“Standesamt send me another paper that I should bring, and the father should also bring his own birth certificate and should fill the same form. We filled the form and after we finish filling the form, we submitted it to Standesamt. Get it almost, the Standesamt tell me to bring another letter that I am married before with the father of my children. I said, ‘No, we are divorced, we are no longer together.’ I compiled the divorce paper, everything to them, I sent it back to them to show that I am divorced. They did not answer.”

“Even if I submit the Nigerian passport. At least the name has to be on the Nigerian passport. For the past more than 10 years now, I submitted it, I gave you everything for you to see this person has been behind this name. Right, for how many years, right from birth, I will give you baptism certificate, still you are going to ask for verification. Even when the father go, give me my baby's birth certificate, you say: now we are going to verify that this is the father, this is the mother, they tie everything together to the mother's baby.”

“After submitting the things they list, the things like if you are baptised, if you go to school - the certificate of going to school, then you have to bring it: bring your family's name, your mother's name, your father's name, your sister's name, their phone number, your friends, your relatives. If you have friends, it is a very long list. You have to fill everything, then you submit that for the past many months. It is about one month ago, they said, ‘Now, you have to pay 675 euro for verification.’”

“This kind of document they sent back to my place and with this document I am very sure that the lawyer of the German Embassy took it to the marriage registry in Nigeria. They cannot find my name there because I never had any marriage registry. I never registered a marriage there. So, they didn't find the information. But the authorities here — that is the woman in the Standesamt — because if you look and you say, ‘As old as you are, you are not married and you already have children?’ I have three children back in Africa before I came here and it is documented and she saw it. ‘You have three children and you are not married?’ So, I ask, ‘Is there any law in Germany that says that you must be married before having a child?’”

“The father of this child has the — he is a citizen — has a citizenship of this country. Automatically, that child, the child of that man, gets his own citizenship! That is how it has been! That is the German law. But recently with African people, this problem in peculiar with African women, they change it. Now, even though the father have — I have seen some fathers who have the German citizenship, they still want to verify them. Some cases they want to verify the mother and the father of the child, in some cases they want to verify only the mother. Like in my own case, they said, ‘No, the father does not have problem,’ it is me they want to verify and I gave all the documents. So, with this Vaterschaft generally before now, originally and constitutionally, it is a legal document that binds. When this man has, if he likes, he can get as many children as he likes — they are entitled to the German citizenship as long as he is a German citizen. But now they try to twist it when it concerns the African woman. Why is it so? That is why these people are lamenting, that is why we are lamenting, that's why we are now — the Jugendamt is the one that is responsible for the paternity recognition, signing that document. The Jugendamt says ‘Yes, this is the father of the child,’ now the Standesamt - they say ‘No, we don't accept it,’ we have to prove it.”

“The Standesamt tells this woman, that they don't trust your document, they don't trust that this man is the father of your child, but we have to check. That is why they send some people — they say that ‘You have to make a DNA test.’ (...) With the man right here with you, the woman here, and the baby is here, they say ‘make a DNA test.’ What is that? And these people make this DNA test and it is positive. (...) In the past year, like since...2020, I know over tens of women that have come through this, just to — You want a birth certificate of your child, they said ‘okay.’ Now, first of all, they don't trust your document, they have to verify, cross examine, do-and-do. Eventually, they will now tell you: ‘Just come and do blood test, that is paternity test.’ Many women have done it and they have seen that it's true and yet, they won't even give these documents. There is one woman, Gloria, she is Ghanian, she told me: ‘Sister Gift, I have done the test.’ When she even did it, she copied me that she has done it. When the result come out, she told me the result is out too, she has given them. If I do the result myself: you do the test, they send the result to them, from the hospital, they send the result. The lab where you been, they send the results to them in the office. But I don't know why they still haven't given my child the birth certificate. You see the whole thing? So, the same way, like many other people, they said ‘Okay, we have done it.’ (...) And they send still — they see our document they are taking home, they want to go and they go to your streets. The street that you write for them: that is where your Papa is, that is where your Mama is. Apart from going to your father's house to meet with your father and mother and speak with them. On the street they see some people, on the street they ask: ‘Hallo, bitte schön. I am looking for this so-so person. Do you know so-so person? Who is she? Was she ever married? Is she still married?’ (...) Crazy! What I am trying to tell you now is, when I come to the issue of the machine cannot give you the accurate information, so, also that person on the street, cannot give you the accurate information of this person you are asking, because nobody - I don't know Katharina the way Katharina knows herself. The information you give me about yourself is much more valid than the one I assume or the one I go and ask Sabine. You understand my point? I go and ask Sabine ‘and Katharina this this this that.’ Why not take Katharina for what she has told you about herself? Must everybody lie? What is even the reason to lie? Whether I lie or not, this child is a German child, this is. If you lie, you can withhold the document now but in the future you have to release it, whether you like it or not, so, why do I have to lie.”

“Things are now made difficult. I know this is not only for me, but for many mothers in Bremen because having children here, and there is no recognition, there is no assessment to health care, there is no — even the ones that are grown enough to go to kindergarten, that one is also a problem. (...) In a nutshell I would say that living in Bremen has not really been rosy at all as a black woman, because I know — this is just really for black women.”

“So they go through reasoning where they tell you, ‘We are suspecting that you have been married before.’ Married cannot be something to suspect. If someone is married, it is shown that he or she is married. If it is not, he or she is not married. There is no such thing as suspicion of being married or not. There is nothing wrong with a woman having a child before. There is nothing wrong with — I came to a particular place, and I found somebody, and they are having a child, there is nothing wrong with it. You can't decide for your children's life, not to talk about the Standesamt being decisive for our lives. They want to tell us what to do with our lives, which you can't. (...) This is why I say they really do not have a reason why they are doing this. The reasons they put on paper are not the reasons why the Standesamt is doing this to us. And as for the birth certificate, the reason why that is really a major topic, is because, you have said it before, it sounded like it is the key for us to unlock every other door.”

“I have seen so many white people. We came the same time, so they came with their family, came with their ancestors — come with their brother, their grandparents, but they still give birth. Within a few moments of time, and they are already given what they are looking for. Given them their birth certificate, baby document and even their own document. Look at one that come the last, but now she has moved in her own apartment because they have given both them their resident permit and the baby birth certificate. Everything is okay for them.”

“We are not the same, we don't know the faith of the African black lady, they pass through hell. So many people are frustrated, some even contemplate taking their own life. But when you take your own life, what about your children?”

“Are you telling the baby should start regretting why she came out from the black family? Why she come out from a black community? You don't discriminate a baby. Every baby have the right to live. Every baby have the right to live its life; have the right to have his own birth certificate; have the right to have his own name. The baby have his own right: to say ‘Yes and remember, I am bonafide German citizen’ is the baby's right because she was born and brought up in Germany. Thank you.”

“The Standesamt, the immigration, and the police are working hand to hand, which is not supposed to be so. They are working hand to hand to frustrate the black society in this Germany.  Because if not for the whole demonstration and the movements women are doing, it worked out to become zero. They are not doing anything. I suppose I was hoping to hear that promise that they will see to it and make a stop this — I will call it racist — to stop this (anti-)black racism. They always say on television that ‘Germany welcome black.’ Germany don't welcome black. Germany welcome other migrants. As long as you are not a black woman, they will welcome you and show you true love but when you are a black woman, they see you and push you out of the way. Even when you are black, they will ask you to come out from the restaurant because you are black. I find that they don't — they are not doing anything to make sure the black women have what they want.”

“Yes, we are all black migrants but that does not mean we should be denied the benefits other children are enjoying. You can't just deny because you don't like the parents of the child. Also the children are suffering the same thing, it is an innocent child that does not know what is going on. But because you are discriminating the parents, the same notion is to be passed to their children. The children are so frightened! (...) You have denied the child so many things in life, the child is supposed to have vaccine but doesn't; and who knows what the future holds for the child, because she is missing vaccines that she is supposed to take at an early stage. Now, the child has not even taken the vaccine because there is no way for the child to take the vaccine. Even if the father make anything wrong, but as long as you give birth to this child in this land, in this Bremen, the child is supposed to have those things. The black ladies are suffering, I have not seen any white lady suffering the same thing. I have not seen any white migrant suffering the same thing. We are all human beings, it is only the colour that is different, we all have the same blood. The same blood is red. They don't have black blood and white blood, all blood are red. They should show the same love you show to the white mother, extend the love to also the black migrant. The love is big enough. The world is big enough to content everybody. Express your love, you cannot express your love for only one person and then decide not to express it on another person, which is very bad. We preach on peace, you say, ‘Let peace reign.’ You cannot show one person peace and show the other hatred. When you show that one person very deep hatred, the hatred will one day overcome the peace, which is very bad. Let the love continue. If you show the white man love, also extend the same love to the black man. Yes, Black Lives Matter!”

“Now the baby is denied of German citizenship, they deny the baby for a birth certificate, you deny the baby his right — as a baby! You deny that baby from his own right to be a human being. It's not her fault that she come out of the belly of a black parent, it is not her fault. They go and made it to be like that, but for the law of the land denying the baby his first right, the first thing for the baby to have is a German citizenship. To say, ‘Yes now this baby is now German.’ But now the German government have denied the baby of her right which is not fair. I call this racism. I see this as discrimination between the black man and also the white man.”

“My question is: what has verification got to do with the identity of the child? This child was born here. You didn't need to, you can't verify this child because he or she was born here. Then what has the verification of the mother's history, the life she has lived before, what she has done in Africa before, who she has been with, where she has grown up or whatsoever — what has this digging up of information got to do with the recognition of a child? This is just a silly excuse for — to back it up with their denial, because they don't have any good reason for this denial. So, they are subjecting the mother and we also have to  pay for these insults because they know that it is a useless issue for them to do, so they are not spending their money on it rather subjecting the mothers to pay for these things which is even meaningless. And this is absolute nonsense. And the most annoying thing is that the mother of this child is here, the father is here, the child has been born here, so what has the life of the parents back in Africa or how they have lived before, got to do with this child? There is nothing linking a past and a future together. So, I don't know the reason for this, but it is very obvious that this is discrimination, it is racism, because I believe and I know that every other woman, every other mother who are not Africans are not going through this, they are simply not going through this. So, why we, the African women, have to go through this? Why us? Why do we have to go through this? And, at the end of the day, this cause fear in our heart because even after this, this is the same way they are also going to treat our children in the future, because they simply do not like our coming, our giving birth here and that is how, that is why they are finding a way to steal us from us.”

“They did not put the father's name on the paper, they put the name of my ex-husband — that name they put on the paper as the father of the baby. After doing Vaterschaft — I do my Vaterschaft, I do everything — they did not put the name on the Vaterschaft, they went and put the name of my ex-husband. The two children I brought from Italy to Germany, they put their father's name on the new baby's name. I went there and said, ‘This man is not the father. The mother is supposed to know the father of her baby, not you choosing the father to the baby.’ Even if the woman is married before to the man, you are not supposed to put the man's name. At least you do Vaterschaft, I did everything, I said, ‘This is the father of the baby.’ Are you telling me that the woman don't know who impregnated her? You went ahead and put the others' father's name. They do not do it to only me, even many women who came with their children. That is how the Standesamt put their birth certificate, they put the father of their former babies' names. They add it to the new birth certificate. Then, they apply, they say, ‘Okay, we are going for verification to know if the name is submitted.’”

“Everybody have past life — you, me, that, that. Everybody have a way — maybe whether very good or bad or ugly, everybody have his own past life and there are some past things that you really want to put behind you. That now that you are moving on, you really don't want to even remember those pasts. Maybe because they were not so very good pasts or maybe something, you know, there must be a reason why you don't just want to talk. Because there are some cases you ask somebody a question and he said, ‘I would rather not talk about them,’ you know? And we have that freedom: we have the freedom not to talk about certain things, we have the freedom not to wake up certain issues in our lives especially in the past. Really, she is very right. When you look at it, what has that background, what has my life that I lived before — not what I am living now, now that I am in Bremen and in Germany? I am a criminal or I have done something terrible that you are trying to dig into my past life to getting more information just to crucify me. Nothing of such. The only offense says that you have given birth here and now you want the document of your child — that is the birth certificate, in particular. And now, you are telling me you want to go and verify. Okay, because I don't have any problem with you, you are going to verify me? Go ahead, everything you requested we deliver, we gave them to you. You even ask us — she also said it — you make us pay money. You make these people pay money for you — you are the one who is curious, you are the one who wants to find information but is the victim now, that will pay you the money with which you will foot the expenses of that information that you are finding. This is ridiculous and that is no other thing, other than discrimination. It's because, like she said, thay are just making all these excuses, all these excuses in order to push us away because they don't like our coming in first place, they don't like our giving birth here, they don't even want us to stay here. So, this is why they are doing all these things, looking for all this silly, silly excuses.”

S: “Then, they can take these rights and go to other countries without being asked for anything — for age or birth certificate and they go around and say, ‘Look you have to see these human rights’ and so on.” F: “What, why do you have to go and sit one-on-one with my parents? And then you tell me, ‘Yeah, it is in the right, it is in our laws that I have to go and sit one-on-one with your parents.’ I have to ask you, ‘What position you conceived your baby?’ [laughter] Yeah really.” G: “Then I claimed I took my birth certificate from the local government where my dad went to apply the affidavits to get my birth certificate. All these documents they ask me to bring them here. They carry them back to my father's house. My father saw all these documents that I presented here to the Standesamt, they took it back. ‘Are you the one who signed this?’” F: “Are you the one who signed this?” G: “They ask — they saw my father's signature was and ask my father, ask him, ‘Is it you who signed this paper?’” F: “They would even ask him to make a signature, saying, ‘Sign, so that we can confirm you signed it.’” G: “You see how terrible?”

“And it is so so painful that we are being subjected to different kinds of humiliation, to the extent of — if it would be possible, ‘Why you got pregnant?’ the question will be asked. They would ask it. Because I don't see any reason where a child being born right before under your nose — because of it, if you don't want to give a child his or her first identity, you are subjecting the mothers to different kind of humiliation. My question is: what has verification got to do with the identity of the child? This child was born here. You didn't need to, you can't verify this child because he or she was born here. Then what has the verification of the mother's history, the life she has lived before, what she has done in Africa before, who she has been with, where she has grown up or whatsoever — what has this digging up of information got to do with the recognition of a child? This is just a silly excuse for — to back it up with their denial, because they don't have any good reason for this denial. So, they are subjecting the mother and we also have to  pay for these insults because they know that it is a useless issue for them to do, so they are not spending their money on it rather subjecting the mothers to pay for these things which is even meaningless. And this is absolute nonsense. And the most annoying thing is that the mother of this child is here, the father is here, the child has been born here, so what has the life of the parents back in Africa or how they have lived before, got to do with this child? There is nothing linking a past and a future together. So, I don't know the reason for this, but it is very obvious that this is discrimination, it is racism, because I believe and I know that every other woman, every other mother who are not Africans are not going through this, they are simply not going through this. So, why we, the African women, have to go through this? Why us? Why do we have to go through this? And, at the end of the day, this cause fear in our heart because even after this, this is the same way they are also going to treat our children in the future, because they simply do not like our coming, our giving birth here and that is how, that is why they are finding a way to steal us from us.”

“So, also these interviews, so interview also, you know, there are lot of privacy things or private things that you know they will ask and you don't have a choice to deny them. Also coming back to Standesamt — Standesamt, you know, it will especially women who are involved, you know, there are a lot private things that they interfere, that they don't have right to ask, but they will ask women about all these private things, you know. Also like, investigation — investigation, you know, is not only here but also going back to your home country, you know. So, there are some women, you know, who maybe they don't have a good connection with their family before they left. It is not all the women, even the boys — it's difficult when you leave. Your mother will say ‘no’ or your father. When it comes to women this is different, so, I would say for boys, it is easier to ask your parents that, ‘I want to go.’ They accept it than a woman because a woman when you say ‘I want to go to this far,’ they will say ‘This is not a journey of a woman.’ So, maybe, you know, you have this contact, you have this conflict with your family because they said... no. When they are doing this investigation, you know, so, this investigation can reveal all those secrets. You know, so, we come to marriage, you know, so, they will be really interested whether you are married, you know, in Africa or you are not married. Maybe your lifetime in Africa, you are married you know as a bad memories that you never want to remember. So, but you don't have a chance, you have to explain whether you are married or not, you know, and also divorced. So, whether you are divorced or you are not. Okay, and also the father of your child, you know. I think this, the father of your child also, you know, somehow you know is a woman's private life. Whether she want to present the father of your child or not, you know? So, but for the black women, you know I think — you must, you must present the father of your child whether you are married with him or you are not. And also this evidence, you know, the evidence that they will live from — for me, I see these are privacies that you know maybe you don't want to submit, you know, but because they need it, you know or you must have to submitted, you know, so.”

Q: “What you feel about this verification? You are here in Germany and the Standesamt is sending your information to Africa, send it back to Nigeria for people to go to your family or your friends, back to your village, to go and be asking questions about you? How do you feel? Do you feel like they are invading your privacy, your whatever — can you tell me how you feel?” A: “Um, I don't feel happy, it is like they are going back to Africa to disgrace me. Because many people don't even know how I live in Europe. Sometimes when they call we greet and they don't even care how you live, or your background or whether you are even living. Nobody care, but now, you are now going back to go and expose me to the friends and family. Those who are called friends, many of them might be an unfriendly friend and they are going to expose the woman: this is the lifestyle that she is living in Europe. I see it like a betrayal. Yeah, I see it as exposing the woman to the world, because the person you talked to you don't even know who is going to carry from that call. They have gone to verify, ...this is the kind of question they are asking. Going back to the primary school you went to when you were still a baby, you don't even know whether the owner of the school is still alive.”

“My man was there, that is the father for my child was there; we were there together. She was asking, ‘How...are you married? Were you married?’ I said, ‘No, I am not married.’ She look at the paper and said, ‘But you have these children, three children! One, two, three and you are not married?’ I said, ‘For your correction: my two children, my first two children, they are twins. I had a twin in one pregnancy. Then I have my daughter after the twin.’ ‘So, how can you say you are not married?’ I said, ‘I am not married. Look at the father of my child here, we have this child together, but we are not married. But we have a child together.’ She said, ‘Okay, and for the man — I don't doubt.’ The man was even asking him, ‘Okay, can you give me a proof that you are not married?’ So, she was: ‘Does it mean that this man you had the three children for doesn't have relationship with your family?’ The man I had these children for, that is in presence of this other man now, the man that you have this children for — does this mean that this man doesn't have relationship with your family? I said, ‘Of course. If I dated him for a while, before we had these children together and maybe we were together but we thought we will get married if it works but if it doesn't work you back out, you don't have to kill yourself there.’ I said, ‘So we are together.’ So, you have dated the man one year, two years, three years, your parent does not know him, it is not correct. You are wrong. My parents know him, they knew themselves, they actually — normally what we do at our place, if you are dating with somebody you could introduce the person to your parents. This is the man I want to be with. I am with this man. You know, maybe later, we will come and get married, then you go. And in some cultures, they don't even believe in marriage before children, before having children. You can have as many children as you want to have and then you can later come and officially do the marriage — that is pay the bride price of this person...The woman was putting it in my mouth — ‘I put it on you that you have must been married to this man.’ I said, ‘Well, the only thing I did was that I introduced this man to my family. We met, we sat down together. I introduce to my family, so my family know him.’ For me to say I dated somebody, we were friends and I have a child or children for him and my family does not know him, I cannot be saying the truth. I said my family know him. He knows my family members. But along the line, it didn't work so everybody parts ways here, but we have these children. These children have their life.”