ever encountered any issues, and to be honest, if you have same surnames then it shouldn't be an issue.

I guess it does depend on the country, however, we have travelled to places like Jamaica and Dubai as a couple with children, and have never experienced any issues when we have (Touching wood!!)

Beebo - EEK!! That is NOT good! Shows we all have different experiences and it is not consistent!

Best wishes

Scott

I think if your passports have surnames that reflect you are a family then you should be ok. I have a different surname to my son. I haven't travelled with just my son, always with my OH together with AS, but sometimes you get separated at passport control and I've often had to find / point out my OH so that officials could see that we were a family. Or they have asked my son if I was mum (thankfully AS has managed to control the urge to say something "funny" when answering that question)). This only ever happened in the UK, by the way. We have never been questioned in Italy, but it is quite normal there for women to keep their maiden names, so there is some cultural bias I would say with this. If you are worried take the extra documentation.

Is this your first holiday abroad together? Have a good trip!

Thanks everyone!