Register a birth

All certificates are £12.50 each and should an application to correct details in the entry be necessary after registration the correct consideration fees are £83 or £99 depending on the information that is incorrect.

Opposite-sex couples

If the baby's mother and father were married to each other at the time of the birth, either parent may register.

If the baby's mother and father were not married to each other at the time of the birth, the mother may register alone, but the fathers' details will only be entered if they attend to register together. By entering the father's details into the registration, equal parental responsibility is automatically granted to the father as well as the mother. 

Same-sex couples

Same-sex couples can become equal legal parents of children that they conceive together. The woman who gives birth to the child (including surrogate mothers) will be shown as the child's mother in the birth register.

Same-sex couples who are married or in a civil partnership and conceive a child through artificial insemination will both automatically be treated as the child's legal parents. In these circumstances, either parent can register the birth.

Same-sex couples who are not married or in a civil partnership at the time of conception, but conceive together through a fertility clinic in the UK, licensed by the human fertilisation and embryology authority may also be treated as legal parents. In these circumstances, the mother may register alone, but the second parents' details can only be entered if they attend to register together.

If the father is unavailable

If the biological parents are married to each other at the time of the birth then either parent can attend alone to register baby, if not both parents must attend.

There is a statutory declaration form that can be completed by the biological father in certain circumstances, for example if the father is out of the country for a prolonged period or is in prison but it must be witnessed by a qualified informant – usually a Solicitor or justice of the peace.

You should arrange for this form to be completed and witnessed prior to the registration appointment as you will have to present it to the registrar. You can collect a statutory declaration from reception desk 12 in the main reception at the front of the Civic Centre. The form lists all the possible qualified informants.

You must register your baby's birth in the district where the baby was born.

Wolverhampton Residents

If your baby was born within Wolverhampton, you can register the birth at either:

Register Office
City of Wolverhampton Council,
Civic Centre St. Peter's Square,
Wolverhampton,
WV1 1RU

Graiseley strengthening families hub (Thursday only)
Pool Street,
Wolverhampton,
WV2 4NE

There are no payment facilities at Graiseley.

Wednesfield Children’s Village family hub  (Tuesdays only)  
Graiseley Lane
Wednesfield
Wolverhampton
WV11 1PE

Please make payment for your birth certificates online when you book the appointment.

Or, you can apply and pay for a certificate from the Register Office once you have completed the registration.

Partnership with Staffordshire

We now work in partnership with Staffordshire on birth registrations.

Staffordshire residents, who give birth in Wolverhampton, can register the birth at a local office.

You could still register the birth in Wolverhampton but it is easier to use a local office:

Cannock Register Office,
Council Offices,
Beecroft Road,
WS11 1BG

Tel: 0300 111 8001

Staffordshire Registration Office, 
Staffordshire Place,
Stafford,
ST16 2DH

When you attend your appointment you will need to bring your birth notification sheet issued by the hospital or midwife and documentary evidence of the parent's ID if available.

At the appointment the registrar will ask:

• Questions about the father and the mother's occupation
• Where they live and their own place of birth
• If the parents were married to each other at the time of the birth, and if they were, the date of the marriage
• The number of children the mother has had previously by her present husband/partner or any former husband/partner
• The date of birth of the parents

In a small number of circumstances, it may be possible to change or add information to a birth registration, for example adding the father's details at a later date. Please see Re-register a birth for further information.

If you are not able to travel to the district where your child was born, you can visit your local register office (see above), to make a birth declaration. The declaration will be sent to the district where your child was born, the register office there will then complete the registration, and send any certificates that are required through the post to you. From the 23rd January 2017, parents who are residents of Staffordshire, and have their baby in Wolverhampton can register their baby at their local office within Staffordshire and will receive their certificates at the appointment. These offices include Wombourne, Codsall, Cannock and Stafford. If you would like to make an appointment to register the birth at your local office in Staffordshire, you can book an appointment online. 

Please note, you don't need bring your baby to the registration interview.

To book an appointment use our online form.

Book a Birth Registration Appointment

When you have completed your online birth registration booking appointment you will receive a confirmation email – please check your junk inbox.  If you do not receive a confirmation email your booking isn’t confirmed and will be deleted from the system after 20 minutes.

Re-scheduling your appointment

If you cannot make your appointment, you can re-schedule by calling 01902 551234.

Bear in mind that your baby should be registered within 42 days of the birth and sometimes we may have 2-3 weeks wait for the next available appointment.

If your child was registered less than one year ago there is a provision to add or amend a forename(s) by completing a Certificate of Naming Form or if the child is being baptised within the first year following registration, the person who performs the baptism can complete a Certificate of Naming Given in Baptism Form.

Certificate of Naming Forms are available to collect from reception desk 12 in the main reception at the front of the civic centre.

There is a statutory fee of £44 for this service and the new order of names will appear in space 17 on the birth certificate ‘names given after registration’. The names given at the initial registration will always still appear in space 2 on the certificate. There is no provision to change a surname by completing a certificate of naming.

Information about Child Benefits can be found on GOV.UK including the Child Benefit claim form CH2 (CH2 Claim Form).

For your first child, this must be printed out, filled in, and sent to the Child Benefit office. If you don’t have access to a printer, you can call 0300 200 3100 and HMRC will send you a form in the post.

The form also contains information for the small minority of families who may be eligible for the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC).

If you already have a Child Benefit claim, you can add further children by calling HMRC on the number above.