Fathers: Parental Responsibility
Commons · Question 76161 · Tabled 9 Sep 2025 · Ministry of Justice · Official record
Answered 17 Sep 2025
Question
Asked by Maya Ellis
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow a newborn child's father to have automatic parental rights over his child in light of the mother’s death during childbirth.
Answer
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones, 17 Sep 2025
The Government has no plans to bring forward legislation to grant automatic parental responsibility to a father in unfortunate circumstances where the mother dies during childbirth.In England and Wales, a father only acquires parental responsibility autom...