In a message dated 30/05/2011 15:44:45 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Although it was, theoretically, possible for the fathers of illegitimate children to be named, this would only happen if they fessed up and agreed to attend the child's registration. On the rare occasion that this happened, the child would be listed in the GRO index under the father's surname, not the mother's I would like to add a small correction to this. If the father attended registration and is named on the birth certificate, the child is indexed under both the mother and the father's names. Regards, Jennifer