Confirming and annulling parenthood

You do not have to acknowledge your paternity, since as a husband you will automatically become the parent of the child. This is also the case when your child is born with the help of fertility treatments. 

You can acknowledge your paternity before the child is born at the maternity clinic.

Acknowledgement means that you declare that you are the parent of the child to be born. You must notify the public health nurse or midwife of the matter, in the presence of the mother who will give birth, at the maternity clinic of the wellbeing services county where your family has been provided with maternity clinic services during pregnancy. We will confirm your paternity separately after the birth of the child. 

You can also acknowledge your paternity with the child welfare officer after the child has been born. The child welfare officer will determine paternity, after which we will confirm it. 

When your child is born with the help of fertility treatment

If you have given your written consent to the fertility treatment together with the mother, you can acknowledge your paternity using the instructions above. 

If you have given your written consent to fertility treatment together with the mother giving birth, you can acknowledge your maternity with the following instructions. You must acknowledge your maternity, even if you are married to a mother who gives birth.

You can acknowledge your maternity before the child is born at the maternity clinic in the wellbeing services county. We will confirm your maternity after the birth of the child.

You can also acknowledge your maternity after the child's birth with a child welfare officer. The child welfare officer will establish maternity and we will confirm it.

When can we not confirm another mother to the child?

Please note that we cannot confirm another mother to the child in the following cases:

• The child already has two legal parents

• A child's father can be determined or confirmed.

A child's father can be determined or confirmed if a man whose sperm was used in fertility treatments has before the treatment consented to confirming paternity. Before you give the treatment, you have chosen whether you want to together become the parents of the child born with the help of the treatment or whether the sperm donor is confirmed as the child's second parent.

1. You can cancel or deny the acknowledgement of parenthood before the child is born. Write a free-form notification containing the following information:

• your name

• your personal identity code or date of birth

• The date of acknowledgement of parenthood, if you know it.

2. Submit your notification to us either by email or by post. You can find our contact details at the bottom of this page.

3. We will transfer the matter to the child welfare officer who will contact you.

If the child was born in wedlock, we can only annul paternity in the following cases: 

Another person than the husband of the child's mother acknowledges the child as their own. 

1. Another person acknowledges their parenthood to the child welfare officer. 

2. The child's mother and husband accept the acknowledgement. 

3. The child welfare officer will investigate the matter and send the documents to us. We confirm the other person's parenthood. At the same time, the husband's paternity is annulled. 

The married couple asks the child welfare officer to establish paternity. 

1. The mother who gave birth to the child and the husband together ask the child welfare officer to establish the paternity of the husband. This must be done before the child is six months old. 

2. The child welfare officer uses a DNA test to establish parenthood. 

3. If the husband is not the father of the child on the basis of a DNA test, the mother who gave birth and the husband can jointly apply to us for the annulment of the husband's paternity. The application must be submitted to us before the child is one year old. However, we cannot annul paternity if the mother has received fertility treatment. 

Application for annulment of parenthood

If a child is born out of wedlock, we can only annul parenthood in the following cases: 

Another person than the person who acknowledged parenthood during pregnancy acknowledges the child as their own 

1. Another person acknowledges their parenthood to the child welfare officer. 

2. The child's mother and the person acknowledging their parenthood during pregnancy accept the acknowledgement. 

3. The child welfare officer will investigate the matter and send the documents to us. We confirm the other person's parenthood. At the same time, the parenthood of a person who has acknowledged their parenthood during pregnancy is annulled. 

The mother who gave birth and the person who acknowledged parenthood during pregnancy ask the child welfare officer to establish paternity

1. The mother who gave birth to the child and the person who acknowledged parenthood of the child during pregnancy together ask the child welfare officer to establish the paternity of the person who acknowledged parenthood of the child during pregnancy. This must be done before the child is six months old. 

2. The child welfare officer uses a DNA test to establish parenthood. 

3. If, based on a DNA test, the person who acknowledged parenthood of the child during pregnancy is not the father of the child, the mother who gave birth and the person who acknowledged parenthood of the child during pregnancy may jointly apply to us for the annulment of paternity. The application must be submitted to us before the child is one year old. However, please note that we cannot annul paternity if the mother has received fertility treatment. 

 

Application for annulment of parenthood

Confirmation depends on whether you have acknowledged parenthood before or after the birth of the child.

• If you have acknowledged parenthood before the birth of the child, we will confirm parenthood when the child is born.

• If you have acknowledged parenthood after the birth of the child, we will confirm parenthood once the child welfare officer has provided us with the necessary documents.

 

The average processing time for confirming parenthood is ten working days.

We will send you a decision confirming parenthood by post. You can also check in Suomi.fi's Check your personal data service, whether your parenthood has already been confirmed. 

Yes, you do. The child can only receive the surname of a person whose parenthood has been confirmed.

However, you can now give the child the surname of the mother who gave birth and change it to the surname of the other parent, or compound surname, once we have confirmed the parenthood of the other parent. In this case, changing the child's surname is free of charge. In addition, both parents must approve the application for changing the surname. You can find more detailed instructions on our website.

 

If your biological father wants to establish his paternity, you should contact the child welfare officer of your municipality of residence. The child welfare officer will determine paternity, after which we will confirm it.

If your biological father does not wish to establish parenthood or if he has died, you can bring an action to confirm paternity in the district court. 

The paternity or maternity of a deceased person may be confirmed without legal proceedings provided that the following conditions are met:

• The child was born out of wedlock.

• A forensic genetic paternity test or a written certificate of fertility treatment indicates that the deceased person is the child's parent.

• No one else has acknowledged parenthood of the child.

• No action is pending to confirm parenthood.

In this case, the rights holders of the deceased person (usually the heirs) can give their consent to the child welfare officer to confirm parenthood. The child welfare officer will investigate the matter, after which we will confirm the parenthood.

Yes, you must acknowledge your parenthood, even if your non-marital cohabitation has lasted for a long time. The spouse of the mother who gave birth to the child is automatically the parent of the child only when the mother is married to a man when the child is born.