Kuwait,19 Qatar,20 Saudi Arabia21 and the United
Arab Emirates22 are all examples of States that
require a marriage certificate to be presented at
the time of birth registration.
The wedlock requirement may be applied in
different ways. In some countries, a child born out of
wedlock can be registered but is treated as the child
of unknown parents, meaning the birth certificate
would record his or her birth as if he or she had been
found in a public place, with no legal relationship to
the biological parents. In other countries, if the
child’s father is not married to the mother, the child’s
birth is registered using false names for the mother
and/or father or by omitting one or both parents’
names, so that the legal connection with the
biological parents remains hidden. Some countries
only allow a child born out of wedlock to be
registered through a court order and/or with proof of
paternity. In other contexts, a child born out of
wedlock can only be registered in case the mother
files a police report stating that she was subject to
sexual violence, i.e., that the child was born of rape.
In Bahrain, a child born out of wedlock can be
registered at birth but the birth certificate will treat
the child as though he or she were a foundling,
and record the child as having been born to
unknown parents.23 Civil status laws and
regulations in Egypt,24 Jordan25 and Palestine26
make provision for a child who is born out of
wedlock to be registered using false names for
the parents and/ or child, or by omitting their
names from the certificate altogether.
Legal barriers to registering children born out of
wedlock may also be found in criminal laws. A
substantial number of countries have enacted
criminal legislation that penalizes women who give
birth out of wedlock, charging them with adultery
or sex work and subjecting them to cruel and
inhumane punishment. Laws may stipulate equal
punishment for women and men for adultery, but
in practice, women often face harsher sanctions.
In these contexts, single women seeking to
register the birth of a child may be at risk of
serious human rights violations.
The Iranian Law on Civil Status Registration allows
for birth registration of all children, including
children born out of wedlock. However, fear of
severe punishment for sex out of marriage under
Iran’s Penal Code,27 may serve as a deterrent for
the registration of children born out of wedlock by
the father or mother.
19 Ministry of Health of Kuwait, Central Register for the Newborn and Deaths Department, Registering a Newborn Baby and
Issuing a Birth Certificate: See https://www.e.gov.kw/sites/kgoenglish/Pages/Services/MOH/
IssuanceCommunicationLiveOrDead.aspx and https://www.e.gov.kw/sites/kgoEnglish/Pages/Services/MOH/
IssuanceBirthCertificatesForNewborns.aspx
20 Betsy L. Fisher, Gender Discrimination and Statelessness in the Gulf Cooperation Council States”, Michigan Journal of
Gender & Law, Vol.23, Issue 2, 2016, p. 286.
21 According to the Saudi Ministerial Agency of Civil Affairs, a family register is required to register the birth of a child; in turn, a
couple must present a marriage certificate to be issued the family register, as it is “issued to married couples only”, Ibid,
p.287.
22 Article 8, Ministerial Decree (No. 44/2011), Article 8: Births may be registered only with a formal marriage certificate.
23 Article 1, Law for Birth and Death Registration Law (No. 6/1970).
24 Article 22, Law No. 12 of 1996 Promulgating the Child Law Amended by Law No. 126 of 2008.
25 Article 20(a), Civil Status Law No. 9, 2001.
26 Articles 22 (2)(b) and 25 of the Palestinian Civil Status Law, 1999.
27 Article 230, Penal Code, 2013.
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