§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it is possible for a father's name to be left blank on a birth certificate in a case where the name of the father is known. [82564]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Oliver Letwin dated 25 November 2002:
As National Statistician and Registrar General, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning whether it is possible for a fathers name to be left blank on a birth certificate in a case where the home of the father is known.Under current law, the home of the father is not a factor in whether his name appears on the birth certificate or not.There is a common law presumption that a child born to a married woman is the offspring of the mother and her husband. In these circumstances, the law requires the husband's name to be recorded as the father in the birth registration unless that presumption is rebutted.Where the parents are not married to each other, there is no such presumption of paternity. By law, the name of the child's father may be recorded in the birth registration only where paternity is acknowledged by both parents or where it has been established by an appropriate court order. Otherwise the father's name would be left blank.