Register and re-register a child’s birth

When must a child's birth be registered?

Parents of a newborn child are legally required 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 date of birth, and the birth should be registered at the local register office for the area where the child was born. 

There's no fee to register a birth but there will be a small fee in order to obtain a copy of the birth certificate. 

When registering the birth, you should know:

• Place and date of the birth name,
• Surname and sex of the baby
• Parents' names, surnames and address
• Places and dates of parents' birth
• Date of parents' marriage or civil partnership
• Parents' jobs
• Mother's maiden name.

You might not need to give all of this information, depending on who is registering the birth.

Further information can be found here: www.gov.uk/register-birth

Parents who are married or in a civil partnership

If the parents were married or in a civil partnership at the time of the child's birth, either parent can register the birth. Both parents' information will be included on the birth certificate.

Where a child's mother and father were married to each other or in a civil partnership together at the time of the birth, they shall each have parental responsibility for the child in accordance with section 2(1) of the Children Act 1989. 

Unless conception occurred through sexual intercourse or consent was not provided 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 marriage or the entering into of a civil partnership of natural birth parents

If the parents have married or enter into a civil partnership after the child was born, they are legally required to re-register the birth. This is the case even if the father is already on the child's birth certificate. This particular requirement stems from The Legitimacy Act, section 9. 

The relevant form is LA1. 

In the event that the father did not already have parental responsibility, the father will acquire parental responsibility once the birth has been re-registered in accordance with Section 4 (1A) of the Children Act 1989.

Parents who are not married or in a civil partnership

The details of both parents can be included on the birth certificate if one of the following happens:

• they sign the birth register together
• one parent completes a statutory declaration of parentage form and the other takes the signed form to register the birth. 

Who must consent to the father's name being added to the birth certificate? 

In most cases, both the mother and the father must give their consent. In the event that the father has entered into a Parental Responsibility Agreement or obtained a Parental Responsibility Order, there is an exception to this rule in the re-registration process, which is explained below.

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

It is possible for the natural father's details to be added to the child's birth certificate 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 relevant application form is GRO185. 

Ordinarily, this application for re-registration does require the consent of both the mother and the father. However, in the event that the father has entered into a Parental Responsibility Agreement or obtained a Parental Responsibility Order, there is the facility for only one parent to re-register the birth. This would be appropriate in cases where the mother does not provide consent for re-registration. 

The parent making the application for re-registration in this case would be required to fill out specific sections of the GRO185 form and attach a copy of the Parental Responsibility Agreement/Parental Responsibility Order. 

A new entry will be made to include the father’s details and the original entry would have a note added to show the birth has been re-registered.

Unmarried fathers who registered or re-registered their name on their child’s birth certificate after 1st December 2003 will have parental responsibility for their child. The exception to this is where re-registration occurs following a Declaration of Parentage. For further information, please see below.

Declaration of parentage

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. This is contained in Section 14A(1a) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953.

A new birth entry will be made which would supersede the original entry. 

A father will not automatically obtain parental responsibility through the re-registration process following a declaration of parentage. Therefore, in order to obtain parental responsibility, the father will need to enter into a Parental Responsibility Agreement or apply for a Parental Responsibility Order.

See our How-To-Guide on Declaration of Parentage for more information.

How can the wrong father's details be removed from a birth registration? 

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

The application form and guidance for removing the wrong father's details from a birth registration can be found here. There is a £90 fee in order to apply for a correction. 

DNA Test

If the mother applies to correct the birth entry with a DNA test, the entry will be corrected by means of a marginal note, with the named man’s details remaining in the entry. Any certificates issued from the entry will show this marginal note of correction and the original information.

The correction will not put the true father’s details into the birth entry - for this to take place the birth will need to be re-registered. 

Declaration of Parentage

See section above 'What happens if there has been a declaration of parentage?'

The wrong father will continue to have parental responsibility even if the birth registration has been corrected to remove his details. Therefore, an application for discharge of parental responsibility is required on a C1 form.

This is in accordance with section 4 (2A) of the Children Act 1989. 

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

Adoption

Once an adoption order has been granted, a copy of the order relating to each child will be sent to you by the court where the adoption hearing took place. The Court also sends a copy of the Adoption Order to the General Register Office, which uses the information contained in the Adoption Order to make an entry in the Adopted Children Register. A new birth certificate is then produced in the child’s adoptive name. This document is known as an adoption certificate and replaces the original birth certificate for all legal purposes.

An entry in the Adopted Children Register will only contain the adoptive details of a person and have no information that relates back to the corresponding birth entry.