Having a baby can raise legal questions about the rights and obligations of parents towards their child. For most people, legal jargon is hard to follow, complicated and easily accessible.

In this article:

• Moving from lovers to parents…from a legal perspective
• Parental authority…or what are my rights and obligations towards my child?
• Filiation…or how can I prove I am the father or mother of my child?
• Applying the concept of filiation to assisted procreation
• Mediation…or how does custody of my child work in case of separation?

I wanted to be better prepared to answer questions on many topics from future parents. To be as up to date as possible, I work with Anne-Christine, who is a notary. This professional specialises in the field and is an excellent resource for answers to questions.

Here is a list of questions we will try to answer:

• I don’t live with my baby’s father. Do we both have the same rights?
• We had to use assisted procreation to fulfil our dream of becoming parents. Because we used a sperm donor, can this person assert their fatherhood later?
• I wanted to become pregnant using donated sperm and my spouse wondered if she also has parental rights to the baby I am carrying. Is she the second parent?

Moving from Lovers to Parents…from a Legal Perspective

The arrival of a baby raises many questions for a couple:

• What are my rights and obligations towards my child?
• If we separate, who has custody of my child?
• How can I prove that I am the mother or father of my child, especially in the case of assisted procreation?
• How can I be legally protected?

It’s always important to be up to date to make informed choices. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

To continue reading, go to the article Parental authority…or what are my rights and obligations towards my child?