Hubei single parents to be able to get birth certificates

Single parents in Central China's Hubei province will be able to apply for medical certificates after the birth for their children from local healthcare authorities from next year, according to newly revised provincial guidelines on the issuance of certificates, the Wuhan Evening News reported.

The move means they no longer need a marriage certificate for the application.

The medical certificates of birth are a statutory document with details of the babies' age, relationships and nationality, and are required when applying for hukou, or household registration documents.

The provincial health and family planning commission and public security department jointly released the newly revised guidelines that will take effect from January 1.

In the cases of single parents, or babies born with assisted reproductive technology or no intact information on the father, the mother can make a written explanation with a signature, and that will be sufficient to apply for a birth certificate. Local health authorities will need to check the authenticity of the materials before issuing certifications, according to the new guidelines.

The new guidelines also regulate that the organs responsible for issuing the medical certificates of birth can not set preconditions such as the existence of marriage certificates and birth service certificates, and they are banned from receiving any fees for the certificates.

According to the new regulations, adopted children will not be issued medical certificates of birth, and the adopted parents should apply for household registration due to regulations from the public security department.

The parents of the new babies should apply for the certificates within three months of the birth, and if they wait for longer than three months, the parents should go to relevant departments for explanations and evidence.

A director of the Hubei health authorities, Li Xiangdong, said that babies born on public transport vehicles such as trains and buses should get medical certificates from county-level maternal and child hospitals.

Parents have to prepare the documents including an announcement of the relationship with the babies, as well as other evidence such as DNA test results and the parents' ID and household registration, Li said.