The registry offices of Santa Catarina show that in the first seven months of this year, about 3,164 children were registered without a father’s name. This is almost 5% of the total number of registrations. In total, there were 100,717 of them in the country.

Of the 66,070 births, 3,164 were not registered with their father’s name — Photo: Helena Lopez/Pexels/Disclosure/ND

The data becomes even more relevant when you note that 2022 saw the lowest number of births since 2016, at 66,070 births. In 2016, there were just over 61,000.

The number of births in August 2022 was also the lowest in six years, with just 7,217 newborns. Previously, in 2021, there were 8,198 births with 378 absent parents. In 2020, there were 357 children with only the maternal surname and 7971 births.

national data

Nationwide, 2022 also recorded the lowest number of births in the period, at 1,526,664, meaning 6.5% of the total number of newborns in the country have only the mother’s name on their birth certificate.

The numbers are registered on the Civil Registry Transparency Portal, on the “Missing Country” page, which is part of the national platform operated by Arpen-Brasil (National Association of Registrars of Individuals).

2022 records the lowest number of births since 2016 — Photo: Laura Garcia/Pexels/Disclosure/ND

The platform collects information on births, marriages and deaths registered in Brazil’s 7,654 registry offices, present in all municipalities and districts of the country.

For Arpen-Brasil President Gustavo Renato Fiscarelli, the numbers show there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to parenthood. “Both a father and a mother are responsible for raising their children, and they have responsibilities to share. Obviously, each family lives in its own reality, but there is significant data that can support public policy,” he said.

Fiscarelli emphasizes the importance of registrars. “Registrars encourage the paternity process with publicity, ongoing act and action encouragement programs such as paternity efforts in partnership with the Department of Justice.”

Confession

Since 2012, the procedure for recognizing paternity can be done directly at any registry office. Thus, a court decision is no longer required in cases where all parties agree on the resolution.

Acknowledgment of paternity has been possible at a notary since 2012 – Photo: Marcello Casal/Agência Brasil/Reproduction/ND

In cases where the initiative is taken by the father himself, it is enough for him to appear at the registry office with a copy of the birth certificate of the child, requiring the consent of the mother or the child himself if he has reached the age of majority.

In the case of a minor child, the consent of the mother is required. If the father did not want to acknowledge the child, the mother can make an indication of the alleged father with the notary himself, who will notify the competent authorities so that the process of establishing paternity can be initiated.

Since 2017, it is also possible to carry out the recognition of socially affective paternity in a notary’s office, one where parents raise a child through an attachment relationship, without any biological connection, as long as there is an agreement between the mother and the biological father.

In this procedure, the civil registrar will have to confirm the existence of an affective relationship of paternity or motherhood through an objective test by checking specific elements: enrollment of the intended child in a health insurance plan or social security agency; an official record that they live in the same household; marital relationship (marriage or stable union) with a biological ascendant; between others.

*According to Agência Brasil.