Orange with 6medias, published on Saturday 07 January 2023 at 19:37
Born at home on July 2, 2022, Timoté’s registration had been refused by the civil register. Justice recognized this unassisted birth on Wednesday, January 4, according to TF1.
Six months.
This is the time it took a child from Indre-et-Loire to finally be recognized by the state. Timoté was born on July 2 in Langeais. And it was only on Wednesday, January 4, that he obtained his birth certificate, our TF1 colleagues know.
The city had refused to register the child. The reason ? He was born during an unassisted birth (ANA), that is, performed without the assistance of medical personnel. However, the parents had presented themselves several times at the town hall in the five days following the birth of their son. The father, present at the birth, had drawn up a birth certificate, as required by law. This wasn’t enough: the municipal services had demanded an acknowledgment signed by a health professional, before seizing the employee from the public prosecutor’s office for civil status.
Few cases of home birth
In September, the mayor of the city, Pierre-Alain Roiron, explained that he had acted in “legality“. Nevertheless, “the registrar should not be able to refuse to establish the record even when the registrant arrives ’empty-handed'”Me Alice Antoine, a lawyer specializing in family law, later explained to TF1 journalists. Grégoire Dulin, public prosecutor of Tours, defended himself on his part with La Nouvelle République “a normal and necessary investigation to verify the child’s attachment to his parents”in particular to ensure that it was not a surrogacy.
Eventually the court ruled in favor of the parents. “The judges recalled that home birth is perfectly legal and that until recently it was the norm”despite “nowadays, registrars see few cases”, explains Aurore, Timoté’s mother. Thanks to the documents presented by the couple, including the child’s follow-up medical certificates, the judges ruled out the possibility of surrogacy and “validate the declaration and parentage“.
With the birth certificate of the child, the couple will be able to take steps with the Caf, the mortgage, the insurance or even the bank. Which was previously impossible for them. Aurore can also request 50% parental leave.
