I will give birth a month before my 18th birthday. What does future hold for me?

Hello, I am 17 years old and I am pregnant. I will give birth to a baby a month before my 18th birthday. The child’s father is an adult. We decided to live out of wedlock for at least a year until we sorted everything out because the pregnancy was unplanned and we haven’t managed everything yet. Now I am interested in the moment when we go to register the birth of the child, will there be any problems with me being a minor, not being married and can I get custody of the child together with the father if I did not ask for a court certificate of maturity and ability to work. Thank you in advance!

According to the Family Act, paternity can be acknowledged on the record before the registrar, social welfare centre or court. These bodies will then submit a copy of the record to the registrar responsible for registering the child in the birth register. 

Therefore, it is enough for you and the child’s father to go together to the Social Welfare Centre competent for the place of residence. 

Family Law regulates in Article 114 the so-called suspension of parental care due to legal obstacles, in cases when the child’s parent is a minor or a person deprived of legal capacity in the part in which a person is unable to exercise parental care. 

This effectively prevents the minor parent from representing the child independently in relation to decisions relevant to the child EXCEPT for determining the child’s personal name. 

In practical terms, this means that you, as a minor parent, will only be able to give the child a name, and for all other tasks related to, for example, registration of residence, representation in court, deciding where the child will live, etc., the legal representative for your child will be in charge, and that representative will be appointed by the court or the social welfare centre. 

What is important to know is that Article 114 also regulates the case if you do not agree with the important decisions made for your child by the appointed legal representative; you as a parent have the right to appeal to the court which will then decide in a non-litigious procedure.

The suspension of the exercise of parental care due to legal obstacles ceases when the reasons for which the exercise of parental care was suspended cease to exist. 

Therefore, when you turn 18 or gain legal capacity by concluding a marriage, the suspension of parental care due to legal obstacles ceases to be imposed and you acquire full parental care.