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Women’s & Children’s Rights
Ghana
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Birth Registration
Universal Coverage and Definition
Universal Coverage and Definition
Is birth registration or reporting available for children born to citizens residing abroad?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
When a child is born to parents who are residing outside their country of citizenship, the country in which the birth occurred has an obligation to register the birth and issue a birth certificate. While the home country of the parents will not issue a new birth certificate, there should be a process by which the parents report the birth to the parents’ home country. This is important for purposes of establishing citizenship and receiving a passport for the child. The law should provide a process for citizens temporarily residing abroad to report the birth of a child to the registrar (or the passport agency). This is usually facilitated by a country’s embassies and consulates.
The Registration of Births and Deaths Act is silent on the birth registration of children born to Ghanaian citizens residing abroad, but the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations state that they are applicable to births occurring overseas in respect of Ghanaian citizens. Thus, it appears that the procedures for registering births that take place abroad are the same as those for births occurring inside Ghana.
Does the law specify the process and responsibilities for registering the birth of a child who was abandoned and whose parents are not known?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
All births should be registered, including those of a foundling (a child who has been abandoned and whose parents are unknown.) Generally, the person or the head of the institution that assumes custody of the infant should be responsible for notifying the registrar of the birth. The person reporting the birth should provide: date and place of finding, sex, approximate birth date of child, name and address of person/institution reporting finding, name given to the child by the custodian of the child, and any other information requested by registrar. The entry should be marked as "foundling" (or similar) and information about parentage left blank. If child is later identified, the foundling registration should be voided and placed under seal
Section 17(4) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act states that, where a living new born child is found deserted and information as to the place of birth of that child is not available, the District Registrar for the district in which the child is found shall register the birth. There are no specific directions on who has the responsibility to register the birth of such an abandoned child, so the general duty that Section 17(1) places on “a person responsible for a child” to register the birth would seem to apply. Sections 19(1)(b) and 17(4) indicate that an abandoned child can be initially registered without a name, which may be added subsequently.
Ghana’s Constitution provides that a child of not more than seven years of age found in Ghana whose parents are unknown must be presumed to be a citizen of Ghana by birth. This rule is reiterated in the Citizenship Act.
Does the law clearly state the process for amending birth registrations in adoption cases?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Laws should contain clear provisions for amending the birth registration record in the case of adoption. Country laws vary regarding the legal requirements and arrangements for adoption. Many jurisdictions require that adoptions be kept confidential. Courts should be required to transmit adoption orders to the civil registrar.
If a child is adopted from a foreign country, most countries have a process by which the adoptive parents may apply for a domestic birth certificate.
In the case of both domestic and intercounty adoptions, the adoptive parents are required to submit a copy of the Adoption Order to Ghana’s Central Adoption Authority and to obtain a new birth certificate for the child in accordance with the Adoption Order. The Authority will then issue a Certificate of Conformity as proof that the adoptive parent has completed this step. As an additional safeguard, the registrar of a court is required to serve every adoption order made by that court on the Registrar-General within thirty days of the date of the order, and the Registrar of Births and Deaths must provide a certified copy of a birth certificate issued upon child adoption to the Social Welfare and Community Development Department of the relevant District Assembly within thirty days of the issue of the birth certificate.
If surrogacy is legal, is there a defined process to register the internationally recommended data for surrogate births?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The notification and registration of the birth should be as complete as possible including in States which permit surrogacy arrangements or [States of destination] which subsequently register the child in their national registries. Identifying information should include date and place of birth, the surrogate mother, intending parent(s) and information relating to persons providing human reproductive material if any. Medical clinics, providers and/or registries of human reproductive material should make all identifying information available to national registries.
There are two general processes for surrogacy. 1) the original birth registration record has the names of the intended parents (no amendment required). 2) the birth is registered under the name of the surrogate (gestational) mother, and then the birth registration record is amended, based on a court surrogacy decree, to have the names of the intended parents included.
Record-keeping in cases of surrogacy is based on High Court orders. The parties to the arrangement may obtain a pre-birth parental order within twelve weeks after introducing an embryo or gamete into the surrogate mother. This order may provide for the naming of one or both parents of the child to be born via surrogacy or any other assisted reproductive birth, provided that the birth occurs within twenty-eight weeks of the date of the High Court order. A copy of a pre-birth parental order must be issued to the District Registrar of the district in which the child will be born, the intended parent, the surrogate mother, and the hospital where the child is born if the birth occurs at a hospital facility. The woman who gives birth to the child may register the child in accordance with the information in the pre-birth parental order.
If no pre-birth parental order has been issued, the woman who gives birth to the child will be registered as the child’s mother and must provide the other information necessary for registration. Where a child is already born, an intended parent or surrogate mother may apply to the High Court between 28 days and 6 months after the birth of the child for a post-birth parental order or substitute parentage order. A post-birth parental order or substitute parentage order may name the intended parent or surrogate mother as the legal parent of the child and must be immediately served on the relevant District Registrar, who must then strike out the original birth record and create a new birth record in accordance with the order. The birth record that is struck out must be kept confidential, but may be made accessible to the child in question after that child reaches age 21.
