The provisions of section 111 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 came into effect on 1 December 2003 (see the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (Commencement No.4) Order 2003 SI 2003: 3079).

Section 111 amends section 4 of the Children Act 1989.

It provides that a father who is not married to the mother at the time of the child's birth is to have parental responsibility if registration or re-registration of the birth takes place according to the provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953.

In summary, both parents have to register the birth of their baby together in order for the unmarried father to gain parental responsibility.

The provisions are not intended to be retrospective and will apply to births registered on or after 1 December 2003.

The normal rules on re-registration will apply, and the provisions will be determined by sections 10(1)(a)(b)(c) and 10A(1) of the 1953 Act.

It is not possible for a birth to be re-registered if the father has already been correctly registered.

For more information, see: www.statistics.gov.uk/registration/registering_birth.asp.