RGD clarifies birth registration process
DEAR EDITOR,All Woman dated Monday, October 29, 2018, titled Wrong father on birth certificate.
I write in response to an article written by Margarette May Macaulay in
The Registrar General’s Department would like to thank Mrs MaCaulay for her contribution to the article. Additionally, we seek to further clarify some of the issues highlighted in the article.
To remove the father’s name from the birth certificate in question, two options are available:
1. If the husband (resides in Jamaica) he can apply to the Parish Court or the Family Court to remove his name from the record, pursuant to Section 19 B (2) of The Registration (Births and Deaths) Act; or
2. Since the biological father resides in The Bahamas, the biological father may apply to the Supreme Court in The Bahamas to obtain a declaration of paternity pursuant to Section 9(1) (b) of The Bahamian Status of Children Act.
Once the Registrar General in Jamaica is in receipt of either order, then the birth record in question may be updated accordingly.
Please note that a re-registration pursuant to Section 52 of the Registration (Births and Deaths) Act can be done where:
a) Both mother and father subsequently get married to each other; and
b)There was no legal impediment preventing mother and father from being married at the time of the child’s birth.
Based on the article the mother would not have been married to the biological father and so a re-registration would not be applicable.
Yours sincerely,
Deirdre English Gosse
Chief Executive Officer
Registrar General and Deputy Keeper of the Records
