Birth Registration
Mozambique
Specific Situations
Foundling
Does the law specify the process and responsibilities for registering the birth of a child who was abandoned and whose parents are not known?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
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Mozambique Legal Analysis
In the case of children who have been abandoned, their birth must be registered in the office with jurisdiction over the place where the child was found. The process and information that must be captured when recording birth of a child who has been abandoned, are specified in Articles 132-136 of the Civil Registry Code.
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Sex Marker
Does the law provide for a third sex marker option or a sex-neutral marker at birth registration?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
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Mozambique Legal Analysis
The only sex marker options provided by Mozambican law to register births are male and female. There are no other markers. In addition, Article 129 (2) indicates that first names entered into the birth register, should not cause anyone to be confused about the person's sex.
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Adoption
Does the law clearly state the process for amending birth registrations in adoption cases?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
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Mozambique Legal Analysis
Adoption must be annotated on the birth record. Article 85(g) of the Civil Registry Code lists adoption and its revocation among the facts that must be entered into the birth record.
Articles 275-277 require that, narrative certificates for adopted children indicate only the adoptive parents, with the natural parents' details only when legally necessary (such as when initiating marriage process). This means that, when an adoption is finalized, the registrar amends the birth register to record the adoptive parents and restricts access to information about the natural parents.
The law does not specifically address issues with obtaining a domestic birth certificate for children adopted from foreign countries but will likely follow same process if adoptive parents are Mozambican.
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Surrogacy
Does the law clearly state the process for amending birth registrations in surrogacy cases?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Law Source
Mozambique Legal Analysis
Mozambican law does not provide a specific procedure for registering births resulting from surrogacy arrangements. Surrogacy is not regulated, so the general birth-registration rules apply. The woman who gives birth is recorded as the mother (Articles 140-144) unless a court decides otherwise. No amendment procedure exists to reflect intended parents in surrogacy cases.