The best of 2016: My daughter-in-law doesn’t want to carry on the family name

When our grandchild is born to our son and his partner, we naturally assume the baby will take the husband’s surname. This is just tradition and many families do it and feel it’s right for them.

But this week, one of our reader Beth wrote in to ask for advice about her daughter-in-law who’s made a stand regarding her surname.

“Hi all. I have a brand new baby grandson but my daughter-in-law says he should have a different last name…namely hers. But both my husband and son want our new grandson to carry on the family name. It’s especially important to my father-in-law who fought in WWII. He’s elderly and you could see the disappointment when we told him the baby was taking the mum’s last name. I don’t know how to approach this subject with the new mum as all the certificates are lodged”.

What would you do?

This piece was originally published on Starts at 60 as ‘My daughter-in-law doesn’t want to carry on the family name’. It was one of our most popular contributions by the Starts at 60 community in 2016.

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