Register a birth
Please contact our register office if you are unable to locate the information you require.
By law you must register a birth within 42 days of the child being born.
You should do this at the local register office for the area of the hospital where the baby was born.
If you can't register the birth in the area where the baby was born, you can go to another register office and they will send your details to the correct office.
From 9 November 2026, registrations of births and deaths will move from paper registers to a new electronic registration system. The registration appointment itself will remain largely the same, but customers will no longer be asked to sign a paper register page. Instead, registration details will be recorded electronically and customers will be given the opportunity to carefully check the information before the registration is completed.
You do not need to do anything differently before attending your appointment.
Dewsbury appointments
Please allow additional time for your journey to Dewsbury and for finding parking. Highway improvement works along Wilton Street and the ASDA footbridge footpath are due to begin in October 2026 and are expected to continue into the new year.
We recommend planning your journey to help ensure you arrive in good time for your appointment.
If your child was born in Kirklees and you want to:
- Re-register a child's birth following the marriage or civil partnership of the natural parents, you will need to complete the Application to re-register a birth following marriage or civil partnership of natural parents form before booking your appointment.
Or:
- Re-register a child's birth to add the natural father's name to the birth certificate, you will need to complete the Application to re-register a child's birth and add the natural father's details form before booking your appointment.
If you are re-registering a birth you will need to provide evidence of your identity to do so. Please check the accepted documents before attending your appointment:
The application form for your type of re-registration will explain any other documents that you need to provide.
Each form includes guidance on how to complete the application and the documents that you will need to provide for your appointment. Each child will require a separate form.
At present these appointments cannot be booked online. To book your appointment please call us on 01484 221030 to complete your booking.
It is free to re-register a birth; however you will need to purchase a copy of the new birth certificate.
Cost
There is no charge for the birth registration itself. If you require birth certificates, any number of these may be purchased on the day of registration. View our registrars fees.
Book an appointment to register a birth
For information about how we store your data please read the Kirklees Registration Service Privacy Notice
Fill in our online form
Paperclip To complete this form you will need;
- place and date of the birth
- name, surname and sex of the baby
- parents' names, surnames and address
- places and dates of parents' birth
- date of parents' marriage or civil partnership
- parents' job
- mother's maiden surname
Clock Completing this form takes around 15 minutes.
Book appointmentAfter you've booked
You will receive an appointment confirmation email detailing the date, time and location for your appointment along with a booking reference. Should you need to rearrange or cancel the appointment please contact the relevant register offices as soon as possible, quoting your booking reference.
Proof of identity
You will need to provide evidence of your identity when registering or re-registering a birth.
You can provide one of the following:
- Passport, valid or expired
- UK driving licence
- Birth or adoption certificate
- Biometric immigration document
- EU identity card
- Proof of Age Standards Scheme card
If you don't have one of these, you can provide two alternative documents, such as a Council Tax statement, utility bill, bank statement, P45/P60 or marriage/civil partnership certificate.
View the full list of accepted identification on GOV.UK .
If you cannot provide the required identification, please contact the Register Office before your appointment.
During the appointment
The registrar will record the information needed to register your baby's birth and give you the opportunity to check the information carefully.
Once the information has been checked, you will be asked to make a verbal declaration confirming that the information is correct. You will no longer sign a paper register page.
Who can register a birth
Either parent can register the birth on their own. They can include both parents' details if they were married when the baby was born or conceived.
The details of both parents can be included on the birth certificate if one of the following happens:
- they sign the birth register together
- one parent completes a Statutory declaration of parentage and the other takes the signed form to register the birth
- one parent goes to register the birth with a document from the court (eg a court order) giving the father parental responsibility
The mother can choose to register the birth on her own if she isn't married to the child's father. The father's details won't be included on the birth certificate.
It might be possible to add the father's details at a later date by completing an Application for the re-registration of a child's birth .
Female couples can include both their names on their child's birth certificate when registering the birth.
Either parent can register the birth on her own if all of the following are true:
- the mother has a child by donor insemination or fertility treatment
- she was married or in a civil partnership at the time of the treatment
When a mother isn't married or in a civil partnership, her partner can be seen as the child's second parent if both women:
- are treated together in the UK by a licensed clinic
- have made a parenthood agreement
However, for both parents' details to be recorded on the birth certificate, they must do one of the following:
- register the birth jointly
- complete a Statutory declaration of acknowledgement of parentage form and one parent takes the signed form when she registers the birth
- get a document from the court (eg a court order) giving the second female parent parental responsibility and one parent shows the document when she registers the birth
Male couples must Get a parental order from the court before they can be registered as parents.
If the parents can't register the birth (e.g. for medical reasons), certain other people can do it:
- someone who was present at the birth
- someone who is responsible for the child
- a member of the administrative staff at the hospital where the child was born
Don't miss out on Child Benefit
Claim Child Benefit includes a form to print out and fill in for your first child. It also contains information for the small minority of families who may be eligible for the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC).
If you don't have access to a printer, Phone 0300 200 3100 to be sent a form in the post.
You can also call this number if you already have a Child Benefit claim and need to add further children.