Parentage

Who your parents are is something which is defined by law.

Normally, your parents are simply your biological (or “natural”) mother and father, but there are some exceptions, which are —

• when a child is adopted
• when a child is born to a surrogate mother
• when a Parental Order is made (that is, after a child has been born to a surrogate mother)
• when a child is born as a result of artificial insemination or IVF (also collectively known as “fertility treatment”)

It’s possible to have two female parents, or two male parents (although two male parents is much less common).
It’s also possible to have only one legal parent (e.g. if you were adopted by a single person).
It is not possible to have more than two legal parents.

Definition of mother, father, and second parent

When it comes to child law, the terms mother and father don’t necessarily refer to the biological (or “natural”) mother and father.  When the law talks about the “parents” of a child, it always means the legal parents, unless it’s written explicitly otherwise.

The legal parents of a child don’t have to be a man and a woman — it’s possible for two men to be the parents, or two women — in which case one of those parents is referred to as the second parent.  A child may have one, or two, legal parents — but never more than two.

Whether or not someone is recognised as the mother, father or second parent of a child doesn’t mean that that parent has parental responsibility — who is a “parent” and who has “parental responsibility” are two separate issues.

For the purposes of this site, mother and father are normally taken to mean the legal mother and father, which are defined as follows:

The mother

The legal mother is defined to be the woman who gives birth to the child.

It’s possible for another woman (who isn’t the birth mother) to become the legal mother if —

• she adopts the child
• the child was born to a surrogate mother, and the court grants a Parental Order naming her as one of the child’s parents

Note that in the case of a surrogacy arrangement, the commissioning parents — the couple who arranged for the surrogate mother to carry a child for them — need to apply to the courts for the Parental Order that allows them to re-register the birth and be named as the child’s parents.

The father

The legal father is, in general, defined to be the biological father, however there are some exceptions to this:

• If a man has donated sperm to a licensed fertility clinic, he won’t be the legal father of any child conceived using his sperm.
• If a man’s sperm is used to conceive a child after his death, he won’t be considered the legal father.
• If a married woman becomes pregnant as a result of artificial insemination or IVF, then her husband is the legal father, unless it’s shown that he didn’t consent to the fertility treatment.  (Not in the Isle of Man or Channel Islands)
• If a woman becomes pregnant as a result of artificial insemination or IVF at a licensed clinic, and she makes a formal agreement with a man, before getting pregnant, for him to act as the father, then that man is the legal father.  (Not in the Isle of Man or Channel Islands, and only for pregnancies since 6^th April 2009 — before this date it was still possible, but the rules were different)

It’s possible for another man (who isn’t the biological father) to become the legal father if —

• he adopts the child
• the child was born to a surrogate mother, and the court grants a Parental Order naming him and the biological mother as the child’s parents

If none of these conditions apply, the biological father is regarded as the legal father.  However he’ll only be recognised as the father if —

• he was married to the mother at any time when the mother was pregnant with the child
• he’s named as the father on the child’s birth or adoption certificate
• he’s found to be the father in court proceedings
• a court issues a declaration that he’s the parent of the child
• a court issues a declaration that the child is the legitimate child of his parents  (Not in Scotland)

There’s also a presumption in law that a married man is the father of any child conceived or born during the course of the marriage.  If the husband is not the biological father, it’ll need to be proven that he isn’t the true father, e.g. by a DNA test.

The second female parent

A woman is defined to be the second parent of a child if —

• her wife or civil partner becomes pregnant as a result of artificial insemination or IVF, unless it’s shown that she didn’t consent to the fertility treatment  (Not in the Isle of Man or Channel Islands)
• she makes a formal agreement with another woman, before that woman becomes pregnant as a result of artificial insemination or IVF at a licensed clinic, for her to act as the second parent  (Not in the Isle of Man or Channel Islands, and only for pregnancies since 6^th April 2009)
• she adopts the child with another woman
• the child was born to a surrogate mother, and the court grants a Parental Order naming her and the biological mother as the child’s parents

The second male parent

A man is defined to be the second parent of a child if —

• he adopts the child with another man
• the child was born to a surrogate mother, and the court grants a Parental Order naming him and the biological father as the child’s parents

Adoptive parents

When a child is adopted, the adoptive parents become the new legal parents.  They are treated in law in exactly the same way as the parents of a non-adopted child.

It’s possible to be adopted by a single person, in which case there would be only one legal parent.

It’s also possible for a parent to adopt their own child, together with another person (typically a step-parent or long-term partner).  In this case, the (adopting) biological parent would remain a legal parent, but the legal link would be broken with the other biological parent.  The adopting biological parent and their spouse / partner would be the new legal parents.

Changing your parents

You can legally change a child’s parents in two ways —

• by adoption
• by a Parental Order (which can only be made when a child is born to a surrogate mother)

Adoption and Parental Orders are very similar.  They completely break the legal link between a child and its parents, and establish one or two other people as the new legal parents.

Special Guardianship Orders are also very similar to Adoption Orders, except that they do not break the legal link between the child and its parents.

It is not possible to “divorce” or “disown” a parent (although a parent is able to give up their child for adoption).

If someone who was not your true biological father was wrongly registered as your father on your birth certificate, this does not mean that that person is your legal father.  Your birth certificate is prima facie evidence of who your parents are, but it isn’t absolute proof — you can still prove who your parents are in other ways, e.g. with a DNA test.

It’s possible to remove a wrongly-registered person from your birth certificate, by applying to the Register Office, using a DNA test as proof.  This doesn’t actually change your legal parents, but it does make it much easier to prove who they are.

You can formally establish who a person’s legal parents are, by applying for a Declaration of Parentage.