I have no legal rights as I am not on the birth certificate, if I had tried at the start to have the birth certificate legally changed I might have succeeded, but I just hoped the mother would change her mind.
Before the birth I told the mother she was forcing me to have my child adopted, which is how I still feel.
I have gone over this every day for years and I can’t do anything harmless and positive.
I may have a child I wanted but have never seen, so having at least some surety would be a first step - hence the photos. I wanted to be a father and the mother decided I was not going to be.
In your case I think you may have wanted the father to be a father but he abandoned you both.
Sadly In both our cases the children are hurt by their parents, but neither of us could do anything.