Acquiring legal status for children
For most traditional families, it is easy to ascertain who a child’s parents are. However, for the growing numbers of families conceived through fertility treatment (particularly donor conception and surrogacy) and alternative family structures, the legal status of the adults involved in a child’s life is more complex.
Many alternative families need to take legal steps to acquire status for one or both parents. This applies, for example, to:
- Lesbian parents where both partners are not legal parents (find out more)
- Sperm donor conceived families where the intended father is not automatically the legal father (usually where an unmarried couple has conceived with donor sperm other than in a UK licensed clinic - find out more)
- Co-parenting arrangements where the child has more than two parents and you wish to acquire status for the other parents
- Step parent families where a new partner wants to acquire legal status
- Families created through surrogacy
The information on these pages is for those in situations where everyone agrees and wants to acquire legal status for a child, either legal parenthood or parental repsonsibility or both. It explains who has legal status automatically and how to acquire it if you don't. Find out more about:
Legal parenthood - who are parents, and how to acquire parenthood through adoption or parental orders
Parental responsibility - who has it and how to get it
Guardianship and special guardianship
How we can help
We have for many years provided expert advice and guidance to families seeking to acquire status as parents. We can help with:
- Advice on your current status and the options available to you for acquiring legal parenthood or parental responsibility,
- Parental responsibility agreements,
- Residence order applications,
- Adoption proceedings (including adoptions for lesbian partners, fathers through sperm donation, step parents and adoptions of unrelated children), and
- Parental orders
Find out more about our services or contact us for more help.
