Parentage registration
What you need to know when registering the parentage of your child.
The person giving birth is automatically registered as a parent when the child is born. In relation to the non-birth parent, parentage can be approved both before and after birth.
If you are two women or transmasculine individuals, you must comply with the co-motherhood rules, and, additionally, be married or fill in a declaration of care and responsibility. Read more aboutco-motherhood on this website.
If a person who is not a legal parent gives birth to your child, the person giving birth will automatically be registered as the child's mother. Read more aboutthe adoption rules on the Agency of Family Law’s website.
For surrogacy, read more about the rules on surrogacy on this website.
If you are married
If you are married and the person giving birth is registered as a woman and the co-parent is registered as a man, the parentage is automatically registered after the birth of the child.
If you are not married and want to register co-parentage, read more about co-motherhood on this website.
If you are unmarried
If you are unmarried, you can complete a declaration of care and responsibility to be registered as joint parents. By filling in a declaration of care and responsibility, the parents get joint custody. A declaration of care and responsibility can be completed both before and after the child's birth.
If you are unmarried and wish to have co-motherhood registered, you can find more information about co-motherhood on this website.
Having parentage approved before the child's birth can be advantageous when it comes to maternity regulations. Read more about the rules for maternity leave at borger.dk.
Initiating a case on registration of parentage
Before the child is born, a parentage case can be initiated by submitting a declaration of care and responsibility to the Agency of Family Law.
After the child’s birth, the case can be initiated by submitting a declaration of care and responsibility to the parish (or the municipality if you live in Southern Jutland).
Alternatively, a parentage case can be initiated by the person giving birth submitting the form with themother's details for the case(link to the form on the Agency of Family Law’s website)
In co-motherhood cases, the process begins by submitting form 8 or 9 to the Agency of Family Law. If the parties are unmarried, in addition to the form, you must also complete a declaration of care and responsibilityon familyretshuset.dk.
If the child was born abroad
If the child was born abroad, you must go to Borgerservice and have the parentage registered. If Borgerservice decides that they cannot register the parentage, you must contact the Agency of Family Law.
The Agency of Family Law will investigate whether a paternity case has been processed abroad. If this is not the case, the Agency of Family Law will start a paternity case.
Read more about adoption and recognition on this website.