The evolution of birth registration in England and Wales and its place in contemporary law and society

• Published in: Modern law review 2024-03, Vol.87 (2), p.317-342
• Main Author: Davis, Liam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Birth certificates; Childbirth & labor; Children's rights; Families; Law and legislation; Parent and child (Law); Parent-child relations; Recording and registration; Registers of births, etc; Registration
• ISSN: 0026-7961; 1468-2230
• DOI: 10.1111/1468-2230.12836

Birth registration, especially the birth certificate, is consistently framed as something which has always operated to document a person's parents and their (biogenetic) 'origins'. This framing has become more prominent in recent years with the rise in (often queer) families challenging how law should register their families, often being unsuccessful. Analysing the history of birth registration, though, suggests this framing of birth registration is inaccurate. It is only in recent years that birth registration has supposedly taken on a new (or additional) policy aim of facilitating parent-child relationships. This policy also arguably facilitates a particular type of relationship and trans-parent families are focused upon as an example of where such facilitation does not occur. Through documenting the recent resurgence of interest in birth registration, this article aims to clarify the history and purpose(s) of birth registration showing how many assumptions surrounding the function of birth registration are misguided, and to open up discussion as to what its legal purpose(s) should be.