Re-register a birth

Re-registration or a birth or stillbirth is the creation of a new birth entry to add the:

• father's or other parent's details
• details of the parents' marriage or civil partnership details, if it took place after the birth was originally registered.

You can re-register at our registration office in Paisley, or in any other registration office in Scotland. It does not have to be the same office as the first registration.

If the child is under 16 years of age, anyone with parental responsibilities for them can re-register.

If the person is 16 years of age or over, they must apply for themselves.

If the child was stillborn or has died, a birth can be re-registered by:

• the mother, or her husband if he is the natural father  
• the mother, if she is not married
• a person who has been registered as the father or other parent in the birth entry, if the mother had died.
   

You can change a child’s name to the same name as their father or other parent. 

If the child has the mother’s surname, this can be changed to a forename. 

There is a separate process if you want to change a forename or surname to something else. 

There is no cost to re-register a birth. However, if you want a new birth certificate, you can buy one for £10.

You’ll need to download and complete a Form RR1 for re-registration (National Records of Scotland website).

If you are adding a marriage or civil partnership

Book an appointment with us to re-register the birth.

 We’ll need to know the date and place of the marriage or civil partnership. 

If the marriage or civil partnership took place outside of Scotland, you’ll need to provide us with a marriage or civil partnership certificate, and a certified translation if it’s not in English. 

If you are adding the father’s or other parent’s details

If the father or other parent has not been named on the original registration, you’ll need to apply to re-register through the National Records of Scotland.

There are different forms to complete, depending on who is re-registering the birth.

If the mother is adding the father or other parent

You’ll need to complete and return these forms:

• Form 26  - Declaration as to parentage by the mother of a child
• Form DPF  - Declaration as to parentage by father / parent

Form 26 must be signed by the child's mother and witnessed by a registrar or assistant registrar in any registration office in Scotland.

Form DPF must be signed the child's father and witnessed by a notary public, justice of the peace, or a local councillor.

Download the declaration forms from the National Records of Scotland website.

If the father or other parent is applying

You’ll need to complete and return these forms:

If you are the father or other parent, you need to complete and return these two declaration forms:

• Form 27  - Declaration by father or another parent of a child
• Form DPM  - Declaration as to parentage by mother.

Form 27 must be signed by the child's father or other parent and witnessed by a registrar or assistant registrar in any registration office in Scotland.

Form DPM must be signed the child's mother and witnessed by a notary public, justice of the peace or a local councillor.

Download the declaration forms from the National Records of Scotland website.

What happens next

Once the application has been processed by the National Records of Scotland, you'll get a letter confirming the re-registration has been authorised. 

You can then contact us or the registration office where you have chosen to re-register the birth. 

You have 3 weeks to re-register the birth. If you’ve not done this, the registrar will write to you to ask you to re-register within another 3 weeks.
 

To re-register a birth at our registrar office, you can make an appointment by:

• email at registrar.cs@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• phone at 0300 300 0310

Your appointment can be over the phone or in person.

We’re available by phone: 

• Mondays to Thursdays from 8:45am to 4:45pm
• Fridays from 8:45am to 3:55pm.

This does not include public holidays.

Your appointment

Appointments usually take about 30 minutes. 
If your appointment is by phone, please be ready 5 minutes before we call you. If you're not able to take the call, you'll probably have to reschedule your appointment.

If your appointment is at our registration office, please come to our registration office 5 minutes before your meeting time.

Please bring the signed and witnessed declaration forms (if applicable) and the re-registration form with you to your appointment

If your appointment is by phone, please send them in advance of your appointment to registrar.cs@renfrewshire.gov.uk.
 

If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, you can email us at registrar.cs@renfrewshire.gov.uk or phone 0300 300 0310.

Once you’ve re-registered the birth, you can buy a full certificate for £10. 

If you re-registered in person, we’ll give you the full certificate when you attend your appointment. 

If you’ve re-registered by phone, we’ll send it to you by first class royal mail within 24 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays).