Can two mothers be on a birth certificate?

Can two mothers be on a birth certificate?#

Yes. GOV.UK's guide to registering a birth says that female couples can include both their names on their child's birth certificate. The law behind that is Part 2 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, which applies where the treatment took place on or after 6 April 2009. It makes the birth mother's partner the child's second legal parent, called the second female parent, in one of two ways, and which one applies turns on a single question: were you married to each other, or civil partners, at the time of the treatment?

If you were married or civil partners at the time of treatment#

Then the other mother is a parent from the birth. Section 42 of the Act makes a woman who was the birth mother's wife or civil partner when the embryo or sperm was placed, or the insemination took place, a parent of the child, unless it is shown that she did not consent. The section applies whether the treatment was in the UK or elsewhere, and, unlike the route for unmarried couples, it names no licensed clinic. National Records of Scotland puts it plainly for Scotland: the treatment may have been in the UK or abroad and need not have been at a licensed clinic.

Registering is then simple. GOV.UK says either parent can register the birth alone, with both names on the certificate. The 1953 Act gives the second female parent the same duty to register within 42 days that it gives a father, and GOV.UK says she has parental responsibility automatically if she consented to the treatment.

If you were not married or civil partners#

Then the other mother is a legal parent only if all of these were true when the treatment took place, under sections 43 and 44 of the Act:

• the treatment was given in the UK by a clinic licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA);
• before it, she gave the clinic written notice consenting to be treated as a parent, and the birth mother gave written notice agreeing; the HFEA's forms are WP for the birth mother and PP for her partner;
• neither of you withdrew that consent before the treatment.

The HFEA stresses that these forms must be completed before the sperm is inseminated or the embryo transferred, and cannot be completed afterwards. If they were missed or filled in wrongly, it says, your partner may need a court declaration of parentage. Sections 43 and 44 do not reach treatment abroad or insemination at home under a private arrangement, and for those the HFEA advises taking your own legal advice.

Being a legal parent does not, on its own, put her on the register. GOV.UK gives three ways to record both of you:

• you register the birth together;
• one of you makes a statutory declaration of acknowledgement of parentage (form 16), and the other takes it to the register office;
• one of you shows a court order giving the second mother parental responsibility.

Recorded in one of those ways, she gains parental responsibility under section 4ZA of the Children Act 1989. If the birth mother registers alone, the other mother can be added later by re-registration.

What the birth certificate shows#

The birth entry in England and Wales has had room for two mothers since 1 September 2009. The regulations that took effect that day headed the fourth space of the entry "Father/Parent" and told registrars to enter the second female parent's name there. The birth mother stays under "Mother", with her maiden surname and, if different, the surname she married or formed her civil partnership in.

Both mothers appear only on the full certificate. GOV.UK lists two kinds, each costing £12.50: a short one with only the baby's details, and a full one that adds the parents.

Registering changed on 9 November 2026, when the General Register Office introduced an electronic register of births. Nobody signs a page now: under regulations made for the change, whoever registers declares that the details are true to the best of their knowledge and proves their identity, through a digital identity check or with documents such as a passport.

What surname can the baby have?#

Any surname you mean your baby to be known by. The regulations tell the registrar to enter "the surname by which at the date of the registration of the birth it is intended that the child shall be known", and say nothing about whose it must be. It can be the birth mother's, the other mother's, both joined with a hyphen or a space, or a surname neither of you has. GOV.UK's pages for female couples add no rule of their own on the surname. What can I name my baby? has the general rules, including the names a passport cannot show.

Settle it before you register, because the first registration is the easy moment. In England and Wales a surname cannot be changed on the register afterwards; a later change is made by a child deed poll agreed by everyone with parental responsibility. A first name is different: either of you can have one changed or added within 12 months of the registration, for £44 (changing a baby's name after registration).

Adding the second mother later#

If only the birth mother was registered, the birth can be re-registered to add the other mother. Re-registration costs nothing, and a new certificate is ordered and paid for separately. The form depends on whether you have married since:

GOV.UK says parents who marry or form a civil partnership after the birth must re-register it. The surname staying put is deliberate: HM Passport Office's guidance records that since 13 July 2026 the General Register Office no longer changes a child's surname when parents re-register after marrying, and that parents who want a new one use a deed poll. Everyone with parental responsibility must agree to that deed poll (giving a child a double-barrelled surname).

Scotland and Northern Ireland#

Scotland. National Records of Scotland says that if you were married or civil partners when the treatment took place and both consented to it, either of you can register the birth and both are recorded. If you were not, the birth mother registers, and the other mother is recorded only if you register jointly, a parenthood agreement was in place before the treatment, and the treatment took place under licence in the UK. A birth in Scotland must be registered within 21 days.

Northern Ireland. nidirect says either parent can register where the mother and second female parent were married or civil partners at the time of the treatment. Where they were not, the second female parent can be recorded only if both of you attend to sign the registration, the treatment was at a licensed UK clinic, and you both gave written consent to her being the legal parent. Registration is within 42 days, by appointment at any district registration office.