Don't forget to both register and re-register your baby's birth.

A new-born child's parents are required by law to register the child's birth in order to obtain a birth certificate and provide the child with an official identity.  

A child's birth must be registered within 42 days of his or her birth date, and it must be registered at the local register office in the area where the child was born.  

There is no charge to register a birth, but there is a small fee to obtain a copy of the birth certificate.  

You should be aware of the following when registering a birth:

• Name, birthplace, and date of birth
• the baby's surname and gender
• Names, surnames, and addresses of parents
• Places and dates of parents’ birth
• The date of your parents' marriage or civil collaboration
• Jobs held by parents
• Maiden name of mother

Depending on who is registering the birth, you may not need to provide all of this information.

More information is available at www.gov.uk/register-birth.

Married or in a civil partnership parents

If the parents were married or in a civil partnership at the time of the child's birth, either parent can register the birth. The birth certificate will include information about both parents.  

If a child's mother and father were married or in a civil partnership at the time of birth, they each have parental responsibility for the child under section 2, sub-section 1 of the Children Act 1989.  

Unless conception occurred through sexual intercourse or she did not consent to the conception, a woman who is married or in a civil partnership with the biological mother at the time of conception will have parental responsibility for the child as the second female parent.

Application to re-register a child's birth following natural birth parents' marriage or civil partnership.

If the parents marry or enter into a civil partnership after the child is born, they must re-register the birth. This is true even if the father's name appears on the child's birth certificate.  This particular requirement stems from The Legitimacy Act, section 9. 

LA1 is the relevant form.  

If the father did not already have parental responsibility, he will gain parental responsibility once the birth is re-registered in accordance with Section 4, sub-section 1 (a) of the Children Act 1989.

Unmarried or in a civil partnership parents

If one of the following events occurs, the information for both parents can be included on the birth certificate:

Who must agree to the addition of the father's name to the birth certificate?  

Consent must be provided by both the mother and father.

There is an exception to this rule in the re-registration process, which is explained below, if the father has entered into a paternity agreement. agreement on parental responsibility or acquired a order of parental responsibility  

Application to re-register a child's birth and add the natural father's information

If the parents have never been married/in a civil partnership and the father's name was not recorded at the time of original registration, the natural father's details may be added to the child's birth certificate. GRO185 is the appropriate application form.  

Normally, both the mother and father's consent are required for this re-registration application. However, if the father has entered into a parental responsibility agreement or obtained a parental responsibility order, only one parent can re-register the birth. This is appropriate in cases where the mother does not consent to re-registration.  

In this case, the parent applying for re-registration would be required to complete specific sections of the GRO185 form and attach a copy of the Parental Responsibility Agreement/Parental Responsibility Order.  

A new entry will be created to include the father's information, and a note will be added to the original entry to indicate that the birth has been re-registered.

Unmarried fathers who registered or re-registered their name on their child's birth certificate after December 1, 2003 will be granted Parental Responsibility for their child. The only exception is when re-registration occurs as a result of a Declaration of Parentage. Please see the table below for more details.

Parentage declaration

If a declaration of parentage is issued, the court must notify the General Registry Office within three weeks of the order's issuance. The General Registry Office has the authority to re-register the birth in order to reflect the court's findings, and this can be done without the presence of an informant at the registry office. Section 14A, sub-section (1a) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1953 states this.

A new birth record will be created, which will supersede the original record.  

Following a declaration of parentage, a father will not automatically obtain parental responsibility through the re-registration process. As a result, in order to obtain parental responsibility, the father must sign a parental responsibility agreement or apply for a parental responsibility order.

How can the incorrect father's information be removed from a birth registration?  

A paternity correction can only be made when it has been proven either by a DNA test or a court order (declaration of parentage) that the man named on the certificate is not the natural father of the child As a result, a recognized DNA report or a Declaration of Parentage is required, either of which excludes the man named on the certificate from paternity or confirms the name of the true biological father.  

The application form and instructions for removing the incorrect father's information from a birth registration can be found here. To apply for a correction, you must pay a fee of £90.  

DNA Test

If the mother requests that the birth entry with a DNA test, the entry will be corrected with a marginal note, but the named man's information will remain in the entry. Any certificates issued as a result of the entry will include this marginal note of correction as well as the original information.

The correction will not include the true father's information in the birth record; instead, the birth must be re-registered.  

Parentage Declaration

See the section above titled "What Happens If There Is a Declaration of Parentage?" ’

Even if the birth registration has been corrected to remove his details, the incorrect father will retain parental responsibility. As a result, an application for discharge A C1 form requires proof of parental responsibility.

This is in accordance with Children Act 1989, Section 4, Subsection 2A.  

If the case is already in court for a declaration of parentage and it has been determined that the incorrect father is named on the child's birth certificate, it may be worth asking the court to make an order for discharge of his Parental Responsibility there and then.  

Adoption

Once an Adoption After the Adoption Order is granted, a copy of the Adoption Order pertaining to each child will be mailed to you from the Court where the Adoption hearing was held. The Court also sends a copy of the Adoption Order to the General Register Office, which uses the information in the Adoption Order to make an entry in the Adopted Children Register. A new birth certificate in the child's adoptive name is then issued. This is known as an adoption certificate, and it takes the place of the original birth certificate for all legal purposes.

An entry in the Adopted Children Register will only contain a person's adoptive details and no information relating back to the corresponding birth entry.