A MOTHER is raising funds for a lengthy legal process after being told the father of her child could not be registered on the birth certificate– because he has passed away.

Lauren Hughes lost her boyfriend Chris Busby to an unexpected heart attack just a few short months before giving birth to her first child Bella in November.

Whilst Bella, now 12-weeks-old, took her father’s surname, law states that since the couple were unmarried Lauren cannot put Chris's name on the birth certificate without undergoing costly legal procedures to prove he is the father.

Now, Lauren's family have started a Just Giving campaign to raise the £1,500 it will cost to get Chris legally recognised as Bella's father.

Lauren, of Portland, said: "Having his name on the birth certificate would have been really important to him and Bella has every right to have her dad on her birth certificate."

Originally from Oxfordshire, Chris, 56, moved to Portland 20 years ago and was a well-known mechanic in the community.

Lauren, who works as a carer at Dorset County Hospital, said: "It was so sudden. He ate dinner one night he said he had heart burn, I told him to take a Rennie and didn't think anything of it.

“He was up all night with it and the next morning he had a heart attack on floor and died in hospital shortly after."

The couple met three years ago when they were neighbours in Castletown.

"Our families have been so supportive through all of this and Bella is doing so well. She is such a bonny little lass, she has been for her first swim and her first tooth has come through."

After much research Lauren discovered that she could have Chris's name on the birth certificate but it would take a number of tests, paper work and two court appearances for a judge to make a ruling.

The money raised will cover the cost of a £375 DNA test, a £30 doctor's fee, £450 court costs and £600 of solicitors fees.

Tanya, Chris’s eldest daughter, set up the petition.

She said: "Perhaps most families wouldn't go to this extent but it would it would have broken my dad's heart if his name wasn’t on there.

“Lauren and I have both got newborns and dad was helping out with the childcare, now we have funeral costs to pay we just really can’t afford it.

"I completely understand the reason for it- to protect my Dad's estate- but why make it so difficult and expensive for a grieving family? Bella deserves so much more and should have the right to have her father on her birth certificate, this is her right and part of her identity."

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/BellaGeorgeBusby