After the birth

What paperwork do you have to do after the birth of a child? For example, publishing the birth announcement and applying for a birth certificate. What support is available and what do you have to do?

Services:

Apply for a birth certificate

You do not have your birth certificate, but you need it for a marriage or other official act, for example? Then you can apply for a birth certificate to be issued.

Apply for birth certificate in case of birth abroad or in a former German territory

If you need proof of birth from the former German territories or from the consular and colonial registers, you can apply for a birth certificate. You can obtain this from the registry office I in Berlin.

Apply for child benefit

If you have a child, you can apply for child benefit.

Apply for maternity benefit as a privately insured person or with a statutory health insurance fund as a family insured person

As an expectant mother, you can apply for maternity benefit from the Federal Social Security Office (BAS) for the period of protection before and after childbirth and for the day of childbirth. You must meet certain requirements for this.

Apply for parental allowance

If you look after your child after the birth, the parental allowance compensates for any lack of income.

Applying for maternity benefit as a person with statutory health insurance

If you become a mother, you can receive maternity benefit for the protection periods before and after the birth as well as for the day of delivery. You can apply for maternity benefit from your statutory health insurance fund.

Birth: Anonymous

For a pregnant woman who finds herself in an emergency or conflict situation that appears to her to be hopeless, the situation may be so acute that she sees the secret delivery,...

Calculate parental allowance

Here you will find information on how parental allowance is calculated.

Certify acknowledgement of paternity

If you wish to make a declaration acknowledging paternity of a child and a declaration of consent by the mother, this can be publicly certified by registrars in any registry office, at youth welfare offices and before notaries.

Compulsory vaccination programs and preventive/early detection examinations

To protect your health, there are public preventive measures in Germany that you can take advantage of and, if necessary, must observe. Here you will find information on compulsory vaccination programs as well as preventive and early detection examinations.

Confidential birth

If you are in a psychosocial emergency as a pregnant woman or mother of a newborn, want to remain anonymous and do not know whether you should decide in favor of the child and...

End guardianship by the youth welfare office

You have applied for a guardianship for your child and now no longer need it? Then you can terminate the guardianship at the local youth welfare office.

Have birth abroad retroactively certified

Were you, your child or another close family member in the ascending or descending line of descent born abroad? Then you can have the birth subsequently certified in the birth register at the registry office responsible for you.

Have birth abroad retroactively certified

If you or your child were born abroad, it may be useful to have your birth recorded in the German birth register.

Honorary sponsorship by the Prime Minister

After the birth of multiples (from triplets) or from the 6th child, you can apply for the honorary sponsorship of the Thuringian Prime Minister.

Maternity recognition

  • If you wish to make a declaration recognizing maternity to your child, to the extent required by your home country law or the law of the country in which the child is habitually resident.

Notarize declaration of custody

If the parents are not married at the time of the child's birth, they are entitled to joint parental custody if they make a declaration of custody.

Parental leave: advise and inform

When you become parents, you are entitled to unpaid time off from work, provided you meet certain requirements. You must register the parental leave with your employer in writing.

Parental responsibility for minor children

Here you will find information on your rights and obligations regarding birth, child maintenance obligations in cross-border family situations, as well as information on surrogacy and adoption.

Planning and registering parental leave

You can plan your 3 years of parental leave flexibly, but you must meet certain requirements. You must give notice of your parental leave to your employer.

Printout from the birth register

You do not have your birth certificate, but you need it, for example, for a marriage or for another official act? Then you can request a printout from the birth register.

Receive parental benefit advice

If you need advice on parental allowance, you can contact the regional parental allowance office.

Regulations for the recognition of gender affiliation

Regulations for changing gender affiliation An application for a change of gender must be made in person at the local court of the place of residence. A foreign national may...

Request multilingual birth certificate

If you need proof of birth for submission to foreign agencies, you can apply for a multilingual birth certificate.

Show birth of child on German sea vessel

If a child is born during a voyage on a German seagoing vessel, the registry office I in Berlin records the birth in its birth register. The skipper of the ship records the birth and forwards it to the registry office I in Berlin.

Show home birth

You must register the home birth of a child at the registry office of the place of birth.

Social assistance services as health counseling for families with infants

If you receive social welfare or basic income support and have just had a baby, the social welfare office will cover the cost of counseling sessions.

Submit additional information for the notarization of a birth incl. first name declaration and name determination

If you have had a child, you must submit details and proof of the birth, first name declaration and naming of your child to the registry office.

Please select the desired service on the left.