When picking a name for a baby, parents often look to their friends and family for inspiration. Sometimes this involves asking for suggestions, and other times the child might be named after a loved one. But one mum has been left livid after her ex chose to give his new-born baby "basically the same name" as his eldest son, from their marriage.
To make matters worse, the dad is not a regular part of his son's life. As such, the mum has been left heartbroken for her child, who she feels has been replaced, and when she confronted her ex, he refused to change his youngest son's name.
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The shocking claim came to light on Mumsnet, where the mum sought advice on how best to handle the difficult situation.
Sharing her problem to the forum "Am I being unreasonable?", she titled her post: " Ex naming his Baby the same name as our DS."
In it, she then explained that she and her ex-husband share an 11-year-old son named Barnaby.
However, her son and his father have not shared a close relationship since the couple divorced, when their son was one, according to the mum.
She said: " His bio father has never had much input in Barnaby’s life and only sees him averagely once every few months. Although my ex’s Mother and father have a very close relationship with Barnaby and he often spends the night with them and they help with childcare occasionally."
The mum added that since she met her current partner when her son was five, "he has been in Barnaby’s life for most of what he can remember" - and it is her partner that the child calls his dad.
Coming to the problem, her post continued: "My ex has been in a relationship for around 2 years I gather with a women I have only ever spoken a few words to as when I drop Barnaby at his house she never seems to be in.
"I had just came to find out through my [son] that my ex’s partner was pregnant (around 8 months).
"So when I next called my ex to discuss when Barnaby was going to next come around to his house there was a short pause before he said that his partner had just given birth about 2 days prior to a baby boy that they named BARNEY???
"I was speechless I asked him why he called his [son] basically the same name as our [son] Barnaby and he said that he hadn’t realised that but was not going to change it because his [partner] had fallen in love with the name."
She concluded: "Am I the only one who thinks this is wrong on many levels practically calling your son the same name as your other son and what can I actually do about this (do I just have to leave it and tell my DS that he has basically been “replaced”???!!)"
And people were quick to blast the "ridiculous" choice and offer advice.
One person said: "Your ex and his partner are both complete idiots. Honestly, some people are ridiculous."
Another wrote: "That is insaaaane!!"
And a third said: "You can't do anything about the name. If it was me I wouldn't say anything about the name but if my son mentioned it I'd be as neutral as possible. Maybe talk about siblings with similar names and how that can be a thing."
"Yeah, it’s weird but realistically there isn’t anything you can do about it. Just say that they really liked the name," someone else suggested.
Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below.
