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Births
How and where to register your child's birth.
Due to building works, birth registration appointments are unavailable at St Edmunds Health Centre, Torquay. Appointments will re-start after February 2025.
You must register the birth of your baby within 42 days (six weeks) of the baby being born. You can register in:
- Paignton - Monday to Friday
At Paignton Library and Information Centre, Great Western Road, Paignton, TQ4 5AJ
- Torquay - Monday
At St Edmunds Health Centre, Victoria Park Road, Torquay, TQ1 3QH
- Paignton - Tuesday
At The Beehive , Bishops Place, Paignton,TQ3 3DZ
- Brixham - Wednesday
At The Barn, Brixham Enterprise Estate, Rea Barn Road, Brixham, TQ5 9DF
All registrations are by appointment only and take about 20 minutes.
Who can register
If the parents are married at the time of the birth either parent can register the birth on their own.
If the parents aren’t married to each other and you want both parents’ details included in the birth register, the father should normally attend the appointment with the mother. An unmarried father cannot usually register the birth without the mother.
For full details of who can register a birth please read the information on who can register a birth Opens in a new window.
Information the registrar will need
Information the registrar will ask for:
- The date and place of birth of the baby
- The sex of the baby
- The baby's full names and surname
- The dates and place of birth of the parents
- The parents' occupations
- The mother’s maiden name
- The date of the parents' marriage (if applicable)
- Where the parents are living
It would be helpful if you could bring ID for you and your partner. This could be:
- your passport
- a council tax bill
- your driving licence
- your birth certificate
- a utility bill
The registrar will ask you to sign to confirm that the details in the register are correct. If an error is noticed after the registration, you will need to apply for the entry to be corrected. There is a charge for this.
Birth Certificates
It doesn't cost anything to register a baby’s birth. If you need a full copy of the certificate you can buy these for £12.50 each at the appointment.
If you are paying by credit or with debit card at one of the family hubs, you will need to bring your physical payment card. We can not accept smart pay methods.
You are able to buy more certificates any time after the registration.
You will need a full birth certificate for a passport or to open bank accounts for your baby.
If it's not convenient for you to go to the district where your baby was born to register them you may prefer to make a declaration of the birth in Torbay.
The registrar will record the details in the form of a declaration and send it to the registrar in the district where the baby was born. The registrar who receives the declaration will enter the information in the birth register and send your baby's birth certificate to you in the post.
You must register your child’s birth according to the regulations in the country where the child was born. They’ll give you a local birth certificate.
Registering a baby conceived after fertility treatment
- There is usually no difference. The child is registered as the child of the couple treated together. There is no reference to any donor involved in the treatment.
- A recent change in the law means that the above also applies to female couples who were in a civil partnership at the time of conception. This is as long as treatment was at a registered clinic and they sign consents.
Registering a baby conceived after fertility treatment where the father has died before the treatment
- In the case of a child conceived through fertility treatment after the death of the person receiving treatment with the mother. It is possible for the person register as the child's father or second female parent. This can be either when the birth is registered, or at a later date if not named initially.
Registering a baby born to a surrogate mother
You must do this in two phases:
- Initial registration - the baby is registered as the child of the woman who gave birth, and her husband/partner if she has one. This is unless he did not consent to the treatment, or was judicially separated from the woman at the time of conception.
- Re-registration - the commissioning parents then apply through the courts for a Parental Order. This is sent to The General Register Office. This must be done when the baby is between six weeks and six months old. A fresh entry is then made for the child in a special register. This is held at The General Register Office. The new entry will show the commissioning parents as the child's mother and father.
The General Register Office will write to the commissioning parents. They will explain how they can apply for a new birth certificate.
The new entry held in the General Register Office supersedes the original entry made at the local registration office. The original entry is annotated, and no further certificates are issued from it.
This page was last updated on 21/11/2024 06:53:44