Register a birth

Female couples can include both of their names on their child’s birth certificate when registering the birth. The rules are different depending on whether or not they’re in a civil partnership.

Married or civil partners

Either woman can register the birth on her own if all of the following are true:

• The mother has a child by donor insemination or fertility treatment.
• The mother was married or in a civil partnership at the time of the treatment.

Unmarried or non-civil partners

When a mother isn't in a civil partnership, her partner can be seen as the child’s second parent if both women:

• are treated together in the UK by a licensed clinic
• have made a ‘parenthood agreement’.

However, for both parents’ details to be recorded on the birth certificate, they must do one of the following:

• Register the birth jointly.
• Complete a Statutory declaration of acknowledgement of parentage form and one parent takes the signed form when they register the birth.
• Get a document from the court (for example, a court order) giving the second female parent parental responsibility, and one parent shows the document when they register the birth.