Possible illegitimacy and how to record it

[McKelvieClan]

I have came across a relation who was pregnant a few months before marriage, has married and the child has been borne in wedlock and  then adopted by a neighbour.  This is in 1880. It looks like the child was not the biological child of the named father on the birth certificate.  The child had a birth name, then is given an adopted name and then when marrying names a different father on the marriage certificate and takes this fathers surname and changes her first name also.   The biological mother does not marry the alleged biological father.  It looks like the biological father lived nearby, and was married to someone else at the time of conception. The named father on the marriage certificate and his employment details are identical to a person of that name and employment details in a census that place him living in close proximity to the birth mother.    How would I show this on an ancestry tree and would I record the alleged biological father's details now as opposed to the birth father?  Hope this makes sense!

[Pheno]

I think it is entirely up to you how you record it, depending on which set of ancestors you want to trace back.

On an Ancestry tree you should be able to record more than one set of parents by using the drop down options so can show both the biological parent plus thoe with other relationships.

Pheno

[Gan Yam]

You can add additional "parents" on Ancestry and assign them a status, eg biological, step, etc.  You go into the relevant person, then go to edit in the top right corner and it will bring edit relationships and then you make your additions.

[Biggles50]

Assigning the correct relationship is not a problem as explained so well.

What is a problem is the recording the Birth and Adoptive Surnames.

Two of my Cousins who are Brothers were Adopted by their Step Father but on my Tree they are recorded using their Birth Surname as there is no facility to record their Adoptive Surname.

This is the same with the Software that I use its a choice of one Surname field.

In the Facts page of any Profile you can create a Custom Event, I do this to add detail you can then attach a note and/or a comment that shows up on the Profile plus you can use the Tags feature.  When viewed in Tree mode Comments are seen as a red icon on the person concerned

[Geoff]

In this or any type of situation, the only way to record it, is as it actually happened. You are recording  history, not changing it,0 so keep it as it unfolded.  We all have things that happened, even if we wish they hadn't.  All those type of incidents can make your completed story a pleasure to read, why?, Because the reader actually sees the story as he or she is reading it.
That is how I'm doing mine, and every now and then,  I have to put tĥe laptop away to get my thoughts into some form of order before I can start again.

[Pheno]

Assigning the correct relationship is not a problem as explained so well.

What is a problem is the recording the Birth and Adoptive Surnames.

Two of my Cousins who are Brothers were Adopted by their Step Father but on my Tree they are recorded using their Birth Surname as there is no facility to record their Adoptive Surname.

This is the same with the Software that I use its a choice of one Surname field.

In the Facts page of any Profile you can create a Custom Event, I do this to add detail you can then attach a note and/or a comment that shows up on the Profile plus you can use the Tags feature.  When viewed in Tree mode Comments are seen as a red icon on the person concerned

In my tree I either insert aka (also known as) in the surname field so there are two names or put the other name into the suffix box.

Pheno