When Origin Doesn’t Grant Belonging
I never imagined I would have to explain to a civil registrar why my child doesn’t legally carry my name.
In early 2014, in a notary’s office in Athens, Greece, I sat across from the mother of my first daughter. We signed a solemn document — a notarized declaration of paternity, as the Greek law requires. It officially recognized me as the father and included a line stating that our daughter would carry my surname.
I believed the most difficult legal hurdle was over.
But I was wrong.
That moment marked the beginning of a more than a decade-long journey — across borders, through contradictory legal systems, and into a bureaucratic maze that would leave both of my children stateless. Not metaphorically — literally stateless. No passport. No nationality. No country to claim them.
Born Without a Nation
My daughter was born in Greece. By all logic, she should have received Greek citizenship. But instead, she inherited confusion. Her mother had previously applied for asylum under a false name and identity — one fact that German authorities later accepted without challenge, but cast a long shadow over every future document.
When I tried to register my daughter for Greek citizenship, I was told I couldn’t. The affidavit from the mother — the final step — could not be completed without her cooperation. And that cooperation was made impossible once Germany confiscated her passports.
So Greece said: We can’t help you without her signature.
And Germany said: This is not our responsibility.
Caught between two systems, my child was left outside of both.
A Father’s Powerlessness
I truly thought it was a mistake. That I’d just missed some paperwork. That someone would step in and fix this. But that never happened.
Not after the first rejection.
Not after the second.
Not after the third.
Instead, I discovered that when something falls outside the “standard procedure,” most institutions choose silence. No answer is the answer. I was told again and again to go back to the other side — to the Greek embassy, to the German immigration office, to the court. Each one passed the responsibility like a hot potato. Meanwhile, my daughter grew older. And still had no papers.
And all this was only the beginning.
to be continued