Birth registration rates globally are also lower among adolescent mothers. Practices in some countries, such as Ecuador28 require adolescent mothers to be accompanied by a legal representative to register the births of their children – a fact of which they may be unaware and a service they may be unable to access. Civil registry officers in some countries like Costa Rica29 and Guatemala30 are obliged to report cases of adolescent mothers to the prosecutor’s office, a potential deterrent for child mothers to register the birth of children.31 In Egypt, a law granting women the right to register the births of their children was updated in 2008. Yet societal attitudes that prevent or discourage unwed mothers from registering the birth of their child remain widespread. According to the civil code, a mother can register the birth of her child provided that the marital relationship is recognized and documented. If the mother cannot prove her marital relationship, or in the case of out of wedlock births, a declaration stipulating the child is hers is required, as is testimony from doctors or midwives who observed the birth. Single mothers and their children are often stigmatized, excluded, and discriminated against by law. 2.3 Other gaps impeding women from registering the birth of their children Although raising children in same-sex families is becoming more commonplace in some parts of the world, non-traditional forms of parentage are often not recognized in civil registration laws. In most situations, birth certificates only allow for the inclusion of one mother and one father, irrespective of same-sex family reality. There are many examples of situations where children born to same-sex parents using assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have not been able to receive birth certificates listing both parents.32 In some instances children born through ART have not been able to have their births registered at all. The failure to accurately record each of a child’s parents on the birth certificate can compromise the child’s ability to acquire nationality through each parent separately, which can present a risk of statelessness in situations where only one parent is able to confer nationality. If the same-sex relationship of the parents prevents registration entirely (for example, in countries where same-sex marriage is not a legal possibility and a marriage certificate is a prerequisite for registration), children may be at risk of statelessness. 28 29 30 31 Article 24, Reglamento de la Ley Orgánica de Gestión de la identidad y datos civiles, 2018. Article 1, Ley N° 9406, 2016. Article 54, Ley de protección integral de la niñez y adolescencia. Decreto N° 27/2003. Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados (ACNUR), Estudio regional sobre inscripción tardía de nacimientos, otorgamiento de documentos de nacionalidad y apatridia: estándares, mejores prácticas, barreras y desafíos en Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, México, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, República Dominicana y Uruguay, 5 Enero 2021. See https://www.refworld.org.es/docid/5ff517834.html 32 Paula Gerber and Phoebe Lindner ‘Birth Certificates for Children with Same-sex Parents: A Reflection of Biology or Something More?’ (2015) 18(2) New York University Journal of Legislation & Public Policy. 12 B AC KG R O U N D N O T E O N S E X D I S C R I M I N AT I O N I N B I R T H R E G I S T R AT I O N